What I did on my summer vacation. Part I.

Summer began with a visit from my "identical twin cousin" Carol and her hubby Don.

During their visit we visited three very different beaches.

First came Clam Harbour on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore which faces the chilly Atlantic Ocean.

Carol and Don at Clam Harbour

Is there anything more relaxing than a stroll along a beach ?  

When visitors come, I feel prompted to visit places I haven't been before.  It's hard to imagine that in six years I haven't made the easy one hour drive to Clam Harbour. 

Isn't it amazing that we had such a spectacular beach to ourselves on a lovely day in June ?

Found this ready-made on the beach.  Is it a mandala ?

Another day, Carol an I visited Burncoat Head on the Bay of Fundy. Though I've been there many times before it always delights,

even when the weather is less than ideal.  We arrived while the tide was out, but with 45 ft. tides it's important to be aware of when the tide is coming back in again.

Nope.  That's NOT me.  That's my identical twin cousin, Carol enjoying the muck of low tide. Check out her right foot.

Having a couple of goofy dogs romping on the soggy beach with us just added to the fun.

And lastly, on another day when the sun was actually shining, we visited another Fundy beach, the amazing, fossil-laden, Blue Beach.

At high tide there might be only 10 or 20 feet of beach to explore, and in some places there is NO beach left at all.  Should you not be paying attention to the incoming tide as you walk along with your head down, searching for fossils, you could get trapped in one of the many little coves as the incoming tide cuts off your exit route.

Carol and Don comb the shore for fossils.

 Here are some  fossils we spotted along the shore.

This might be fossilized sand shaped by the waves of a long-gone sea.

I wonder if these are fossilized worm tunnels or plants ?

I'm told there are fossil amphibian tracks along the shore, but after a couple of visits I still haven't found them.

So I better go back again next year to keep looking.

Care to come with me ?

OMG, OMG, OMG ! (insert squeal of delight here)

This is what I posted on my FaceBook status* update on Sunday:


"OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG.

Out with my friends Amy and Mickie today.  Mickie said she needed to run into Tim Hortons to get a gift certificate. got inside, Mickie was looking at a map and giving someone directions.  Mickie asked if I could help give the lady directions to the Bay of Fundy.  I wandered over.  The lady said it was her friend at the table who needed to be shown the map.  I turned.  The friend at the table pushes the hood back on her coat ... and ... it's my friend SANDY !   Sandy from Ontario !   Sandy from Ontario is standing there in front of me !  I must have stood there with my hand over my mouth for a full 30 seconds.    

OMG, Sandy is here !   She and her friend Gail left Ontario Saturday at 7 pm, arriving in Halifax around 3 pm on Sunday.  They'd driven straight through !

May I repeat OMG, OMG, OMG ! "

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Question:  What do you do when a friend drives 1,700 km. to surprise you with a visit ?

Answer:   You show her the best time you can.

You take her over to the Bay of Fundy,

to see the Gypsum cliffs at Cheverie.

Then you continue on to the wonderful red cliffs of Burncoat Head.

Then you take her for a sun-drenched walk along the trails of Shubie dog park.

Today we went clamming with her friend Gail, on Three Fathom Harbour at low tide. 

Two more days before she has to head back.

Wonder what we should do next ?

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* Please forgive my over-use of exclamation marks but ...     OMG Sandy is here !

So much to sea ...

Moving to Nova Scotia has had an unexpected benefit.

Friends and family are coming for visits. 

My childhood friend, Betty just left after a whirlwind one-week visit.  Betty and I grew up together in Toronto.  She lived over my back fence and we share the common experience of childish days spent together in play and adventures.  Aside from my visit out west in 2005, we hadn't seen each other in over 30 years. 

The years mean nothing.  That shared childhood links us forever.  The outside wrinkles and older bodies are just fascades covering the children who still dwell within us.  We knew each other as children and that is so wonderful.  The adult bit can be brushed over.  We talk of our children, jobs and lives lived during the 30-year gap, but it is that childhood joy and wonder that glues us together.  So we pick it up as if no time has passed.

We visited beaches.

Betty at 5 km-long Martinique Beach on the Eastern Shore

And historic towns ...

The Lunenberg Academy.  The town of Lunenberg

We had lunch of hot dogs and chips at the "Surfer Dudes Surfing Emporium" bus.  They even had "veggie" hot dogs !   For the rest of the day our speech was punctuated with "dude" this and "dude" that.

We discovered hidden gems.  And learned that Nova Scotia is too shy about publicising its scenic wonders.  There was a definite lack of signage when it came to finding scenic lookoffs and attractions. 

But for each thing we missed we'd stumble upon something unexpected.

One of several caves at Burncoat Head on Minas Basin (Gloosecap Trail - Fundy Shore).

Burncoat Head rivals the heavily publicised, Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick.

 We stopped at a picnic area and discovered that it lead to the shore.  And what a shore it was !   The tide was out and the water that remained was red/orange from the stirred up sediment.  You could wander for ages.  That little black dot is Betty.

We visited airplane and maritime museums, toured the Citadel and a ship moored in Halifax Harbour and we learned that mid-summer may not be the optimum time to visit Peggy's Cove

We learned that unplanned days can be more rewarding than over-scheduled days.

We made multiple visits to Rainbow Haven and sauntered around the boardwalk at Fisherman's Cove.

It was a week crammed with many adventures for two little girls on summer holiday.

And we had a wonderful time !