The homework assignment

Weekly face-time chats and laughter with chums Sara and Kelly has been a real tonic during these unusual times.

After our "chats" I always feel better.    All that laughing really gives me an endorphin hit.

And now for something completely different we've added homework to our weekly agenda.

Kelly when next we chat will be presenting a design of a new section of her garden; Sara a newly taken insect photo.  Me a report on "See(ing) ruins".

These are ruins that I've been looking for for ages.  I learned about them first through a FB group on abandoned places in Nova Scotia.  Kelly and Sara and I went looking for them once.  We must have been close but couldn't find the ruins despite rambling around in circles for ages through the woods. 

Now thanks to the twinning expansion of highway 103 the ruins not only are easy to find, they are in danger of disappearing.  They are high atop a hill.  The land between the stone house and the highway is to be blasted and brought down to road level.  Current thought is that the act of blasting will create enough of a vibration to cause the house to fall down.

Today I set off to do my homework and find those ruins.  I spotted a couple of cars pulled off to the side of the highway, and joined them.

See my little blue car parked way down there ?

A well worn path snaked up the hill.  The trees had been cut right up to the door.

I wasn't the only visitor.  

Originally named "Bonavista Lodge", the beach-stone cottage tucked into the woods near Exit 6 at Hubbards was built around 1926 by George Guilford Harnish.  The getaway was named for its stunning panoramic view of Fox Point Lake in the distance.

The remote compound, consisting of the main stone building as well as a "maid's quarters" and wooden bunk houses -- enough space to sleep eight to 10 people.  But it functioned more as a "man cave" than a family cottage, where the owner would invite his friends to stay for hunting and fishing trips led by local guides.

A FaceBook group created to protect the future of the stone house: "Save the Simms settlement stone house" warns against visiting the ruins, though there is no signage to that effect there at the moment.

I'm glad I went when I did, though I'm not sure I could have stayed away even if I knew.

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Hope the girls will give me a good mark on my homework.

  

West Ironbound Island

As part of the Kingsburg Conservancy's "Land as Legacy" event, free trips to West Ironbound Island were offered this weekend.  Because my chum Kelly is a member of the group she signed us up.

The trip involved a 35 minute boat trip and then upon arriving at the island we transferred to a smaller boat to take us to the beach.

We were then given two and a half hours to explore the island using a map which showed clearly marked trails.

Sometimes it was hard to tell if we were on a hiking path or following one of the many Sheep trails criss-crossing the island.   Below Kelly stalks a couple of semi-wild Sheep.  Once they spooked and took off, we were surprised to see another eight Sheep appear from out of sight down the slope ahead to the right.  There was no grass down there to eat so we suspect that they had been licking salt off the rocks.

Clumps of wool decorate many of the trees on the island.

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Never having been to the island before we randomly headed up toward the ocean-end.

 It was a good decision.

In the distance we could see three people staring at something in the water.  When we reached them, they still were.

We learned they weren't just mesmerized by the rising waves in the changing tide.

There was something else ... SEALS frolicking in the foam !

We sat for a while listening to the roaring waves (you clicked the link and heard the waves right ?), spotting Seals and marvelling at the view.

Then upon checking the time we realized we needed to hustle to make it back in time to catch the boat. 

Can you spot the trail in this picture ?  Neither could we.  So it was amazing that we successfully found our way back; with ten minutes to spare.

We can't wait to go back ... to check out the other half of the island.

A Birthday outing ...

Blogging buddies Sara and Kelly and I always make sure to get together on each other's birthdays.

For Kelly's recent birthday we agreed to meet up in Port Williams, a tiny town on a tidal river of the Bay of Fundy.

We met up for a marvellous lunch at The Noodle Guy.

Holding pics from birthdays past.

Part way through lunch I asked what time it was and then I tore outside to check out the unusually high tide.  The water had almost reached the girders on the underside of the bridge.  

My past visits to Port Williams have been around low tide when the mud flats are exposed and the water is 35-40 feet below the bridge.   Like this ...

It's a very different view at low and high tide looking across the river.

The dogs often romp in the foreground water-logged grassy area that is covered by water at high tide.

Walking along the top of the dyke.

Kelly is such a good sport.  She wore her Birthday "tiara" throughout the day and received Birthday greetings from everyone we met.

We sauntered along the dyke for half an hour and were rewarded with this distant view of Wolfville with the prominent white silhouette of Acadia University. 

We turned and walked back to Port Williams as we had something else to check out. 






Kelly had heard of this antiques barn that she felt we should check out.

I'm not normally one for antiques stores but this place left me breathless.  Three floors of the most chaotic clutter !   

We could have spent hours and hours exploring.   Each of us was looking for something in particular.  Kelly found some glass insulators.  Sara found a glass bowl that usually would hold flowers in individual holes but was going to put it to use for holding pens and pencils.  And I found a marvellous bottle that I have turned into a terrarium.

If you're ever in Port Williams make sure you check out the barn !

Seriously ?

Seriously ?   My last blog post was in September ?  I blame Facebook.  Well Facebook or Donald Trump.   

I can't believe that my last outing I told you about was to LaHave.   That means I haven't told you about Micou's Island,  the Port Williams Dyke hike, the "bully walk rally" in Halifax, Kingswood Park, Rainbow Haven or Grand Pre and Horton's Landing ! 

Where to start ?

Micou's Island was my latest outing with Sara and Kelly so let's start there.  

Like many amazing places here, I have driven by the turn off to this kewlest of kewl places many times without knowing it.  It's just off the road to Peggy's Cove and about 40 minutes from my home.  You wouldn't believe how many marvellous places are under an hour from my home.

Once more the girls suggested we meet up at a nearby bakery prior to our hike.  How do they know about all these damn bakeries ?   And how on Earth could I have driven by this bakery and not noticed it before ?   I mean, look at it  !   

So we met up.  Had sandwiches made for our lunch, got a HUGE piece of carrot cake to share, and set off.

The unique thing about 22 acre Micou's Island is that it's only reachable during a 5 hour window around low tide.   You can rest assured that we checked the tide schedule before we went, and arrived NOT at low tide but a couple of hours before to give ourselves that window.

The spit of land that appears for 5 hours at low tide connecting the island to the mainland.

The island is protected public land with trails and a building maintained by a group of local volunteers.

Did I say they maintained the trails ?   Hmmmm.

The trail that led into the woods was most promising at first, but then it vanished forcing us to backtrack and opt for the shore trail instead.

The shore trail wove its way through the woods too but we were never far from the shore.

Don't be fooled.  Just because they call it "Sandy Beach Trail" does not mean you're walking along a sandy beach.  See.

Notice how high the water comes at high tie.

A memorial to the donors of the island.  

We did manage to find a spot along the shore to eat our lunches; and eventually the trail lead through the trees to a lovely open area,




where we sat and admired the view for a while,

or went down to the shore to photograph the nearby island.

Once back on the trail, it curved back inland and soon brought us to a meadow with a beautifully restored fisher's cottage.   

The weathered wood is so beautiful and I took shot after shot ...

I even peered in through the window.  

Apparently members of the stewardship association who take care of the island occasionally stay in the "cottage".   

I would love to do that -- just not in Winter !

Perhaps if we sit at the door someone will let us in.  

Sara and Kelly.

Though we'd been on the island for several hours the spit of land was wider when we left that when we arrived.  I know we'd all been secretly worried about discovering it gone and having to wade back to the mainland.  Silly us !   

Sara, writes for a local newspaper and our walk at Micou's Island was mentioned in her article about the joy of walking.  You can read it here.