Day 61 – Travel to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Today looked like it was going to be another rainy day so it was a good day to travel. This time we drove along the South Shore from Halifax to Lunenburg. We took the so-called ‘Lighthouse Road Tour’, which winds you through all the small fishing hamlets along the coast. It is a bit slower to drive and the road surface is not always that good but the scenery certainly makes up for this.

We did not stop that often until along the way because of the rain until when we got to Mahone Bay, a lovely small town with lots of little souvenir shops. We will go and visit Mahone Bay again as it is only about 15km from where we are staying in Lunenburg.

We got a campsite in Lunenburg itself which is located within walking distance from the centre of town so we can perhaps finally leave the car behind and do some walking. We have rarely had a campsite from which one can walk to see anything in the way of sights. That is to say, we will go walking if the weather cooperates as well. Leo was an optimist: he took the bikes off the trailer and oiled them with the idea that we might even bike in town.

After we set up our trailer Leo went out exploring on his own for a while. He experienced a major disappointment on this walkabout. The thing for which Lunenburg is most famous, past and present, is of course the legendary fishing schooner Bluenose which can be found on the Canadian 10 cent coin. Its replica, the Bluenose II is based in Lunenburg and offers tourists the opportunity to go on a 2 hour cruise. This was one of the major reasons for us to go to Lunenburg, although we would have gone anyway. But Leo discovered that the boat had left the town harbour the day before after spending virtually all of August here. It was due for a schooner reunion in Gloucester, Maine and would not return until September 11, by which time we will be in other quarters of the Atlantic seaboard. Leo knew that the Bluenose might not be in Lunenburg all the time during the summer, and was prepared to miss it if need be, but it was adding insult to injury to learn it had left only the day before. It would at least have been grand to have been able to shoot some pictures of it, even if a cruise was not possible, but that was not to be either. However, this offers us a powerful inducement to visit Lunenburg again on our next trip to Atlantic Canada.
The pictures which Leo took on this day can be found here.