Day 21-Shelburne and Pubnico Nova Scotia

As I type the winds have quieted down, the sun is long gone and it's about 13 degrees out. The weather guy on the TV said that this is the date that the temperature starts to get cooler. Huh?
I know everyone in Ontario is still sweating it out in a warm one. Maritime Canada is not.
I, me, yes, me actually wore pants all day long. If that give you any indication.

Today I decided to travel around a little bit after sorting out my possible travel agenda for the next couple of weeks. I like to get possibilities thought out and potential distances to drive. I haven't booked anything yet but I have a more clear idea what route might work.

Being a lighthouse enjoyer I decided to see if I could get closer to the lighthouse I see off in the distance from my front porch. I know it's down the road a few kilometers but don't really know where it is. I set out...

Sandy Point Lighthouse is no longer lit but it's such a unique piece and such a part of the history of the entrance to this safe harbour that it has not been removed. It marks literally a sandy point of land that comes out from the main channel. It is not part of the main navigation channel so the light is not needed I guess. The fishing folk are too superstitious to have it removed.

You can see a crab boat off to the right and yes, the lighthouse is standing all by itself on it's own little wharf. Supposedly at low tide you can walk along a sand bar to it. That's how the lighthouse keeper used to get to it. Or row across to it. Right. That's work! Unique look I think.

As you can tell by the picture the weather wasn't the prettiest again today but I figured with my history of seeing the weather change so quickly I set out along the coast a little farther to see what was up.

The road was paved but really there wasn't a whole lot going on. Some lovely homes along the road that owners really spend some time on. The glimpses of the ocean were nice but not spectacular. Off to find something else.

One of my other goals here was to go to the most southernly point of Nova Scotia. It's called Sable Island and from the map it appeared that I could drive there. Off I went.
This is one of the most busy fishing areas in all of Nova Scotia and the point of Sable Island is really a bird sanctuary. There is so much going on here. In the fog or drizzle or what ever the heck it was there wasn't much. It was windy, remote and very eerie to see the Cape Sable light flashing about a kilometer off shore on the edge of the salt flats. Wow was it neat!

The arrows on the board show where I am. Right at the very bottom of the province!

Most lighthouses that are still used today have been changed to a solar powered, magnified LED or strobe type light. There are few lighthouses that exist with the old Fresnel lens still in them. I found one though. It's at Eel point in the hamlet of Barrington, Nova Scotia. The light is no longer used and the lens damaged so it's not museum ready but the whole lens is still in the lighthouse. It's neat to see how much space it takes up in the light cabin itself. Makes me think of the lighthouses in Ontario that have this little tiny light in it now and what they must have looked like in their heyday.

The Fresnel lens kind of looks like an egg up in the light cabin doesn't it? You can barely make out the top part on the right of the lens that's been damaged. Shame really.

Off I headed to find some lunch and I kept seeing some signs for Dennis' Wharf Seafood Cafe. Okay, I'm there. I'm now in an Acadian part of Nova Scotia and most signs are in French and I'm back to translating again. It's neat the way that some places just become French and in a kilometer there's not a sign of it. Interesting.

Found Dennis Wharf and this cafe is not what you'd think. The place is quite large with lovely seafood and very inexpensive prices. There were a bunch of 'locals' hanging out and that was fun to see. A great hot lobster sandwich was enjoyed (think hot turkey sandwich with lobster instead) YUM! oh yeah, and they had jello parfait on the dessert menu. Well, I couldn't resist. I remember as a kid there was this stuff that when you made it and poured it in a  parfait glass to set it figured out 3 layers. (I know The Mother is nodding her head at this). It was the coolest stuff. It was jello on the bottom and in the middle a jello fluffy mix and on the top a fluffy topping. How it knew what to do I don't know but I LOVED that dessert. We had these really long spoons to eat it with. This was just about the same! How cool is that. What a throw back.

Right across from the cafe is the busiest harbour in the southern part of the province. Over 100 fish boats which supply 3 different fish plants and over 500 people are employed.
Some of the fish boats are HUGE! They go way out into the ocean. I was imagining that the boats on "Deadliest Catch" are like this.

The pickup truck to the right gives the boat some perspective. It was gigantic! The roller on the back has 3 nets rolled up on it. It had come in an hour before with a load of haddock and flounder as it is a "bottom feeder" fisher. Interesting...Stinky too.

I wandered the dock and looked at all the boats. The names are great and I enjoyed seeing the creativity in the names. "Have 2 Go", "Mary Jane's Other Love"; "Pot Picker"; "Queen's Little Mary"; and it goes on...

Lobster season is over here for major markets for now and the larger boats are going farther out as the water is warmer in the summer and the fish go deeper to maintain their temperature in their habitat. I must admit though that the lobster here really is awesome as is all the fish. Something about less travel time I guess.

Around the dock I counted 4 cats. These, I learned, are essential to keep the rodent population down around the boats (rodents like fish scraps too) and the cats are well fed and keep a keen eye on visitors (I guess they knew I didn't really belong there).

 

One part of Dennis' Wharf boats, note the low sky!

Taking a back route to the main highway I found so many fish processing plants and so many homes with cleaned and readied lobster pots. This is what keeps this area going. In some ways it's sad that if this industry goes down here then this area is done.

Later in the afternoon the breeze picked up and the clouds moved off and the sailboats were out in Shelburne harbour and the sound of bagpipes filled the air. I was actually Skyping The Man when this happened so he got to hear some of the Nova Scotia atmosphere! Neat!
I hope the next couple of days will be nice! This was great!

Tonight I met one of the owners, A, of the Harbourside Cottages where I am staying. We were chatting about the way the town seems to be losing steam and the tourism, though good, doesn't seem to be enough. She agreed and it is hoped that the Irving Petro company will get the contract to have a ship building area here also there is discussion about increasing the aquaculture (fish farming for lack of a better description) will develop here. There are signs around town indicating support for both of these businesses. A, said that it would be a huge boost to this area and make such a difference. Even the town office is struggling to make ends meet. It's a challenging time.

So another good day in the Maritimes. I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring. There is a seashore nearby that is nice to walk on and I might check that out tomorrow. Or I might just sit in my lawn chair and catch some rays... decisions, decisions....