Headin' to.......Halifax and an awesome coast

Wednesday, September 12
We enjoyed a relaxing day yesterday. We got caught up on some computer work and made some campground reservations that will take us through mid-October. Today, Wednesday we pulled up stakes and headed down the road toward Halifax. It rained pretty hard at times last night and this morning we drove through some showers and fog for a couple of hours. We left Cape Breton and headed to Antigonish where we turned onto Hwy 7 and made our way down a very twisty, narrow and rough Provincial highway. Sorry Nova Scotia, but Hwy 7 is truly an embarrassment. Very rough and narrow, especially north of Sheet Harbour. We eventually made it to Murphy's Cove where we spent two nights. We chose this area because we have a friend that lives near here and we certainly wanted to visit while we were out this way.

A foggy and rainy start to the day. This is the Canso Causeway from Cape Breton Island to mainland Nova Scotia.

Fresh rain makes foliage bright green.

Hwy 7, very pretty drive, but ROUGH and narrow.

The sun came out and shone brightly on the bays.

The view from our campsite.

The Atlantic Ocean

Murphy's Cove

We chose to stay at Murphy's Camping on the Ocean. There aren't a lot of choices for campgrounds out here and they seem to realize that. It cost us $103 for two nights. We had electric, water (as long as you didn't use too much) and they had a dump station on the road out, but it was on the wrong side of the trailer and the slant on the road you might have got half a tank duped at best. They have had water shortages in this are due to lack of rain so the laundry was closed. Hmmmm, pretty expensive.......but you sure couldn't argue the view! It was impressive.


Thursday, September 13
We headed out to Ship Harbour pick up our friends and then toured the area. First we went for lunch then off to Clam Harbour Beach. They have a big sand castle event here each August and although we saw no evidence of castles, we certainly saw sand! Wow, what a beach.

The view across the road from our friend's house. I could get used to that!

Clam Harbour Beach

Beautiful sandy beach.

The tide was low and the sand was very firm. Great for walking.

Speechless!

Church across Murphy Cove

An artist lives here.

Sunrise over Murphy's Cove

The boat 'Murphy's Legacy' tied up at the dock at sunrise.

A lovely morning.

Friday, September 14
We packed up at Murphy's Cove and started heading toward the metro Halifax area. It's a bit tricky maneuvering around Halifax. There are two main bridges, one of which is a toll bridge with toll booths that we may....or may not fit under so we diverted around the harbour, We only made one wrong turn and with understanding drivers behind us we managed to get back on track heading southeast down the 103 toward Upper Tantallon. We turned here and headed East toward Peggy's Cove.

The road to Halifax

We were booked at the Wayside Campground. It's a bit close to the highway but the tourist traffic subsides in the early evening at it actually very peaceful. With Passport America, and other discounts we stayed seven nights for under $200 for full services although the WIFI wasn't very good.

French Cove on the way to our Campground.

The cove across the road from the campground.

Our campsite

Once we got set up we decided to head over to the Peggy's Cove Lighthouse. The camp staff told us if we waited until after 5PM the tourists diminish and we might even get a picture of the lighthouse with no people visible. So that is what we did.

Our first stop was the Swissair Flight 111 Memorial. On September 2, 1998 a Swissair flight from New York to Europe experienced an on board fire that sent the plane crashing into the ocean just off Peggy's Cove killing all 229 passengers and crew. The cause of the fire is still unclear and to add to the mystery there were reportedly millions of dollars of diamonds and artwork on board at the time of the crash, none have been recovered. Regardless, the site is very somber with personal memorials visible. You can read more here.

The monument. The crash site is on the horizon, about 6 miles off shore.

Impressive wave action. If you look carefully you can see people walking on the right and sitting on rocks on the left.

Peggy's Cove from the Memorial site.

Then is was off to Peggy's Cove. A very cute little fishing village, today it caters to hundreds of thousands of tourists. We did manage to get some great pictures of this iconic area. We managed to find our way home just before dusk.

The rocks look bigger than the house, but are really about half the size.

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse.

The tide was coming in. Many tourists slip and fall on the wet dark-coloured rocks.

Photographer in the frame. The sun was getting low.

Beautiful exposed rocks, some of the oldest in North America.

Peggy's Cove townsite. Most buildings are commercial ventures aimed at the tourist trade.

On the way home to the campground at sunset.

Wow!

....and that was Our View From Here!