Sunday, October 4, 2015 - Yet Another Audible in the Game Plan

Today was another day that I was really looking forward to.  With the humpback whale season in the North Atlantic drawing to a close, the photos from the various tour companies leading up to the week of my departure were nothing less than spectacular.  In order to have the best opportunity to see whales, I included Digby and Brier Island in my circle route around Nova Scotia.

Knowing that weather had been horrendous for days, and that the whale watching tours out of Brier had cancelled due to high winds and surf, I knew my trip was tenuous at best.  Even the night before, it was looking optimistic.  When I woke up at the Whale Cove Campground, I called after the "go/no-go" decision time of 9am.  They said the skies were clear and all tours would be going as scheduled.  I was reminded to check in by 12:30pm for the 1:30pm tour.  The last piece of information was "Be sure to come straight across via the two ferries and do not dawdle on the islands because the ferries were timed to be most efficient to Brier Island.

I was up and on the road, timed to make the ferry into Brier Island to allow me about 90 minutes to do some sightseeing and to take some photos of the lighthouses around and on the island.   The ride from Digby Neck across aboard the two ferries and drive on Long Island was pleasant, and short.  The price to cross was $7 (cash) to Brier Island . . . with no fee to return to Digby Neck.

On the approach to Long Island, you could see the Boar's Head Lighthouse from the ferry.  On my drive back through the island on my return, I attempted to get closer, but the view from on the island wasn't possible without a lengthy hike on a chained off pathway.  So my photo from the ferry would have to do.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time driving around and checking out things on Brier Island.  Before arriving to the dock, the Peter Island Lighthouse could be seen from the ferry.  I snapped a few photos, but hoped I would be able to get a better view once on the island.  I was not disappointed, although it did take using a DSLR camera with a telephoto lens.

Brier Island itself was home to two very approachable lighthouses.  The Western Light sits at what is considered the start of the Bay of Fundy.  It is a picturesque "candy stripe" type tower, that is now automated with electricity to keep the light burning.  The road to that area traverses a nature park where on the day of my visit had a birders' group out hiking and taking photographs. Because of the rains of the prior week, the unpaved road was very muddy and at one point unpassable even in my truck.  I did park it and walk further towards the lighthouse in order to get this photo which provides a nice perspective of the shoreline it protects.

On my drive out, imagine my surprise when I came upon this beautiful and artistic piece of graffiti!  As you can see, the woods were rather thick so any attempt to get closer was not possible, particular since the ground was pretty marshy too.

I then took off for the other end of the island, where the Northern Light and Alarm sits at the Coast Guard Station overlooking the spectacular Bay of Fundy.

I was especially excited to realize that the waves I was watching come in towards high tide was a bore tide!  It wasn't a tall or necessarily spectacular tide, but it was clearly the bore as you could see the white caps make their way further and further up into the bay.

After taking photos I still had some time before I had to go meet the tour boat at the marina. Having already checked in at the tour office upon my arrival to Brier Island, we were set to go out.  The captain said the reports were favorable and the tour was going to go.  Unfortunately . . . upon arrival to the dock at 1pm, guests were informed that the water had become rough and that the noon tour that went out was on its way back in with more than half of their passengers sea sick.

I was so totally disappointed, but then realized that had the tour been cancelled earlier in the day before I left Digby, I would have skipped the trip over all together and would have missed the sunny skies and many lighthouse photo ops.  In fact, there were still another lighthouse made possible on my departure route from Digby Neck down to Yarmouth and Cape Forchu.

This is the Prim Point Lighthouse, that is now a local park with a nice picnic and viewing area overlooking the bay.  

When I got back to the mainland, my first order of business was to find a car wash!  Having been four-wheeling in my non-AWD truck, there was a thick coat of mud everywhere!  Back on the road and heading south, I had an opportunity to take a photo of  the Gilbert's Cove Lighthouse from across the water, as I didn't really have time to drive out to it.

I enjoyed the drive through Nova Scotia's agricultural land.  I was aware that farming was an important part of their economy from my time working with an agricultural economics association about ten years ago.  Many of the exits between Digby and Yarmouth had signs for orchards and wineries.  With nightfall coming quickly, I didn't have the luxury of taking any more detours.  I wanted to get to Cape Forchu before the setting sun would adversely affect my photography.

 View of the "apple core" style lighthouse at Cape Forchu, from across the water.

As it turned out, that was a poor choice. I would have been better off making the Cape Forchu Lighthouse my first stop on Monday morning, as the sun was behind the lighthouse and made for challenging photos.  Additionally, they were closed when I rolled in.  So this turned out to be "just" a photo op along my Circle Tour of Nova Scotia.



On my way back out from Cape Forchu, I came upon a small herd of deer.  They were grazing on what seemed to be someone's front yard.  I stopped and took a couple of photos and then continued on my way.

At this point, darkness was coming fast.  I used Toots (my GPS unit) to help me find lodging for the night.  I had originally planned to car camp again, but I hadn't really seen much in the way of campgrounds that hadn't closed for the season.  Toots found Ye Olde Argyler Lodge, which at $90 CDN including a hot breakfast in the morning was a bargain.  Even better, I was in early enough to catch the sun setting on the bay.  This photo was what I saw from my room.

I settled in for the night, making tuna salad for supper and watching the Packers on Sunday Night Football.

As much as I was hoping that this would be a day of humpback whales and it became a day of lighthouses, I really did have a great day.  It was only 178 miles of driving today, but it sure seemed like more.