Canada's Ocean Playground: Nova Scotia

From Prince Edward Island, We took the Northhumberland Ferry to Nova Scotia. It was a short ferry ride, only an hour and fifteen minutes long. We arrived at 9 pm, on May 29th, 2018. With it being so late our choices for where to stay for the night were slime, however we were lucky enough to find a campground only 10 minutes from the ferry port, waiting for the last passengers to make their way into Nova Scotia.

Peggy's Cove

Of course a stop at the World Famous Lighthouse "Peggy's Cove" (pictured above) was in order. With it being so early on in the year, we weren't faced with the large crowds you would often find in the dead of summer. So for those of you traveling in July or August, maybe it would be worth checking out a local gem called "Polly's Cove", another lighthouse with spectacular views. But now, back to Peggy's cove ! The lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, used to be used as an old post office back in the day. Today, it is one of the most visited place in the world by tourists, and I can understand why. Peggy's Cove, is beautiful. The lighthouse, the rocky landscapes, and the views overlooking the ocean. It was incredible to sit and watch the waves splash up on the shore. A short drive away, we were able to settled up in Lunenberg for the night. The most beautiful town we have seen so far! An old Historic district, absolutely worth your time. To put into perspective, this was our morning view, waking up along the water in Lunenberg.

Lunenberg

If you could make time for just one place in Nova Scotia along your travels, and you love boats and old historic towns, Lunenberg is a MUST. We had no idea just what we were stumbling across when we arrived in Lunenberg. The town is just beautiful, and has a marina right downtown filled with old boats, sailboats, and ships. Jesse and I walked along the marina, while we waited to see the Bluenose II. Along our walk we spotted countless jellyfish all along the shore, it seemed as though the ships stirred them up and brought them up to the surface. We admired all the ships, including the Bluenose II. When we arrived they had the ship out, so we were able to watch them bring the ship in, before feeling inspired to get a ride on a sailboat named the "Eastern Star". Jesse was picked to hoist the main sail, which he claimed made him feel like a pirate ;). He was completely in his glory when he was told to go and stand on the front of the boat. Just after sailing out, we were given the perfect view of the old hundred dollar bills. We sailed out to the sea caves, where if you listen closely there is one tunnel, that makes the sound of a cannon when the waves head in.

The way back in to shore was beautiful. We followed the sunset back in to shore, and docked just as the last bit of sun went down. It was a magical evening.

The Ovens Natural Park

We spent a weekend camping cliff side, with amazing ocean views at the Ovens Natural Park. Over a century ago, the Ovens Natural Park was the location of a gold rush. Today, The Ovens, has opened up panning for gold on Cunard's Beach to the public. Jesse tried his luck panning for gold, but unfortunately did not find any, However, he find a beautiful little starfish. This was a win for me!

After he had, had enough of panning for gold we walked down the sea cave trail, and explored about eight different sea caves, all varying in size and shape. These were the same sea caves we were taken by on the sailboat just the night before. Most of the trail leads you to look offs, however one does allow you to walk right into one of the caves. There incredible!

Our final day in Nova Scotia, at the Ovens was the most exciting day! Jesse and I had decided to take our canoe out and do some paddling out in the ocean to get a closer look into the caves. So we headed towards the caves, and were able to paddle right into some of the caves, and the water was crystal clear so we could see EVERYTHING. We passed by hundreds of jellyfish, and small fish. The Caves were even cooler that up close.

But, on top of all this excitement, the day gets even more thrilling! As we were paddling back to the beach which we headed off in, all of a sudden about 100 feet away from our canoe, we see thrashing! So we stop the canoe and watch to see what was going on. The thrashing stopped, now 80 feet from the canoe, the thrashing starts again! Once again it stops, then keeps inching closer and closer to our canoe. By the end of it all, about 20 feet from our canoe is a small family of porpoises, who were teaching their young how to fish. They were curious to see what we were so they kept making there way closer and closer to us. It was an exciting experience! A little nerve wrecking until we knew what it was!

Thanks again for taking the time of your day to share in our wild adventures! Hope you enjoyed the read.

Stay Wild,

Jesse & Jessica.