Rowkin Rovings Blog

Forgot to mention in yesterday’s post about our accomodation in Mahone Bay. Whilst it was perfectly satisfactory it is never reassuring to see a For Sale sign out the front of the residence. The proprietor, whilst polite, seemed to have reached his used by date and I want out of here😃. This morning we went down for breakfast which was strictly between 8.00am and 9.30am to an OK breakfast. There was another couple at the table but one couple had yet to arrive. Dead on 9.30am he bolted up the stairs and rapped on their door telling them breakfast was about to close. They opted not to partake as I think they felt like us in that we could feel a heavy boot in our backs encouraging us to leave. Yeap, sure is time for him to throw in the hospitality game.

We awoke to pretty grotty weather with rain and very strong winds but read where the rains would stop by midday which they did but the wind kept up a bit.

We drove further south another 15k to Lunenburg which is also on the coast. The town is known as Canada’s most colourful town as you will see by the following pictures.

Twenty years ago the facades of the wood-built buildings in Lunenburg, a UNESCO-listed fishing town in Nova Scotia, were white with black trimming. The only exceptions were the red buildings down by the wharf.

But in 2007 the new owners of the Mariner King Inn kickstarted a trend. They decided to repaint their multi-building property, which dates from 1830, in bright hues, reflecting how it would have appeared during Victorian times.

In the 1800s the captains of fishing vessels painted their homes the same bright colours as their boats. It was both a practical means of using surplus paint, and the unique colour scheme allowed boats to be rapidly identified as they sailed into harbour.

The colourful façade on King Street was soon nicknamed ‘the UNESCO fresco’ and other property owners soon followed suit, quite literally painting the town red, among other colours.

Wandered around a bit and bumped into some old sea dogs after going through the Fishing Museum which believe it or not was not that bad. Amazing how many wrecks there are off the coast.

We then made our way back to Mahone Bay to try to take a picture of the most famous scenery in Canada. Alas we are too early for the autumn colours and our photo does not do it justice.

It was off north again along what they call the Lighthouse route which hugs the coastline. We came upon the second memorial site for the Swissair 111 Air disaster where all the perished had their names engraved.

If you look closely you can see some concrete standards with a connecting chain. This goes in a large circle and this is where the remains of all the passengers are buried. It right on the Atlantic Coast and you can hear the waves crashing as you stand there and read the names. A very simple memorial but beautifully thought out.

Back on the road to another small village called Chester where we had some lunch at the Kiwi Café run by a Kiwi – another lost soul. The small town had a lot of charm about it.

We just cruised back along the coast and kept passing so many spots where we could stop and take natural pictures of the surroundings- nothing posed about any of these scenes and they are still working villages.

Back in Halifax in time for dinner and a relaxing evening with the Marsh family before we head out again tomorrow.

We did decide though to spend a few hours after dinner to play Canadian Trivia 150 Year Special Edition.

Now not to blow their own trumpet but one of the immigrants won whilst natural inhabitants brought up the rear. If that is not bad enough, even Coco moved out of their room and in with the paper Canadians.