Pictou is a beautiful little (3000 people or so) town on the Nova Scotia shore; it calls itself the “Birthplace of Nova Scotia” because the first Scottish immigrants landed there after a truly horrifying journey on the Hector, a Dutch cargo ship converted (badly) to passenger use. They had been lied to about what to expect (both on the journey and on arrival), but were able to survive and eventually thrive with the help of the local Mi’kmaq.
Here are some photos to tell the story of our visit.
MV Polar Prince was docked next to us in Pictou. It has quite a history, including bringing the ill-fated Titan submersible to the site of the wreck of the ill-fated Titanic.
We walked down to the Hector Heritage Quay – Town of Pictou (well worth a longer visit than we had time for!) before our official walking tour of the town.
We returned to the ship and met our guide for the morning, a descendent of Hector immigrants, Sandy Macdonald (he said that when he came back from university, he was one of seven Sandy Macdonalds in the phone book!), who took us on a walking tour of the town.
True to the Scottish heritage of the town, the Pearl Mist was played away by bagpipers. I’d like to come back sometime with more control of my itinerary.
We had a pleasant afternoon sailing towards Halifax, interrupted by a brief downpour.
The ride got bumpy after dinner and stayed that way – which probably accounts for losing the Internet after dinner!