Category: Life

Pictou, Nova Scotia

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.

Old Pictou Train Station
We became honorary Nova Scotians without having to drink anything!
Shops on the Pictou waterfront
Bunks on the Hector
Halloween on the waterfront

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.

Old Customs House (now a hotel)
The past is very present in Pictou
Pictou was so important in the early 19th Century that Samuel Cunard moved here to run his steamship business
Former Bank of Nova Scotia
Former Methodist Church
Old post office
The old Post Office has a window in its chimney
Market Square (Hector Monument at the top)
Hector Monument in Market Square

Hector (reconstruction)

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.

Farewell, Pictou!

We had a pleasant afternoon sailing towards Halifax, interrupted by a brief downpour.

Ominous clouds – and they delivered!
Cape George Lighthouse

The ride got bumpy after dinner and stayed that way – which probably accounts for losing the Internet after dinner!

Charlottetown, PEI – small place, big fun

We took two excursions today. The first took us to the Green Gables Heritage Place and the Cavendish Cliffs Oceanview Overlook in Prince Edward Island National Park, which are both on the north side of the island. Charlottetown is on the south side, so we also got to enjoy scenery in both directions, starting with downtown.

Province House (Birthplace of Confederation)
St. Paul’s Parish Church
It’s Scarecrow Month in Charlottetown!
Old county jail, now a bar/restaurant

We reached the Green Gables historic site about 45 minutes after we left the port; there’s a visitor centre, the house where Lucy Maud Montgomery’s cousins lived (she was a frequent visitor there, and they helped inspire her to write Anne of Green Gables), a couple of walking trails, and the inevitable gift shop. We had a bit over an hour there, which wasn’t quite enough to see everything.

Green Gables
Lego Green Gables
The real house
Crow on the Haunted Wood trail
A celebrity cemetery!
Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Grave
Back in the Haunted Wood
Mink on the boardwalk
Lovers’ Lane Trail

Our next stop was the Ocean View Overlook at the Cavendish Cliffs area of Prince Edward Island National Park.

Cavendish Literary Festival
Cavendish Cliffs Oceanview Lookout
Cavendish Cliffs
Herring Gull on the Rocks
New London Lighthouse
Lots of lobster traps
Maybe next time
Mussel farming
Our guide said these were oystermen
Llama guarding other livestock
More scarecrows (at the Lobster Pot at the Port)

We had lunch on the ship, which might have been a mistake because our second excursion, a solar-powered pedal bus excursion through downtown Charlottetown, took us to two bars: The Old Triangle for potato skins, sweet potato fries, and beer, then to 1858 Caesar Bar for chicken wings and other adult beverages (their speciality is a Caesar, which is a Bloody Mary with Clamato juice – not on either of our diets!). We also drove by the beach at Victoria Park. But it wasn’t a good excursion for photography because the rain shields were deployed.

Our afternoon sightseeing vehicle

This evening, Mike Pendergast came back for more island music during cocktail hour; he was, again, delightful. He told me he deliberately doesn’t have any social media presence, but his son, who is also a musician, does: Shane Pendergast.

Our after-dinner entertainment was a local storyteller and comedian, Patrick Ledwell. He kept us laughing with PEI stories!

I would like to have had more time to explore Charlottetown and PEI, but we’re off to our next port, Pictou, Nova Scotia.