South Shore

Our time with Jeff and Dianne is terrific. Being on the road for this extended period of time makes us very appreciative of a few days with our friends – chatting, relaxing, and mostly not being a tourist.

With renewed energy we head south. Over the next few days we’ll make our way down the south shore to Hawk Beach.

But first an update of our EV charging experience.

Spoiler alert: this isn’t going to be an easy stretch in an electric car.

First stop after leaving Lake Wentzell is a charger. We get a little complacent. The nearest charger at Bridgewater doesn’t get good reviews and doesn’t work out for us either. We only realize we aren’t charging midway through lunch at a nearby restaurant. Oh well. So we head south to the next charger at Liverpool and have to wait to charge. At least we are at a Sobeys so get groceries. (The wait is quite long; the driver in front of us also hoped to charge at Bridgewater and will do a long charge here. We understand as we’ll be doing the same.)

Whew. We have range again. We end the day at Thomas Raddall provincial park.

The next morning we opt for a scenic drive further south towards Shelburne with a loop back tonight to this campsite (rather than take down only to set up in a new location tonight).

We plan to charge in Shelburne but that charger doesn’t work. Oh well. It’s back up to Liverpool to charge. That’s a 50 kilometre annoyance. And we settle for hamburgers at McDonalds. Ouch!

Day 3 we set off on another scenic shoreline drive and today we’ve done our charger research. We plan a stop in Yarmouth in the afternoon. There are two slower chargers so a plug in at either one will extend our range enough to alleviate range anxiety. Digby is the next stop and that charger is fast (relatively speaking) and reliable.

…….

Now for the travelogue. We loved this stretch and also left a lot of interesting places unvisited between Halifax and Liverpool. Til next time 😉

Liverpool

When life serves you lemons make lemonade. Today is no exception. We hadn’t even planned to stop in Liverpool.

We’ve got time on our hands and go for a walk. We pass a great bicycle and outdoor shop so we poke our heads in. Pat has regretted not packing rubber boots and has been contemplating buying rubber boots ever since soggy StanFest. And it crosses his mind again after soggy Louisbourg. This shop has a huge selection of rubber boots. So win#1 – new rubber boots. I think these will come in handy in Fundy NP.

We get some great advice from the store proprietor. In behind the nearby garden store there is the delightful Concrete Creations. We wouldn’t have found this place on our own but really enjoy the walk around.

Pat chats with the artist. He and an assistant are working on the latest piece.

Some photos from our walk around follow. This place was a terrific find. Unfortunate we did not get to all the sculptures before being notified that our charge was completed.

(Note for next time – pop into Hank Snow Home Town Museum.)

Thomas Raddall Provincial Park

Carrying on, the drive down the south shore is terrific. We are on the old (and very scenic) highway. Nova Scotia has a great network of super highways – they get you from A to B efficiently and are really boring. Instead we trick google maps in order to to drive on the old highway system and take us to the interesting fishing towns. Google maps needs a scenic tourist setting!

Although we don’t stop, Sandy Cove, Summerville Beach and Carters Beach all look worthy of a week long stay.

Sandy Cove a week later during post tropical storm Lee

We end the day at Thomas Raddall Provincial Park. The sites are huge. There are a few bugs. Oh well.

We take the short trail out to the beach and discover mushrooms.

The beach is fabulous.

And we wrap up our day with a campfire.

(Note for next time – check out Kejimkujik Seaside NP)

Lockeport

Crescent Beach is impressive.

Also impressive is this rusted out navigation buoy.

The information board tells the history of a local legend- Marjorie Turner Bailey – an outstanding basketball and track athlete who competed at the Olympics and other international competitions (and is a descendent of the original Black Loyalists). Very impressive lady!

Way in the distance we see Gull Rock Lighthouse.

At nearby Lockport Rood’s Lighthouse Park we find more intriguing mushrooms.

The other bumper crop are small under ripe apples. They are the size of crabapples and have no taste. We see many ignored apple trees with their crop littering the ground. I’m not sure these apples would appeal to a discerning bear.

The village is a small fishing port. It isn’t very big but Lockeport has a nice vibe.

With some grand homes.

Shelburne

The town is lovely and we haven’t left ourselves much time to explore. The harbour is protected and the buildings along the waterfront all have historical significance.