Long Drives and Lighthouses

Crikey, I don't know where to begin. Putting up an early post last week has thrown me all out of whack.

Rob and I decided to take a very long drive last Sunday and drove all the way round to Yarmouth via Digby and then eventually back home via the South Shore stopping at Shelburne on the way back. I have highlighted the area we covered on the small map insert below.

This is a part of the Province that neither of us had seen yet and there is much to explore in that area, of course we couldn't do it all and I had to be pretty selective as to where I wanted to stop. My main reason for heading down that way was to visit Cape Forchu Lighthouse at Yarmouth (Pictured below). It was the perfect day to see it weaher-wise and after an early start we got there at around 11 am. I was so impressed by the lighthouse, it is an odd shape, but the grounds around it are so beautifully maintained. I half expected it to be like Peggy's and crammed full of tourists, but when we got there I think there were 3 other people milling around.

After spending quite a bit of time there we than headed to a place called Lower West Pubnico which has an excellent Acadian Historical Village, sadly the fog had rolled in a bit by then so it was a little on the grey side, but still very enjoyable. From there we headed to Shelburne, and oh what a treat. This place is just so beautiful...Yes you guessed it I found a house I would like to live in there...in fact there are several. A new adaptation of Moby Dick (TV Mini series) has not long been filmed there and it was also the backdrop to the film "The Scarlet Letter". The whole old Dock Street is like stepping back in time. More and more movie companies are looking at Nova Scotia to film now as it can pass for New England and it costs a lot less to film here than in the States.

Talking of films, I watched "The Shipping News" again this week, and for the first time noticed that part of it was filmed here. You can almost see our house in one scene, where Cate Blanchet has been killed in a car accident (supposedly she and the chap she was with had driven off The Jersey Bridge)...In actuality that is The Mackay Bridge just around the corner from us. I also found out this week that a number of stars have holiday homes here mostly in St Margaret's Bay, Tom Selleck being one of them.

I digress, so after Shelburne, we were pretty knackered and stopped only once more briefly in Liverpool to grab a couple of shots of the Lighthouse there. Then it was back home. We left at 7.30 am and got back at 11 pm and boy did I sleep well that night!

I have been to the doctors again this week and have been referred for an X Ray of my hip which had been giving me a lot of pain over the last few weeks. My doctor thinks that I have arthritis, but the X Ray should confirm this. Rather this than a hip joint problem although neither is good. I am falling apart lately!

Hip problem or no, it didn't stop us getting out and about today, gorgeous weather, a real scorcher. Rob, Nancy, Suzanne, Cheryl and myself headed off to Sambro for a boat trip out to Sambro Head Island Lighthouse (featured at the top of the page). They only take people over to the island once a year now. It was so lovely on the boat and the Island was fab, even though getting on it and up it was very tricky for me especially, rocks and boggy grass on way up and down, but worth it, So pleased I went and got to see the oldest working lighthouse in North America! Big thanks to Rob (UK) for initially finding out about this event for me. It was certainly a highlight of my time here so far.

After taking yet more photos around Sambro and Ketch Harbour on the way back we then attended to annual Photo club BBQ out in Fall River, a lovely evening to be sat under the trees and having a few beers.

It's Rob's birthday tomorrow, and we don't really plan on doing much, but one things for sure fish and chips at Wharf Wraps will be on the cards in the evening.

Cape Forchu Lighthouse Yarmouth


Acadian Village at Lower West Pubnico


Picturesque Shelburne


Gilbert's Cove Lighthouse Nr Digby


Where we went!