We slept in before waking up to a chilly morning. We turned on the heat awhile just to take the chill out of the air. We did our usual morning routine and the 3 of us left camp at 10:30 for a driving tour down the Digby Neck –the thin finger of land that sticks out into the Bay of Fundy. It was overcast and didn’t feel like 69 degrees, especially near the water, although there was no wind to speak of today. Before heading out of Digby, we took the road out to Point Prim Lighthouse.
Standing at the base of the lighthouse, we got a good view of Digby Gut–a glacially carved breach on North Mountain which allows the water from the Bay of Fundy to enter Annapolis Basin.
We took the path down to the cliffs. The rock formations there were very distinct.
The outgoing tide left pools of water sitting in the rocks.
We couldn’t get close enough to see what might be living in them because of this huge chasm that separated us.
This poor little mole lay dead in our path as we walked back to the truck. I took a picture of it because we had mole issues in our lawn back home and this way I could check it out up close.
From there, we hopped on Highway 217–the Digby Neck and Island Scenic Highway.
It was in the worse condition and had the most potholes of any road we’ve been on so far. We started our driving adventure at the end of St. Mary’s Bay where the tide was way out.
Farther along, we came across an area where the bridge was washed out from some major weather event. We saw more fish compounds out in the water here.
Along our route we passed near or through many small towns and fishing villages. One of the bigger ones was Sandy Cove. The tide was also out there leaving the beach sandy and dry.
The boats at the dock seemed to be floating in a nice channel of deeper water.
The last town on Digby Neck before the first ferry was East Ferry. The ferry there connects East Ferry with the town of Tiverton on Long Island.
There is another ferry that will take you from Long Island to Brier Island and the end of the road. We weren’t taking the ferries today, but we did watch the ferry cross the opening, fighting the swift current all the way.
We hung around to watch it unload on on our side and reload to go back across. It carries about 21 vehicles.
Standing at the ferry dock, I could see this beautiful lighthouse high on the bluffs of Long Island.
The fish shanties and lobster traps sitting on the docks across the way in Tiverton, were high and dry.
Leaving there, we started our 48 mile drive back to Digby. We made a short detour down to the harbor in Little River.
Things were dry there, too. I talked to a truck driver who was delivering empty lobster containers while Bob walked down the other dock and talked to a guy who was a mate on a scallop boat.
We both enjoyed our separate conversations to 2 guys who were a wealth of information about lobsters and scallops. The rocky cliffs at the harbor entrance were very striking.
We left there and continued back along Highway 217. When we returned to Sandy Cove, the tide had come in and the bay was full. In 3 hours, the water had moved that much. Amazing!
Our last detour before returning to Digby was to Gulliver’s Cove. Today, the waters in the Bay of Fundy were calm, unlike yesterday.
We walked the beach a little, picked up a few rocks and driftwood souvenirs, and headed back to town. We made a couple of stops before heading back to camp–the liquor store, the gas station, and the seafood market for some fresh scallops for tonight’s dinner.
Back at camp, I did some wash, made a phone call via Skype (2.6 cents/min. vs 65 cents/min via cell phone in Canada) to my parents, and sat outside doing some reading. Auggie enjoyed his time outside and made a new friend from the campground.
The skies cleared up and it was sunny for awhile before the clouds returned. There may be a shower overnight. The campground cleared out this morning and that left only 3 of us here, but by dinnertime 8 more campers had arrived. We enjoyed just sitting back and watching the newcomers set up camp. Bob cooked a nice dinner of steak and scallops and we relaxed the rest of the evening. Digby (and Digby Neck) are as far west and south as we plan to go in Nova Scotia. Tomorrow, we’ll head east, back to Truro for the night and then on to Cape Breton Island–off the northeastern coast of Nova Scotia.
