Basinview Motel Brochure

When I was visiting family in Scova Notia a while back I went by the local tourism center and looked at all the display cards for all the motels, bed and breakfasts, and other tourist attractions. I noticed that theirs wasn’t very oomphy. Blue text on white stock. Others had colour photos to attract the customers eye. Figured I would do something with a bit more pizzazz. Given how cheap colour printing  has become, and how small the runs you have to get are, this will hopefully generate a little more business for them.

When I was there I noticed lots of hummingbirds flitting about, so used that as the image. Working on maybe turning that idea into a logo as well.

Hammock - North Mountain

The view out of my hammock on the North Mountain in Nova Scotia. Ahhhh....a night in the forest.

Hard to see, but it’s there.

I was hoping for a more scenic spot, looking out across the Bay of Fundy or the Annapolis Basin, but after a long day of walking, and another long day of walking ahead, I just needed to get my head down and go to sleep.

Keji Sunset

One of my favourite photos. I took it on my fantastic trip to Kejimkujik last year.

I like it so much it’s been the background on my laptop for a few months.

Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia (part 2)

After I came back from my jaunt to Kejimkujik, I decided to take a wander to the gloriously named Smiths Cove Lookoff Provincial Park. I was told that what had been there hadn’t been paid much mind in many years. The topo map told me that it was the highest point around there, so I decided to find out what I could see.

Again I took the old railway line, now a nice trail that runs right by the families place, out there.

Their place, with the swell new garage.

I came to a trail that looked as though it might lead down to the water, so I decided to head down it to see where I ended up. And I came to a beach with the water ebbed out, but the tide rapidly flowing back in

Bear Island in the foreground, Digby Gap off to the left, the North Mountain in the distance, that I had traversed the week before.

Ghillie suit from the deep.


Fun to beachcomb for a while. And pretty crazy to see how fast the tide comes rolling in.

Just before coming to the Bear River, I passed through a ravine that had been blasted out of the rock to allow the railway line to go through.

If I’d been with someone and had some climbing gear I’d have been tempted to climb the walls.

Pinkney’s Point.

Abandoned rail bridge over the mouth of the Bear River. Pinkney’s Point is off to the left.

Like the rail bridge over the Joggins, this one has also been left to deteriorate. But with this one they’ve gone to the trouble to dig out at the bases to prevent people from using it. Mainly ATVers. A determined walker could still clamber up there.

The rail bridge from the new Highway 101 bridge.

Looking south down the Bear River, towards the town of the same name.

Bear Island in the foreground and the Digby Gap in the background.

Digby in the distance.

The trip up and down showed a few more great places for rock climbing.

Can’t wait to go back.

Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia (part 1)

Previously I’ve shown some of my adventures in one area around the Annapolis Basin in Nova Scotia this past summer. And also one a little further afield.

I thought I would show off some more photos I took in this beautiful area.  (And as always, clicking on the pics will bring up a much larger version.)

My brother and his wife live in the bucolic village of Smiths Cove, which is a ways to the east and south of Digby. 

This is the view they enjoy. Looking across the Annapolis Basin towards the Digby Gap.

And this is what it looks like at dusk.

I went with Phyllis to her job at the Home Hardware in Digby one morning to wander around and take in the sights. Absolutely spectacular morning. Blue, blue skies, bright sunshine, reflecting off the water, clean air. Wow.

This is at the south end of Digby, looking south-east towards Smiths Cove.

Looking south across the Joggins.

Looking south-east towards Smiths Cove and Bear Island.

Strolling a little further up the beach.

The view to the south and east.

Just north of Digby. The fishing wharf on the right, with its scallop trawlers.

On the northern edges of Digby is a little cove called the Raquette.

The castle like building on the end of the point there is called The Pines. (Or the Digby Pines Golf Resort and Spa more correctly.) Originally built by a local businessman in 1905, it was bought by Canadian Pacific Railway, and become one of their hotels in a chain of famous ones that dotted the country, including (but not limited to) Château Frontenac in Quebec City, Royal York in Toronto, Hotel Vancouver, Empress Hotel in Victoria and the Banff Springs Hotel and Chateau Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. CP sold the hotel off in the fifties and it is now operated by the Nova Scotia government.

Having walked around the Raquette, this now looks back in the direction of Digby.

Just past the Pines is Annapolis Basin Look-Off Provincial Park. More like Parking Lot than Park. That’s about all it is. Space for a few cars to park and a railing that denotes the “look-off” part. While the facilities aren’t so impressive, the view certainly is. Way off in the distance is Annapolis Royal, the oldest (still inhabited) European settlement in Canada.

On the walk back I strolled through Digby some more, got some food for my upcoming adventures, stopped in to say hi to Phyllis again, and then strolled back to Smiths Cove. The trail that took me there was at one point the Canadian Pacific Railway track that would have carried passengers to the Pines. Sadly it’s no longer a railway track, but it is a very nicely maintained walking trail now.

The trail loops around the Joggins. (those Scova Notians sure give some odd names to their inlets and coves. The Joggins, the Raquette.) This looks north, back towards Digby and the Digby Gap.

A little bit further along the trail and another view of Digby.

The Big Joggins, which is pretty much the mouth of the Acacia Brook as it flows into the Annapolis Valley. The abandoned railway bridge is what divides the Big Joggins from the regular Joggins. While the trail is nicely maintained, I guess the money isn’t there to maintain the bridges, so they’re in a state of disrepair. You can still cross them on foot if you’re feeling adventurous, but it’s recommended you use the nice new road bridge instead. I of course, crossed the railway bridge.

Great day, great weather, great hike.

Birchbark Canoe Display in Kejimkujik

I gave a bit of a glimpse into this beautiful display in my writeup on my trip to Kejimkujik.

I’m really kicking myself for not taking many more pictures. But I thought I would isolate some (missed a few) of the photos from the displays and show them in addition to the scant photos I took of the actual canoe itself. I figure some people would like to see a glimpse of what’s there. If you have a love of canoeing, and an interest in birchbark canoes, Kejimkujik is worth a look.