It is soooo good to be back in Nova Scotia for a few weeks this summer.
After a LONG 24 hour drive, we arrived at dawn, to be greeted by our four legged neighbors. The deer are plentiful on our island, and they clearly LOVE the weeds that I’ve been cultivating in the back garden. (!)
Speaking of weeds, the Alder bushes have grown so high, that we literally had to beat our way into the house. I felt like we had entered into one of those fairy tales where the forest has come alive and taken over the woodcutter’s cottage. Sleeping Beauty (okay that was a castle) and Hansel and Gretel come immediately to mind. You can see what I mean.
It was so hot the first few days, that the only thing to do was go to the beach.
We have our own beach – a typical rocky Nova Scotia island beach. You can see the massive fog bank on the horizon – this is usually gone by July but I guess the persistent rains this year have encouraged it to hang around. Such a wall of fog clearly marks the end of the known world. It seems impenetrable, especially when you are running you boat alongside it.
We have a lovely neighborhood beach located at the end of Second Peninsula near Lunenburg. Perfect for a quick excursion to the sea.
But when it is really hot, you have to go to the local big surf – Hirtles Beach near Kingsburg is an easy (and scenic) 15 minute drive.
Nova Scotia has many many beautiful sand beaches that rival any in the world. I’m pretty sure most Canadians don’t know that. I will admit that the water is a little chilly. 
The great thing about these beaches is that they are rarely crowded – in fact these pictures depict Hirtles on a BUSY day.
Even Marina LOVES going to the beach.
I always feel that Canadians are great at travelling the world – many have been numerous times to the Caribbean or Europe – but few actually travel their own country. I cannot tell you how many people I chat with in Toronto who have NEVER been to Canada’s East Coast provinces. Maybe that’s a good thing. Beaches such as these abound in Nova Scotia and are unspoiled and unpolluted – a rare treasure.
opinionknitted 