0509 Marvilette
Beach to Annapolis Royal
11th
May 2016
Mink, churches,
and scallops
I had an
excellent breakfast with Russ and his wife and friends, and then headed on
north up the coast. Once again it was a
clear blue sky – Hopefully this will last for a few more days yet. I mentioned yesterday that this area is very
French, or Arcadian, anyway, with the original settlers having come from France
in the early 1700’s, and then trying to settle here. But with the British also trying to have
influence in N America, the French never had too much peace, but today their
descendants are certainly making their presence felt. French is everywhere, with signs
predominantly in French and occasionally in English, with boulangeries beside
the road, and the Arcadian Flag everywhere – This is the French tricolor, but
with a star up in the top corner. In
fact many houses not only have the flag flying outside, but also have a big
star on the wall of the house. My first
thought when I saw it was that the Star Bellied Sneetches (Dr Seuss !) lived
here !! (Edit – I found out about the
flag today – It is called the Stella Maris).
The Nova Scotian
flag is also prominent (a cross of St Andrew – The Scottish flag really), as
well as the Canadian Maple Leaf national flag.
Very patriotic, this lot !
Having bought
some fresh bread rolls from a little bakery, my next surprise was to see a sign
advertising “Mink Compost” for sale !! I
have to admit I have never seen mink compost before – Wonder if it is any good
?
Shortly
afterwards I came round the corner and there, after only seeing houses for many
kilometres, was the most enormous church with a tall spire that looked more
like an Austrian Castle than a church – Most out of place. I drove up but it was all closed, and was
apparently a museum, that of the Church of Saint Marie. (Edit : It is tallest
wooden church in N America, built in 1903.
There is also a French University nearby). I could find out very little else about it,
so continued up the road – and not 10 minutes later came to the little town of
St Bernard where there was yet another enormous church. This one was open, so I was able to go in
and find out more.
Built between
1910 and 1942, the outside is made of granite blocks that were hauled 120 miles
by ox cart, shaped by hand, with apparently one layer being laid each
year. The inside is even more bizarre –
It is totally plaster over wooden lathe, but has been designed to resemble
stone inside. It certainly is a major construction, but after seeing old
churches and cathedrals in Europe so recently, this comes across as a very fake
attempt to re-create the architecture of Europe. The seemingly wrought iron lamps inside are
in fact wooden and painted silver to look like metal, the
wood is very
obviously sheet wood nailed in place – Sorry, it just didn’t work for me. I understood from Russ over breakfast this
morning that the French came over here and were trying to build Catholic
churches to establish their position here, while the English were apparently
coming over here building Anglican churches in competition, and I can start to
see that here. I passed though some very
small villages today that had several churches all beside each other. Once I saw sign posted to “Church Hill” had 5
or 6 separate churches all on the side of one hill. All most odd.
I then passed
around the little town of Digby and turned west down a spit of land that just
out into the Bay of Fundy. I had thought
that it might be an interesting drive, however it turned out that the road was
actually in the centre of the spit with trees on either side, so that apart
from occasion glimpses of water, it wasn’t very scenic at all. I got to the then where there was a ferry
across to the last part of the spit, and although I didn’t go on the ferry, it
was fascinating to watch. The flow of
water between the two land points is VERY fast – especially since the Bay of
Fundy has some of the largest tide rises in the world. As a result, as soon as the ferry left one
side, it had to crab its way sideways across the inlet, with engines going flat
out just to prevent it being carried away on the tide. And then when it suddenly got into calmer
water near the opposite bank, the skipper had to throw it in reverse to get it
into the landing ramp at a reasonable speed.
Fascinating to watch from up on the hill !
From there I went
on round the end of the spit to Whale Cove – Which had very little of anything
except a little cove – And a nice looking camp site, although it was a bit too
early to stop ! Coming back up the road
towards Digby again, I saw evidence of beaver activity, but didn’t spot any
beavers. I also found a delightful spot
beside a lake to stop for some lunch – There aren’t too many stopping places
around here, so I grabbed this one as soon as I saw it.
Then it was on
into Digby – Apparently the Scallop capital of the world !! I planned to buy some for my supper tonight –
But all I could find were restaurants – dozens of them – all selling cooked
scallop meals, as well as other seafood.
Eventually I went down to the wharf area and went into one of the
seafood places and asked where I could by some fresh scallops, and they sent me
all round the back of town to the only fish processing plant with a sales
outlet ! Obviously most people just eat
them in the restaurants. 1 lb of
scallops, which was 22 good sixed ones, for Can $18, which I thought was pretty
good. Fresh off the boat last night,
never been frozen. So I popped them in
my fridge, and set off again.
Digby actually
has quite some history (like much of NS), with old Victorian cannons along the
front, required due to the activity of Privateers in the area, plus of course
the British / French war of 1793. On a
more peaceful note, the area pioneered methods for the efficient commercial
harvest of scallops, and that of course its primary industry today.
I didn’t go far
then I turned back out to explore yet another spit out into the Bay of Fundy –
This time looking for a Balancing Rock that is supposed to be interesting. However after about a 30 minute drive down
the spit, I found out that the Balancing Rock is in fact offshore and you need
to catch a small ferry out to see it – And the ferry doesn’t start till late
May ! How hum, and it was back towards
Annapolis Royal, and looking for a camp site.
On the way out
onto the spit earlier I had crossed a bridge under which the water was
absolutely rushing through – You could hear it even with the car windows
closed. I saw a sign saying it was the
only tidal power generating station in Canada or something – I have to cross it
again tomorrow so will check it out further.
But they are obviously using the high tides of the Bay of Funday for
power generation.
Saw an
interesting sign for this County of Annapolis – “Naturally Rooted”, it
says. Given the Australian meaning of
the word “rooted” (it means “useless” or “totally knackered”), I had a good
chuckle at that one ! But there are
certainly some very elegant and stately homes in this area, and one sees them
all over the place. So not too rooted,
then.
Just outside
Annapolis Royal I saw a campsite beside the water – Coincidentally right
opposite the facility where they generate the electricity from the tidal flow
that I had seen earlier. There wasn;t a
soul around, but the gates were open, so I wandered in and found a delightful,
and very big camp site, right along the water’s edge. I eventually found someone, and they said
they weren’t officially open, but that I could just camp down by the water as
long as I didn’t need any facilities.
Perfect !
So I set up right
beside the water, and after spending some time working on the car (it was
filthy after being on docks and at sea
for 3 weeks or so), and then I prepared my scallops.
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