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June 2004

Halifax and the south coast

David Aaronson
2005-09-30 11:06:57

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The town of Lunenburg a little ways south of Halifax is probably the quintessential fishing village of Atlantic Canada (1). Founded as a British colony, it was actually made up of Swiss, German and French immigrants. The town's population grew steadily through the first half of the 20th century declining after the second world war. The core of the town is really well preserved and terribly cute now. Out of every four buildings one is probably an art or craft gallery now and another one is a seafood restaurant. Most of the houses are named after their original inhabitants.

The fisheries museum along the waterfront displays more fishing history than you can probably take (2). Also featured here is the Bluenose II, a replica of Bluenose (imagine that) which is featured on the Canadian dime and has not a whole lot of fame apart from that.

Between Lunenburg and Halifax lies a very scenic stretch of waterfront consisting of countless small harbors, rocky shoreline and the occasional beach. This is a fairly slow road to travel on but there are any number of diversions. This stretch of shoreline near Peggy's Cove marks a sudden geological change from low boggy coast to enormous boulders (3).

Peggy's Cove is the official photography spot of Nova Scotia. It really is that scenic and we feel sorry for the 100 or so people who actually have to live here. The area around the lighthouse is open for exploring (with appropriate danger warning signs everywhere) and is a neat place to wander about (4).

There is an actual cove at Peggy's Cove, and an associated fishing village (5). The specialty is lobster as you might assume based solely on the vast quantity of lobster traps lying around town. They can also be purchased as a sort of indigenous but awkward souvenir both here and in the Cape Breton area. We're not really sure what you do with a full sized lobster trap but they ...