Long Cove, Port Medway

Today we walked from Port Medway to Long Cove.

It was good to feel the warmth of the sun after a cold, wet week.

There is a little harbour at the end of the dirt road and Long Cove cutting inland.

Wire lobster traps were stacked up on the dock.

As well as the older styled wooden pots.

Our picnic spot had to be back at the limestone rocks,

with amazing views.

Apple and cherry blossom, plus wild azalea and bunch berry flowers, helped to add colour to our hike.

These tiger swallowtail butterflies enjoyed the heat of the track.

Crescent Beach, February 2015

Today we had an exciting trip to Crescent Beach. The La Have River was frozen over. But the ferry was managing to keep the crossing clear.

The sea was a solid layer of ice, except for the pack ice on each side of the ferry. The ferry dragged itself through the blocks of ice.

Just getting onto Crescent Beach was quite a feat. The sea ice and snow made a solid bank.

There were loads of tree patterns in the sand, and ice stalactites.

It was good to walk on the sand without the fear of falling on ice.

The ferry was still keeping the route open as we drove home along the river.

Lunenburg Winter 2015

We didn’t have a white Christmas here at Lunenburg, but we’ve seen nothing but the white stuff since the New Year.

The Back Harbour is usually frozen over in the winter, but it seems even more so this year, with the covering of snow on top of the ice.

It’s difficult to see what is land and what is sea, although you can clearly see the ocean in the background.

The Polar Prince icebreaker, sits in the ice.

I have never seen the front harbour frozen like this, since we came here in 2007!

It doesn’t look as if the lobster boats are going to get to their traps any time soon.

The snow around the town is loaded onto lorries and cleared away, but there are still some big heaps.

Even more snow is heaped at the roadside at St. John’s Church.

Hanging icicles look very pretty.

Today is another snowy, stormy day, with several more snow days forecast for this week. I really love winter and snow, but it’s so cold that there’s not much we can do outside. It’s even too cold to go skiing!

Cape Split Revisited

The last time we visited Cape Split was in October 2012. What a thrill it was to hike this week-end and see the spring flowers.

The forest floor was white with these little white flowers. They had 5 petals and looked a bit like wood anemones. I think they are called Grass of Parnassus.

I love the vibrant pink of the Purple Trillium.  Cape Split must have the most specimens I have seen anywhere. There were hundreds of plants!

I photographed the old broken tree last time, but it has now lost one of its huge branches.

The white and yellow flower is called Dutchman’s Breeches. Seemingly, the flowers look like little pantaloons (upside down), hanging on a clothes line.

Of course the violets added colour everywhere.

At the end of the trail is Cape Split itself. The trail opens into a meadow and looks out over the Bay of Fundy. This is where we always sit to have our picnic and watch the seabirds.

The seagulls seemed to be happy that they were on an island.

There was more colour to be seen as we drove back through Scots Bay.

I remembered, too late, that I was going to look for Ami McKay’s house at Scots Bay. She is the author of ‘The Birth House’ and the book is set in this rural location. I reread this book after my last visit to Cape Split and could imagine the characters as she described them.