BROODING NOVA SCOTIA

BROODING NOVA SCOTIA
Its misty eastern shore holds a wealth of history and natural attractions
There aren't any luxury hotels. Just a few widely spaced motels and B&Bs.
The restaurants usually are rustic, even if the food is wonderful.
And golf courses are few.
This is the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia — the least-visited coast of the province, but perhaps
the most intriguing.
Here, among empty homesteads and abandoned islands, the difficulty of life in the Maritimes —
perched between sea and stone — lies exposed.
Here, too, the shipwrecks that punctuate the coast bear witness to the fickle Atlantic — ready to
take in an instant what it grudgingly gives to the inhabitants of its margins.
This is Maritimes travel without a lot of tourism.
The Eastern Shore begins in Halifax and ends in Canso, 135 miles to the east. But the only major
highway, Route 107, ends 22 miles east of Dartmouth — a Halifax suburb. After that, the Marine
Drive, as it's known, is two-lane blacktop, and 135 miles become more like 230 miles as Route 7,
then Routes 211 and 316, loop inland around dozens of bay heads.
In Musquodoboit Harbour, you can turn south along East Petpeswick Road and head 71⁄2 miles to
Martinique Beach, the longest in Nova Scotia. The waterways behind the beach are excellent for
kayaking.
In Head of Jeddore, a settlement, not surprisingly, near the head of Jeddore Harbour, is the
Lobster Shack, which serves an astonishing seafood stew, along with lobster, in a dining room
overlooking the water. It is a must-stop on any Eastern Shore trip. Indeed, the combination of the
Martinique Beach and Head of Jeddore make for a fine day trip out of Halifax.
A bit farther up the coast, in West Jeddore, Barry Colpitts' home is hard to miss. He's adorned it
with folk art and wry observations and sells equally satiric wood sculpture in a small outbuilding. If
he takes a liking to you, he'll show you his studio — a tiny workshop in a barn up a trail through a
pasture. Barry is a Haligonian, as people from Halifax are called, who decided years ago to move
closer to the land. His work has been displayed in galleries and museums throughout the
continent and is reasonably priced.
Not far to the east is Tangier, where Coastal Adventures, a long-established kayaking outfitter, is
based. One of its tour directors, Scott Cunningham, literally wrote the book about paddling in the
region, "Sea Kayaking in Nova Scotia." Coastal Adventures offers a variety of tours and classes
for everyone from beginners to experts. It rents kayaks, too.
Also in Tangier is J. Willy Krauch & Sons Ltd., whose smoked fish is sold throughout North
America. Willy came to Canada from Denmark and brought the Danish smoking process with
him. Besides salmon, the company smokes mackerel, eel, herring and trout. If you like smoked
fish, this is definitely worth the stop. Try the lemon-smoked salmon chunks.
Kayaking heaven
All along the drive are glimpses of intimate bays and — when the road rises to cross headlands
— of the Atlantic, with strings of islands to the horizon. Many of the smaller towns and
settlements are on side roads or loops off the main road.
Some of these towns have suffered in recent years from the collapse of the fishing industry in the
region, but the lobstermen are thriving.

This is kayaking heaven, with a near-endless choice of waters in which to paddle — from
sheltered coves to open ocean — and incredible scenery. The coast has scores of islands, many
of which contain ruins of long-abandoned farmsteads or fishing camps. The smaller islets are
often haul-outs for seals or rookeries for the abundant cormorants, terns and gulls.
A word of caution: Once you get out of shallow, sheltered bays, the water is bone-chilling cold,
even in midsummer. So wear a wetsuit if you plan to paddle among the outer islands. Also pay
attention to the weather. Few places are more exposed to the fury of the North Atlantic than the
Eastern Shore, as the many wreck sites attest.
It also can be very foggy — part of the brooding mystique of the Maritimes. But for paddlers,
whiteout off a rocky coastline is very scary, even with a GPS receiver to help navigation.
One thing kayakers don't have to worry much about is boat traffic. The only commercial boats
operating are the lobster boats. Few pleasure craft ply these waters. This is definitely not
Barnegat Bay on Memorial Day weekend.
Launch sites are sometimes difficult to find, but most of the locals are fairly nonchalant about
parking. Any spot that doesn't block someone else usually is OK.
Odd sight
Sheet Harbour is about halfway between Halifax and Canso and is the biggest community along
the Marine Drive, with several motels and B&Bs, two supermarkets, a hospital and numerous
other services. It's a good place to stock up for the drive to Canso. The café at the Fairwinds
Motel serves splendid fish and chips.
Sheet Harbour also has one of the oddest sights on the Eastern Shore, Mom's, a bar that
occupies the interior of an old oil-storage tank. Be forewarned, however: It looks a lot more
interesting from the outside. Inside, it's dark, dank and just a bit of a dive.
The Marquis of Dufferin in Port Dufferin is one of the nicer hotels along the Marine Drive, with a
terrific vista across a bay to the ocean and a pier for watching the spectacular sunsets. Hosts
David and Patricia Criss are attentive to their guests, and their evenings in the hotel bar are not to
be missed.
Another 12 miles or so brings one to Sherbrooke Village, Nova Scotia's largest museum and the
only real tourist destination along the Marine Drive. Much like Colonial Williamsburg, Sherbrooke,
which has its roots in shipbuilding, fishing and gold mining, attempts to depict a historical
community, in this case between 1860 and World War I.
It has 80 buildings, 25 of which are open to the public. Among them are wood-turning and
blacksmith shops and a fin de siècle tea room. It hosts numerous events, from Celtic music
gatherings to chowder festivals.
Cable ferry
Sherbrooke is a turning point in the Marine Drive. Visitors can head north, away from the coast
and toward Antigonish. The remaining one-third of the coastal trip is through less-settled country,
with fewer and smaller towns.
It also includes a ferry ride across Country Harbor, at a cost of $5 (Canadian) on a boat that hauls
itself across the fjord-like harbor along a cable.
East of Country Harbour the coastal road is Route 316, which follows some of the least inhabited
shoreline in Nova Scotia — stark and stunningly beautiful — through such communities as
Charlos Cove, Felix Harbour and Tor Bay. These waters are terrific for secluded paddling.
About 40 miles out, Route 316 reaches Route 16, where a right turn brings you to Canso, a
fishing town with a 400-year history. It is here, at the easternmost tip of mainland Nova Scotia,
that Western Union and Commercial Cable Co. anchored the North American ends of their trans-
Atlantic cables.
The town has an excellent museum, several B&Bs and motels and a campground.

Here, too, is Canso Islands National Historic Site. A short boat ride takes you to Grassy Island,
where colonial-era fishermen established a thriving community. The French were the first to
exploit the rich fishing grounds in the area, and this is one of the places France and Britain played
out a small episode of their battle for dominion in the Northern Hemisphere during the 17th and
18th centuries.
Perhaps it's only fitting, then, that this trip end where much of Nova Scotia's history began.
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