Lose yourself in the natural beauty of Nova Scotia (From Dorset Echo)

Lose yourself in the natural beauty of Nova Scotia

2:00pm Sunday 6th March 2011 in Travel By Andy Martin

IF you arrive on the continent of North America slightly dazed and jetlagged after a long flight, it’s unlikely you’d confuse Canada for the United States, even if the accent is similar.

As we strolled down the ramp into arrivals at Halifax Airport one Thursday evening last October, a smartly dressed pensioner sporting a maple leaf badge on his lapel said in his best official voice: “Welcome to Canada, gentlemen.”

Something of a contrast then with the approach a little further south, where visitors are mostly greeted with general surliness and a bit of the third degree.

So, as the start of a first visit to Canada, this was promising.

And it set the tone for the warmth of the welcome everywhere.

The delightful city of Halifax is the capital of Nova Scotia, one of country’s three maritime provinces, along with New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Together they are branded as Canada’s Atlantic Coastline. Nova Scotia alone has 4,625 miles of coastline, every inch by turns dramatic and beautiful.

This swing across the province began with a brief overnight in Halifax but you’d be well advised to allow a couple of days to enjoy its historic sites, excellent shops and restaurants before heading off.

Our first stop after Halifax was Peggy’s Cove, a hamlet of around 60 inhabitants, whose centrepiece is a beautiful red and white lighthouse set amid huge, undulating waves of stunning granite rock.

Here the crashing surf continues to erode and shape the coastline as it has done for thousands of years. In 1811 six fisherman and their families became the first permanent residents of Peggy’s Cove with an 800 acre land grant from George III.

Further round the sweep of St Margaret’s Bay lies Mahone Bay, a charming seaside town whose most photographed attraction is three churches with their lovely spires, side by side, overlooking the water.

Busloads of tourists stop at the ‘Three Sisters’ before heading to the town’s numerous arts and crafts shops. During this trip the brilliant, annual scarecrow festival was in full swing.

The stop for the night was Lunenberg, a UNESCO-designated, old colonial settlement with great fishing and shipbuilding heritage, hilly streets and charming Victorian mansions, such as our hotel, the exceptional Mariners King.

While you’re here, don’t miss Pauline Dickinson’s Windbag Company on Montague Street, where old sails from ships that plied the waters around Nova Scotia are turned into unique designer bags. Her reputation is growing with orders from across the continent. The company’s motto reflects its recycling ethos – ‘from blew to green’.

Driving Novia Scotia’s South Shore is a hugely relaxing experience as you soak up the freedom of the open road and drink in the stunning scenery.

If you visit Kejimkujik National Park, 381 square kilometres of forests, hills and interconnected rives and lakes you’ll need more than the two hours we had there. Like so much of Nova Scotia, it’s very easy to lose yourself in its beauty and tranquility. Bizarrely the main river through ‘Keji’ is the Mersey, which flows all the way down to Liverpool, some 40 miles south.

In Keji you can swim, canoe, hike, camp, picnic or simply sit at the water’s edge and contemplate. You may even catch a glimpse of a black bear, though it’s unlikely.

And the greens, reds and yellow of the trees give a real feel of New England in the Fall.

The national park is also a wonderful place to stargaze, having been designated a dark sky preserve in 2010.

A few miles north, the town of Annapolis Royal is worth a stop, if only for the quaint shops and the great views over the water from historic Fort Anne.

The final leg of this journey begins at Digby Neck, hopping on and off two ferries to get to Brier Island in the Bay of Fundy, which separates Nova Scotia from its northern neighbour, New Brunswick.

The Bay of Fundy boasts some of the highest tides and best whalewatching in the world – and the two are connected.

The 50 feet tidal range is five times higher than typical tides on the Atlantic coastline and with each daily tide cycle, 100 billion tonnes of seawater flows in and out of the bay, more than the combined flow of the world’s freshwater rivers.

This constant upswelling, especially where the bay meets the Gulf of Maine, churns up the nutrients and bring hundreds of humpbacks, minkies and fin whales along with the endangered right whale, orca and sperms to this gigantic feeding ground.

They all have names, identifiable through the unique markings on their flukes.

A three hour whalewatch-ing trip aboard the fishing boat Mega Nova, led by Kent born guide, Pascale Cork, gives us the opportunity to see about ten of these incredible, curious, intelligent and hugely trusting giants up close.

Whale watching is past its heyday and there are fewer tourists to Brier Island these days. But these amazing creatures do not lose their capacity to inspire.

Lose yourself in the stunning tranquility of Nova Scotia? You cannot do otherwise.

Next stop: New Brunswick, three hours across the Bay of Fundy. But that’s another story.

Getting there

Andy Martin and Corin Messer’s trip was arranged through Atlantic Canada, (AtlanticCanada Holiday.ca) and Canadian Affair.

Canadian Affair (020 7616 9933 / <&bh"blocked::http://www.canadianaffair.com/">canadianaffair. com<&eh>) offers return Economy Class flights from London Gatwick to Halifax from £418 per person including all taxes. Based on selected travel dates in June 2011.

Hotel details

Delta, Halifax – deltahotels.com

Mariner King Inn, Lunenburg – marinerking.com

Brier Island Lodge, Westport – brierislandlodge.com