Nova Scotia - Grand Pre'

Nova Scotia - part 2

(sightseeing)

July 11, 2018 - July 13, 2018

Drove from Shubenacadie to Grand Pre' through the countryside.  The roads in Nova Scotia leave a lot to be desired.  The winters are tough on the roads here and we were told Nova Scotia is a poor province so they don't have lots of money for road repair.

Blue Beach Fossil Museum near Hantsport

Laura discovered there were fossil sites around Nova Scotia from someone while doing the laundry one day.  She googled it and found Blue Beach Fossil Museum in Hantsport, very near to our next destination.  We decided to check it our en-route - meaning we took the motorhome/car combination directly to the site!  At the end of a short dirt road we found a very small parking lot!  That necessitated unhooking the car, then maneuvering the motorhome around until it was out of the way of the other cars parked there.  This small parking lot serves both the fossil museum and access to the beach where the fossils are located.

We walked down a short driveway and met Chris Mansky and his wife Sonja who are the owners of this amazing little museum.  They are both self taught paleontologists and they have thousands of fossils from the area stored in their building.  Chris showed us around and described some of the items.

If I recall correctly, this is the pattern left by the bark of a tree.

Raindrops left in mud.  You have to reverse your thinking on this one. 
This is the silt layer that filled in over the mud then hardened.

Paw print.  Same idea as the picture above.  The silt filled in the paw print then hardened.

Actual raindrop impressions.  Notice the general wavy pattern of the entire piece.

The remnants of the stalk of a horsetail plant.

Blue beach where the fossils have been found.
It's off the Bay of Fundy so the tide is always uncovering new items.  It also affects when you can get to the beach to search.

Wolfville

Wolfwille is a wonderful little town near Grand Pre' (pronounced Pray).  It is home to the world's smallest harbor.  We were standing on the dock about half way between low and high tide and found it hard to believe ships could even get into this harbor.

Looking down from the dock at the mud that makes so much of the tidal areas a light chocolate color.

Looking out from the dock towards the Bay of Fundy at half way between low and high tide.
The point you see in the middle of the picture is part of Cape Split.

Same picture as above - at high tide.

Grand Pre'

Two dykes were built between the mainland and a narrow but long island off the coast, one dyke at each end of the island.  The result was a large area of farm-able land once the salt content was lowered by rainfall.  The picture below (from a brochure) shows it best.

Long island (upper left) was connected to the mainland (bottom) with dykes (squiggly reddish brown lines on the left and right of the farm fields in the center). 
From my perspective, it was an enormous task to build these dykes.  Really quite astonishing!

The grand pre' (large meadow) that resulted from the dykes established by the Acadians.  The original island to which they connected one end of each dyke is in the far distance.

Cross section of a dyke showing the sluice and clapper valve.

The original European settlers who came to this area in the 1630's were Roman Catholics from France.  They called the area Acadie and they became known as Acadians.  The pictures below tell the tragic story of their life in what is now the maritime provinces.

1635-1755     The Harvest
The majority of the Acadians lived adjacent to the mainlands of the Bay of Fundy.  Large areas of tidal marshland were dyked and drained to provide rich farmland and a stable and comfortable way of life.

1730    Taking the Oath
In the struggle between Britain and France for the control of North America, the Acadians occupied strategic territory.  At the behest of Governor Richard Philipps, they took a qualified oath of allegiance which they felt established their neutrality in any future conflict.

1755     Reading the Deportation Order
As the British-French struggle intensified, British authorities decided to deport the "neutral French" from Nova Scotia.  On September 5th, Lieutenant-Colonel John Winslow read the deportation order to the men and boys of the Grand-Pre' area who had been assembled at the church of Saint Charles-des-Mines.

1755   Embarkation
With only the possessions they could carry, the Acadians were ordered to abandon their homes for the ships that would take them into exile.

1755     Burn and Lay Waste
Settlements were burned to discourage the Acadians from returning.  Houses, barns, mills and other building were reduced to ashes, leaving little trace of a century or more of Acadian habitation.

1755-1800    Migrations
At first the Acadians were scattered mostly among the American colonies.  Being French and Roman Catholic, however, they were not welcome.  Many continued to look for a friendly homeland, a search that would span 50 years and reach as far as Europe and the south Atlantic.

Acadians lived all over the maritime provinces and the deportations went on until 1764.  Some of the deported Acadians ended up in Louisiana and through the years the name Acadian gradually became Cajun, a term still used today.

Grand Pre' National Historic Site is a monument to the all the Acadian people who initially settled the maritime provinces.  The centerpiece of the site is the church.  

The guides at the historic site dress in period clothing.
Notice the wooden shoes.  We thought wooden shoes were specific to the Netherlands but it turns out they were used in France as well.

The grounds of the monument are beautifully maintained and make for pleasant walking.

Monument to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Longfellow published Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie in 1847.
It generated enormous interest in the Acadians and the Deportation. 
The success of the poem helped create the Grand-Pre' National Historic Site.
For Acadians, Longfellow's Evangeline contributed to the growing spirit of Acanian nationalism in the late 1800's.
Strong feelings of Acadian identity were developing as was their determination to survive as a people.

Laura standing next to one of the enormous weeping willows standing on the historic site.

The beach at the tip of Grand Pre' at low tide.

Same beach at high tide.

Nova Scotia - Shubenacadie

Nova Scotia - part 1

(sightseeing)

July 9, 2018 - July 11, 2019 

Drove from Hopewell Cape, NB to Shubenacadie (shoe-bin-NACK-a-dee), NS where we had reserved a spot in a local campground.  

The AAA book recommended seeing the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park which ended up being quite close to our campground.  They have two sections, one for wildlife and the other is for wetlands. The wildlife portion is essentially a zoo featuring mostly animals native to Canada.  I always feel bad for captive animals but their brochure states that most of their animals are captive raised or born.  They also indicate that some have permanent injuries or have become too imprinted on humans and cannot be released back into the wild.

Cougar

Reindeer
These poor animals seemed to be suffering from the heat in spite of several fans in their enclosure.

Sable Island Horses
A band of about 500 feral horses survive on Sable Island, a narrow crescent shaped island 180 miles SE of Halifax.

Big Horn Sheep - papa, momma and baby.
They came out of their barn but we couldn't persuade them to come any closer.
The male's horns can weigh up to 30 pounds!!!

Dall Sheep
These sheep live in the subartic regions of northern British Columbia, the Yukon, Alaska and the Northwest Territoriees.
The horns of the males form a distinct curl beside their eyes.

Emu
Their feathers are long and narrow making them appear more hair like than typical feathers.

My favorite animal - river otters.  

Both were initially asleep by the fence but one woke up and took numerous dips 

in the pool, returning to try to get his friend to join him between each dip.

Beaver
He was doing his best to comb the hair by the side of his face.  First he used his front paw, then he resorted to his hind paw.
He sits on his rump with his tail pointing forward under his belly rather than behind him like a cat or dog.

Male moose

It was quite a thrill to see this moose up so close.
The keepers had put a large dish of food right here to entice him.

4 sleepy porcupines.

Barn owl

Barred owl

Black bears

Saw numerous peacocks roaming around the grounds. 

The colors of their feathers are simply amazing.

There were lots of other animals as well, esp. birds but in many were staying hidden from view or were too far away to get a good picture.  We enjoyed our time here.  It was especially fun to watch some of the children's reactions to the animals.