Nova Scotia - Lunenburg

Nova Scotia - part 4

(sightseeing)

July 15, 2018 - July 18, 2018

Lunenburg

Lunenburg has an interesting history.  It was settled in 1753 by Protestant German, Swiss and Montbeliardian French Colonists recruited by the British.  This is just 2 years prior to the time the (Catholic) French Acadian settlers were deported from the area in yet another historical example of religious persecution.  If you're Catholic you must go - we only allow Protestants!  The Protestant recruits were farmers by trade but, because of poor soil in the area, they quickly turned to the sea for their livelihood and became successful shipbuilders, mariners and fishermen.  

According to my reading, old town Lunenburg is the finest example of a "planned British colonial settlement in North America."  A mere 265 years later 95% of the buildings in the old town date from the the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries making the town very interesting!

One thing we immediately noticed and enjoyed were all the colorful houses.

We also noticed an unusual design feature of many homes and discovered it is called "the Lunenburg Bump."  It consists of a 5 sided Scottish dormer that extends out beyond the eaves.  About 20% of the homes in old town Lunenburg have this feature.  Here are some examples:

And of course we saw many lovely gardens, flower boxes, hanging flower pots, etc.  The Canadians love their flowers.

One of the top things to see in town is the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. It's a big sprawling building with many different exhibits.  Cod fishing off what is now the Maritime Provinces has been going on since long before Europeans began to immigrate to these lands.  According to one sign in the museum it began with John Cabot's voyage in 1497, over 100 years before Europeans attempted to settle here.  The sign below explains why the fish were so abundant in this area.

This topographic map shows the Maritime Provinces in relation to the 3 major currents mentioned in the previous picture.
Blue: Labrador current
White: St. Lawrence current
Red: Gulf stream current

A robust fishing industry necessitates many businesses to support it and the museum did a great job of demonstrating these support industries.

Sail makers - some examples of the tools of their trade.

Boat Builders - examples of the tools used in their trade.

Demonstration of building a boat along the shoreline.

I wonder where a person could get this much resin.  Is it just time that makes it dry out and harden?

Fish processing

A fish skinning machine.  The fish is fed in on the left and it comes out on the right!

In case this is hard to read:  Two-tined fish forks were used to unload the tons of greenfish from the schooner's hold.

The fish were then washed to remove excess salt and clean them. 
Often, they were then piled to press out excess moisture, a process called water horsing. 

Next, they were spread out on flakes (wooden frames) to dry in the sun.

The finished product!  Yum?

Tracking workers hours - just threw this in because it was made by IBM about 1930!  Wow!

I think this is quite an elegant design.

Foundries making metal products for ships

Block and tackle.  An ingenious device.

Woodworkers making special products for ships

Imagine how long it took to make 18,000-19,000 of these for one ship!

Shore duties of fishermen - tanning the nets.

Ice Storage

Sawing the ice into blocks

The tools used to cut and collect ice. 

Ice in storage

Soothsayers and picture framers (😄)

And here's something I never knew or even thought of but found interesting!

Near Lunenburg is a place called "The Ovens." 

Shoreline near "The Ovens"

The rock here is all shale.  The exposed edges break up very easily.

Some really interesting colors show up in the rock.  This picture doesn't do the colors justice.

Nice trail along the coast.  Barney loved it!

Looking back towards Lunenburg.

Cement steps down to one of the "ovens" (sea caves).
If I recall correctly, these stairs were built by a couple of men who hauled over 2000 buckets of cement by hand to build them!  OMG!

Inside one of the sea caves.  Looks like you're looking out from the wrong side of a monsters mouth.

Wave action in the sea cave.

You can still pan for gold on the beach here.

If you travel to Nova Scotia make sure you put Lunenburg on your list of things to see.  We really enjoyed out stay there.