Some may say it's a dreich day

“Dreich” is a Scottish word used to describe the weather as wet, dull, gloomy and dreary or any combination of these. Indeed, today was wet, windy, overcast and very misty, but provided an absolutely marvelous and wonderful day at Crescent Beach and the LaHave Islands.
The wind from the south was aggressively driving the sea towards high tide, the rain was horizontal and the mist was thick but appeared static in all the surrounding activity. This natural combination seemed very familiar to me, but unfortunately a familiarity I have not seen or felt for almost four decades.

I remember very well as a young laddie during many great visits to the West Highlands of Scotland being excited about and loving days just like today, with the roar of the ocean, the rain and mist often beautifully mixed with the sweet smell of ground peat which was always amplified in the dampness. In such “perfect conditions”, I often wandered with my dad along beaches or climbed over rocks or stood on hilltops looking out and loving every moment of it.

Today I had a moment with feelings which led to emotions I have not felt for far too many years. The “perfect conditions” took me back to those wonderful days from my past, the rain soaking me through, the wonderful ocean smells and the high winds. Sadly he is no longer here to share this with me, I know my dad would have loved it today, the splendour and gift that is the South Shore ~ I miss him …

For all the natural rage on Crescent Beach by comparison the inlets and coves on Bell and Bush Islands were placid and unruffled, a perfect day, in fact one of the best, which finished up nicely at the LaHave Bakery.

Oh yes I forgot to mention, somebody lost their boat house ….



Where's my dinner ...?



  Billy sitting waiting for his favourite ~ boiled potatoes.

 

Moby the Land Rover

From June 2015

On a visit to Peggy’s Cove, I spotted a Land Rover with British plates. In all my years in Canada it was the first time I had seen a vehicle with a British registration. What got me very interested were all the place name stickers on the rear of the vehicle. They were from practically every country on the African continent, Egypt in the north all the way down to South Africa. In addition to those, there were other location stickers from Chile in South America all the way up to the Canadian Arctic.

Seeing these got me a little curious, excited and definately in need of a chat with whoever was driving this vehicle. So in the company of a pleasant view of the sea, I hung around the car park for the longest time, but with much disappointment nobody came by to collect the Land Rover.

The day after while driving around Lunenburg, I again spotted the Land Rover and followed it until it finally stopped. In pouring rain I ran over and had a great chat with Bill and Rosemary from Kent in England. They were a retired couple probably in their mid-60’s who had sold their house and decided to take up a life of travel with “Moby the Land Rover”. In previous years they had done all of Europe, most African countries and during the last three years had been doing the American continent. When I met them, they were down to the last part of the America’s trip heading off to Newfoundland to put Moby on a boat for England.

I had a lovely and extremely enjoyable chat with Bill and Rosemary and also got to see a little more of Moby. I asked them what their future plans were, and with a sparkle in his eye and a smile on his face Bill replied ~ “India” …

By the time I left them, the rain had thoroughly soaked me, but I was certainly delighted to have been given a brief insight into some of their travelling experiences, together with their enormous thrust for adventure. 

I was truly impressed with Bill, Rosemary and Moby.

A link to their web-site ~ https://latinamericaroadtrip.wordpress.com/about-us/

 

George Island

Connected to the east end of Crescent Beach is George Island. Today we wandered there and found a small frozen lake located within very attractive surroundings.

Mussel shell, all lit up

The Mussel Shell below caught my attention today. The sunlight conditions were perfect to give the appearance of it having an internal light source.

 

Slushy anyone …?

Regardless of weather, tide level or light, a beach wander always provides perfect conditions for taking photos. Today on a very bright Crescent Beach the gentle slushy tide made for some interesting sparkle and texture.

Iceberg Alley

From June 2014

This is not the South Shore, but I thought it would be good to share some photos of a spectacular aspect of another maritime province ~ Newfoundland. An absolutely beautiful province with awesome rugged beauty and a deep friendly culture. During the drive across the "Rock" as it is fondly known I was overwhelmed by its close resemblance to West Highlands of Scotland, uncanny and wonderful.

The photos below are all taken on what is called Iceberg Alley on the north and east coast of the rock. The parade of ice leaves the arctic after winter and can be viewed off Newfoundland in some years as late as August.

All the photos except for the last two are taken around Twllingate on the north-eastern shore, the last two pictures are from Signal Hill in St. Johns, the capital city of Newfoundland.

Some of the ice on those icebergs can be up to 10000 years old and amazingly 90% of their mass is below water.