The one I love
From Yarmouth we headed north on the Evangeline Trail which is a scenic road that wraps around the west and north-west coast of Nova Scotia.
The road is named after a fictional poem Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The tragic poem describes the betrothal of the an Acadian girl Evangeline to Gabriel, before they are forced to separate as the British deport the Acadians from Acadie in what became known as the Great Upheaval. Evangeline spends her life travelling across America in search of her loved one, at some times being close but unaware of the fact.
She is finally reunited when, as an old woman, tending to the dying during an epidemic she finds Gabriel among the sick, and he dies in her arms.
So perhaps it was quite apt that the weather was overcast and melancholy as we started on the trail in search of lighthouses.
First stop was Cape St. Mary Lighthouse which is perched over steeps cliffs. The rum runners who used to frequent the cliff caves have long since been superseded by twitchers (bird spotters) eyeing up migrating flocks on the mud banks.
Further up the coast is Le Petit Bois (Little Woodland) which is a network of coastal and wooded trails located on the Université Sainte-Anne Campus.
It's also host to a lighthouse.
There is visitor centre, and there we were informed the original lighthouse was blown away in 2014!
A new lighthouse building was built on the site, but it's main functionality these days is to provide vantage points for more twitchers.
One of the absolute joys of looking for lighthouses is that it leads you to places that you would never have visited and views you would never have seen. There are always wonderful surprises.
One of the beautiful sights which broke through the gloomy weather was the Église Sainte-Marie.
We just had to stop and take in this incredible building. It's one of the largest and tallest wooden buildings in North America, and was originally a rough chapel to help the Acadians on their return from the Great Upheaval.
Less spectacular , but still brightening up it's own little part of the world was the Lighthouse at Belliveau Cove. Perched on the end of a wooden jetty, it was one of several lighthouses we saw on our Canadian travels that needed a little bit of TLC .
Our last stop of the day was Gilberts Cove lighthouse, and in comparison a real lighthouse success story. It was rescued and restored by a government grant back in 2003 and is now run by volunteers. It offers great access to the tower, a gift shop and a teashop should you require replenishment.
It was now time to temporarily leave the Evangeline trail and divert to our next stop, Brier island via the wonderfully named Digby's neck.
The road is named after a fictional poem Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The tragic poem describes the betrothal of the an Acadian girl Evangeline to Gabriel, before they are forced to separate as the British deport the Acadians from Acadie in what became known as the Great Upheaval. Evangeline spends her life travelling across America in search of her loved one, at some times being close but unaware of the fact.
She is finally reunited when, as an old woman, tending to the dying during an epidemic she finds Gabriel among the sick, and he dies in her arms.
So perhaps it was quite apt that the weather was overcast and melancholy as we started on the trail in search of lighthouses.
First stop was Cape St. Mary Lighthouse which is perched over steeps cliffs. The rum runners who used to frequent the cliff caves have long since been superseded by twitchers (bird spotters) eyeing up migrating flocks on the mud banks.
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| Cape St. Mary Lighthouse, Nova Scotia |
Further up the coast is Le Petit Bois (Little Woodland) which is a network of coastal and wooded trails located on the Université Sainte-Anne Campus.
It's also host to a lighthouse.
There is visitor centre, and there we were informed the original lighthouse was blown away in 2014!
A new lighthouse building was built on the site, but it's main functionality these days is to provide vantage points for more twitchers.
 |
| Church Point Lighthouse, Nova Scotia |
One of the absolute joys of looking for lighthouses is that it leads you to places that you would never have visited and views you would never have seen. There are always wonderful surprises.
One of the beautiful sights which broke through the gloomy weather was the Église Sainte-Marie.
We just had to stop and take in this incredible building. It's one of the largest and tallest wooden buildings in North America, and was originally a rough chapel to help the Acadians on their return from the Great Upheaval.
 |
| Église Sainte-Marie, Nova Scotia |
Less spectacular , but still brightening up it's own little part of the world was the Lighthouse at Belliveau Cove. Perched on the end of a wooden jetty, it was one of several lighthouses we saw on our Canadian travels that needed a little bit of TLC .
 |
| Belliveau Cove Lighthouse, Nova Scotia |
Our last stop of the day was Gilberts Cove lighthouse, and in comparison a real lighthouse success story. It was rescued and restored by a government grant back in 2003 and is now run by volunteers. It offers great access to the tower, a gift shop and a teashop should you require replenishment.
 |
| Gilberts Cove lighthouse, Nova Scotia |
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| Gilberts Cove Lighthouse lamp room, Nova Scotia |
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