Bay To Bay, And Back!
The day started out rather ambiguously. We got up and went for breakfast, a very good breakfast, without any idea what we were going to do today. It was that typical sort of conversation, something like, “what do you want to do today? I don’t know, what do you want to do?” Clearly there wasn’t a plan, and I began to wonder if we had made a mistake by staying here an extra day. We looked at our map for options, but all the provincial parks that were within a reasonable driving distance looked really boring and without a suitable walk available. I didn’t really want to drive all the way up to the national park. In ordinary times it would’ve been lovely with lots of water everywhere, but I’d read that water levels were severely down this year because of the drought. I didn’t really want to drive all the way up there to find just an evergreen forest, a lack of colourful trees, and not very much flowing water.😬
Then AT said that she had seen a walk on a map heading out of Lunenburg along the coast. I looked up the route on my walking apps, and sure enough there was a walking path. Great!
The Bay to Bay Trail runs west about 11 km from Lunenburg Harbour to Mahone Bay. At least that’s what the app said. AT suggested that we could walk together up to Mahone Bay and then I could walk back and pick up our car and drive back to pick her up. A good plan for the day seemed to be developing!
So we set off, and as we walked through Lunenburg we passed many historic and beautifully maintained older homes. Most of them over 100 years old!
As we walked along the path, it appeared to us to be an old rail bed. This would be confirmed along the way.
If you like colourful fall leaves then this post is for you. We’ve driven through thousands of kilometres of colourful leaves on this trip, but I find that when we walk through them it’s more impactful. Mind you, on some parts of the drive the colours as we come around a corner have often been overwhelming. Many local folks have told us that this has been the best display of colours in a number of years. I’d like to think that we planned well, but honestly we just lucked out!
We walked into Mahone Bay having walked just over 14 km, not the 11 we’d understood this stage was supposed to be. Seems we’d departed along a slightly different route. No problem. I was already looking forward to the return walk because the sun was out more and it was already over 16°. A fine autumn day!
To my great surprise AT suggested that we stop at this tea house for a break.
A very civilized break!
My friend Ariel and I had been texting about the highly anticipated soccer game between arch rivals Liverpool (last years Premier League Champions and Ariel’s team) and Manchester United (my team) being contested in Liverpool. Liverpool was the overwhelming favourite, but as sometimes happens the underdog wins out. Today was one of those times. 1-2 for United! This was shaping up to be an excellent day!
I left AT relaxing in the tea house and set off to walk back to Lunenburg with a definite bounce in my stride. Could this day get any better? It was about to.
The sun came out more frequently boosting the colours!
The trail wasn’t very busy. A few bikes and a number of ATV’s which seem quite popular here.
I must acknowledge Nova Scotians Halloween efforts. Many go all out and also seem to put their Christmas lights up at the same time. I figure they do this because of the cold winters, and after Halloween they take the relevant decorations down. Then in December all they have to do is put out the lower Christmas decorations. Good thinking!
I soon finished up the 13 km return leg and was pleased that I’d had the opportunity to walk 27 km. While we’d been doing some hiking on this trip, this was my first decent walk in over 3 weeks. Nice.
I picked up the car, sorted out with AT where I would find her and then set off for Mahone Bay. Turns out that the Three Churches is located there, so we took the opportunity to find a place to capture a few images.
Then home for a shower and then we were off to Bar Salvador which is a Spanish tapas bar I’d found yesterday while AT was shopping.
The tapas were very good and quite close to those we’ve enjoyed during numerous travels in Spain 🇪🇸. Still a favourite country with many Camino memories for me. If I lived here this place would be a favourite during the off season.
Now back at our hotel I’ve called my Dad and heard about his weekend. All good on the home front with my brother Don down for the past 3 days. We will be home Thursday so just a few days on his own. All good. He’s watching the Blue Jays game in Victoria where it started at 5pm while we are watching it here where it started at 9pm. Bottom of the 5th inning it’s Blue Jays 4, Seattle Mariners 0. Can the Jays force a game 7. Now 5-0! AT has gone to sleep. I wonder how long I can last as it approaches 11pm here.😅
With no plans at 9 AM this morning, this has turned out to be an excellent day. Tomorrow we will drive along the coast and stop in Halifax to drop our bags at our hotel before continuing on to the airport to drop off our car. We will then take the city bus back into town and have a couple of days exploring Halifax.
That’s about all from here tonight. Go Jays!
Cheers!🍷
Geoff
Distance Walker - Wandering & Wondering! 