I met Jen in Middleton on Sunday afternoon and she'd arranged for me to leave my car at the local Foodland until Thursday. Back at Hillcote Farm and Jenipher made a lovely supper of scallops topped with leek puree. We didn't stay up late as we wanted to get an early start.
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| Ready for the road |
We were out of the door by about 8:15 - it was cold and cloudy. Through the village and onto the road at the top of the hill. We walk many kilometres along the road but it's not too bad.
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| We made it out of the village |
There was lots to see - at least for me. Jenipher walks this road all the time. The sun came out and stayed all day.
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| Buoy, oh buoy |
Our first stop was Lake Midway for a quick pit stop at the outhouse. Next stop, Centreville - and the the gas station. We ran into Justin driving a big red truck with horns on the front. I asked where he'd got them and he said they were oxen horns that belonged to his dad and that he'd never known what to do with them until he watched an old episode of
Dukes of Hazard and saw a set of horns on the sheriff's car! I don't know if he was really called Justin but that's what the tattoo on the side of his neck said. He was very friendly.
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| Bad shot but you can see one of the horns at least! |
Next stop was an abandoned church in Waterford. Years ago, when my son Daniel was about 11 we'd taken a road trip down the Neck to go whale watching with our friend Simon. I'm pretty sure we stopped here. The place is slowly crumbling into the woods. It's sad to see, but not unusual. We saw a number of lovely old houses in various states of decay and abandonment along the road. It's such a sad waste but it's the same all across rural Nova Scotia.
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| I have a photo of Daniel and I sitting in the top window |
We had lunch sitting between two old boats on the shore by the road, trying to get out of the wind. Shoes and socks off...nice to air the feet out. Beef jerky, cheese and chocolate. Yum.
We continued on along the shore and spotted a great blue heron fishing in the shallows. On up the hill and before long we were finally able to turn off the highway at Marsh Road.
This was a wonderful stretch of the walk across the dikes at the head of St. Mary's Bay. The tide was out and we could see half a dozen ATV's scooting back and forth along the sand. Jen told me they were probably digging for worms, big nasty worms that they sell for bait in the U.S. You can just see them in the background of the photo below.
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| On the Marsh Road dike |
Back on the highway we crossed the road to avoid a barking dog. The cars were zipping by at speed. It wasn't not long before Paul came along to pick us up. What a sweet sight!
It was a much quicker trip back to Sandy Cove for an ice cold beer, a hot shower and a delicious lobster dinner. I could hardly keep my eyes open and we were in bed by 9:30am. So day one was done and we walked approximately 30km. Jenipher was working on a nice sized blister and I had a disgusting heat rash around my ankles but other than that and total exhaustion all was well.
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