Life in Lunenburg & Mahone Bay

Posted by KiwiKaboodle on 11 July 2011 6 comments

So I kind of had an incredible day today, and it made me want to write about what it’s like – living here, in the Lunenburg/Mahone Bay are of Nova Scotia. It’s pumping all summer and quiet enough to hear a pin drop in the winter.

I grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and spent years and years travelling. Living in big cities: London UK and Auckland & Christchurch, New Zealand. Halifax is really the perfect city for me, because I felt so tiny in really big cities. Even after I lived there for years it would still be possible for me to get lost, because there were parts of those cities I hadn’t explored enough to find my way out of without a map. When we moved down to Nova Scotia’s South Shore, everyone told me I was making a mistake: I’d regret it, they said. I wouldn’t last a year and I’d be wanting to move back to the city. I don’t think it’s possible to be more wrong than those people were.

Today I was out pounding the cement in Lunenburg, working on Canada’s Census (a part-time job I have taken on this summer to help with the bills). I was walking through town for about 2 hours, and in those two hours I had so many unique experiences with the wonderful people who live there. I enrolled two of my children in an awesome free course run through the Public Library; I met a lady whose house is decorated with Pufferbellies – a local folkartist who just happens to be my sister. I bumped into old friends, I made new friends. It was a lovely morning.

The other day I had my children at the afternoon swim at the Mahone Bay Pool, and I sat and chatted with the Captain of the Bluenose. Seriously. He was just sitting there relaxing in the sun while his children were swimming. So friendly and unassuming. Famous, and yet just a regular Jo.

I went to the Farmer’s Market last Thursday in Lunenburg and the guy selling apple cider called me over “Trudi! We’ve got more of small jugs of apple cider again – do you still want some?” .. and then as I walked a bit further for some freshly made fishcakes to bring home for supper Anne Shupe, the potter, called me over “Trudi! I have a little gift for your children.” She gave me three little mugs: one for each of my children.

I sometimes get frustrated though: I mean, sometimes in the height of tourist season I have to actually wait at the stop sign and let 4 or 5 cars go by before I can proceed. Seriously! What’s that about! Traffic? We don’t do traffic here. Except, as mentioned, in the busiest part of the summer.

I like that I get a message from my friend in one of the two local grocery stores (there’s Foodland and Save Easy) to let me know if there is a special on for fresh fish. She’ll drop me a line or call me. “Hey Trudi? Fresh haddock tomorrow, and it’s on special. You might want to pop in early before it’s gone.”

I’m a nobody, really. I’m just Trudi Petersen. The youngest of the five Petersen daughters. I travelled and met my husband while travelling in Africa – his family are somebodies, but they are somebodies in New Zealand. Here he is just as unfamous as I am. And we haven’t spent our whole lives here, we Come From Away. And do you know what? It feels like I’m a part of a family. Everywhere I go people know me or know my children. Sometimes I’m called Mrs. Kaboodle; sometimes I’m Mitchell/Jacqui/Shani’s mum; sometimes I’m That Kiwi Bloke’s Wife; at preschool I’m often called Mummy or Teacher Trudi; sometimes I’m That Hostel Woman… but these people here made me someone. I don’t feel like one of a crowd, I feel like I’m my very own person and I’m connected to all of these people.

Living here in Lunenburg and Mahone Bay is what life is all about – what my life is all about. I’m happy here, and I wouldn’t move away for all the tea in China (I’m not much of a tea drinker anyway). It gets quiet in the winter, but there’s only nothing to do if you can’t be bothered to find something. It’s there for you … and in the summer? There’s always something happening somewhere. Always.

This is heaven, this is. You should come see it for yourself. Seriously.

… a dime for your thoughts …

Posted by KiwiKaboodle on 10 July 2011 1 comment

So have you been to Canada before? Maybe yes, maybe no. Have you seen our coins? Our currency? We have a few: pennies; nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies & twoonies. Today I want to chat about our dime .. well, not really. I want to chat about what dons the back of our dime. The dime is the smallest of all our coins, and it is worth 10 cents. On one side is the Queen (of course) and on the other? The Bluenose. Have you heard of her? (No, not the Queen, silly. I KNOW you’ve heard of her. I mean the Bluenose.) Let me just tell you a bit about her.

First of all I guess we should really address her name. Bluenose. ?? Why Bluenose? What a weird name, right? Well, not so much, actually. She’s named the Bluenose because she is Nova Scotian … just like I’m a Bluenose/Bluenoser because I’m Nova Scotia. Starting way back in the 1700s people from this magnificent little peninsula were called Bluenoses or Bluenosers and there are a few explanations as to how that name came about. Irish Bluenose Potatoes: we grew ‘em and exported ‘em (long before ol’ Bud the Spud and the infamous PEI Potatoes make their arrival to our tables); our fishermen, bless their soles, would go out to sea in the bitter cold winters and wear blue woolen gloves to keep their hands warm … have you been in serious cold before? Your nose runs. These guys were far too busy and manly to use a pocket handkerchief and tissues weren’t yet invented (well, maybe they were – not really the point here) so they’d wipe their runny noses with their blue gloves … and stain their noses blue in the process; and it was the nickname given to the Nova Scotia British troops which occupied New York City and Boston during the American Revolution. So that’s where our romantic name was born.

But this Bluenose I’m talking about, she was far more glorious than any old fisherman with a stained nose (not that fishermen aren’t glorious in their own way, of course .. but that’s a whole nother kind of glorious). This Bluenose was launched in 1921 as an incredibly hard-working fishing vessel – a schooner, no less – and a racing boat as well. When she wasn’t working for the local fishing industry she was racing …….. and she was winning. Apart from being defeated in the inaugural Sir Thomas Lipton International Fishing Challenge Cup in 1930, she was undefeatable for 17 years. Each and every American and Canadian ship who came against her was defeated soundly, despite how fancy, famous, modern or expensive the competitors were.

I wish I could just stop the story there, but I can’t. After World War II fishing schooners were done away with, and we ended up being unable to keep the Bluenose here at her home. She was sold, and eventually sunk on a Haitian reef in 1946.

In 1963 a replica was built, the Bluenose II … not a racer or a working schooner she .. okay, wait. She was a working schooner, just not the same kind of work her predecessor did. She sailed tours. It was a promotional boat for Olands Breweries, believe it or not, and then purchased by the province.

After many years of service, she was taken out of the water, dismantled and … wait for it … she is being re-built right now. This very minute. Okay, it’s Sunday, so maybe not this very minute. But a wooden schooner is currently being re-built in Lunenburg and you can go and see this work of magic. You can look at the Bluenose webcams and watch it, but why look at a little picture on your computer screen when you can come and watch history in the making. Many say there will never be another wooden schooner built. This is it. The last. Who knows if they’re right? I don’t. What I do know is that you don’t get many chances to see something like this. And it’s just a walk from the Lunenburg waterfront … which we can drive you to if you stay with us, or you can rent one of our bikes and take the lovely path through the forest. Ahhhhh. Nice.

How many people will be able to say they saw the ship on the Canadian dime being built? Not many. But you can. All you need to do it get here.

 

 

 

 

 

So you fancy those Pacific Islands, do you?

Posted by KiwiKaboodle on 8 July 2011 Comments Off

Nova Scotia has many islands worth a visit – too many for me to list all of them: some you need your own boat to get to — others you can get to by ferry (Brier Island); by tour (Henry Island); rent a kayak and paddle there (too many to mention!), drive there over a causeway (Isle Madame and Cape Breton Island) or even walk there at low tide (Micou’s Island).

The South Shore has many islands itself, and so today I thought I’d mention some of them. Some you can visit, some are protected. One of my sisters and her husband go and visit many more of our islands regularly – sometimes by kayak, sometimes by motor boat. If only I could take an excerpt from her brain and instal it here, you’d have more colour and nature and beauty than you could shake a stick at (always one of the weider expressions, in my opinion. I mean – you could shake a stick at any amount couldn’t you? ..weird)

There is, of course, Cross Island which you can see if you stand in Blue Rocks and look out to see. Not too far from shore, there is an old lighthouse there, and a few old cabins still used by locals who spend their time off in the summer there (locals love it so much here in Lunenburg County we don’t go far from home vacation time comes around — okay, there are certainly plenty of people who travel far and wide, but as many or more who stay put).

Sheep, Flat, Southwest & Shut-In Islands are easily kayakable, and some local tour companies actually offer kayaking tours to these islands.

Westhaver Island is actually just around the corner from us. The beach is a walk away (just over 1km) and you can see the island quite clearly from the shore (it’s not the HUGE island with the monstrous house perched atop it, it’s the lovely little one with the lighthouse). Like many of the islands around here, it’s lighthouse was not always automated … and when you see how tiny the island is you’ll find it incredible someone once lived on it. The original lighthouse is now gone, having been destroyed by fire in 1887. A new lighthouse was built, and the lighthouse keeper was moved into the oil storage building where the lighthouse keepers continued to live until 1921 when it became automated. The old wooden structure was finally replaced with steel in 1948 and fibreglass in 1945. While this island is only a stone’s throw from shore (okay, maybe a bit further) you can no longer visit it because it is a tern nesting site. The island needing mentioning, though, because it’s history is kinda cool.

Big Tancook Island is definitely worth a visit as well, and there are ferries from Chester each day to take you there. It has one of the few remaining one room schoolhouses still in operation. It’s not a crowded touristy place – it’s just lovely instead. Hiking & biking trails, lots of birdlife, fossils and geocaching. It’s a unique little island well worth a visit.

If you’re not into sea kayaking to visit islands you can always try rowing or canoeing on a lake! Lake Mush-A-Mush has plenty of islands worth visiting, and the water it crystal clear and soo refreshing!

Come and have a look at our islands: one of the many reasons to come down to the South Shore a stay for more than a day.

So what are your thoughts on caves?

Posted by KiwiKaboodle on 7 July 2011 Comments Off

Yeah, so what about caves then. I love them. Just think about how often caves sneak into our lives: cavemen lived in them; so do bears and lots of other animals; pirates hid treasure in them; bad guys hid-out in them when they were being chased by The Law; religious icons were buried and sealed in them; Mother Nature grows her treasures in them …. caves come up a lot, don’t they?

So now, have you ever wanted to explore one? There’s lots caves around the world that you can explore – but some of them require nerves of steel .. or abs of steel.

Nova Scotia has some sweet caves for you to explore quite safely. Even if you’re a kid … or a politically correct kid-at-heart.

The Ovens Natural Park is great. You can camp there in tent or trailer, or rent a cabin if that’s more your style (and if there are any spots still available!). There is a playground for the kids, a pool for anyone who wants to swim, Pleasant Paddling sea kayaking through the Ovens; there a museum, an opportunity to do gold panning; a store and a restaurant, live music every night. Oh my heavens, seriously? There’s more? Indeed. A petting zoo. And the caves! Don’t forget the caves!! There is a walking tour through the natural sea caves (you can go guided, or just take yourself). Talk about some amazing photos to show your mates back home, right? Once they sort out their governmental paperwork, there are zodiac tours into the caves as well, but you’ll have to give them a call to find out when they reckon it’ll be sorted.

You should know heading out there that it isn’t free. Sadly. Well if you live here and go in the off-season and guide yourself it is, but there’s a fee this time of year. Still, it’s highly worth it. Really, when you think of it the fees are quite reasonable: it keeps the parks clean (somone, not you of course, but someone ELSE keeps littering and so somebody has to clean that up right? And sort all the unsorted garbage because we Nova Scotians have very specific and environmentally friendly garage laws), and the toilets clean and usable, trails clear, etc. etc. etc. Think of the poor sod having to do all that work – he or she does deserve a wage, yes? Well, so, we have to pay fees.

Again, it’s entirely worth it.

Phew, I’m hot. It’s another scorcher today and I think you can tell from today’s blog that my heart isn’t in it. I’m just too stinkin’ hot. So I’m heading out to one of our beautiful beaches with my kids to cool off… see ya!

Let’s stir up some waves today

Posted by KiwiKaboodle on 6 July 2011 Comments Off

So the pool is still an awesome place to be, but today it is so scorchingly hot (it’s not yet the hottest time of the day, and already it’s just over 30 degrees celsius (90 farenheit) in the shade!) Phew!! Anyway, today I think the beach is calling my name. It can’t be the loons, after all, because they don’t sing their song in the heat of the day, do they! There are so many beaches to choose from in this area, as I have mentioned before. It depends entirely on what you’re looking for in a beach. If you need suggestions, email us and ask … we’re happy to point you in the right direction.

Today I’m talking a bit about Bachman’s Beach. It’s in Second Peninsula – only a hop, skip & a jump away from our hostel. The beach is long and sandy … not the sand-castle-building sand, though. It’s a rougher kind of sand that’s great for lying on and playing in — just don’t get your hopes up for creating one of those marvelous sand castle sculptures you’ll see in a few weeks at Rissers, because you’ll end up disappointed. You won’t be disappointed if you’re interested in beach glass, or shells, or a nice swim in a cool little bay. Just lovely. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, one of the pie carts will come and set up shop … oh, I guess that’s a New Zealand term, isn’t it. One of those trucks that make and sell chips and hotdogs and things. They certainly aren’t there every day, but whenever they show up it’s just perfect.

So head to the beach today. It’s close enough to town that you can pop in for lunch in one of the many fantastic Lunenburg pubs and restaurants, and then head back to the beach for one more dip.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh…. see you there!

So you want to know what to do THIS weekend??

Posted by KiwiKaboodle on 5 July 2011 Comments Off

Man. So, Lunenburg is a pretty quiet town, right? That’s something I truly love about it. I love walking into a grocery store and having Bryan say “Hey, Trudi – we’ve got more cucumbers for Mitchell” or when I go to the library “Trudi! Shani’s books are here”. Or how about randomly on the street “You’re Trudi-Jacqui-With-The-Awesome-Hair’s-Mum, right?”. It rocks. I don’t want to be invisible, and I’m not here. Cool. But this weekend? This weekend is jam packed with stuff.

First is the Lunenburg Festival of Crafts. There are incredible artists all there .. in the community centre .. selling all their beautiful wares. An amazing selection of whatever it happens to be that you’r e interested in. You really can’t go and not spend some money .. or at least mourne over the fact that you can’t spend money (that’s kind of where I’m sitting at the moment).

Pardon me? Artsy craftsy really isn’t your style? First, let me say you have NO idea what you’re saying. But then allow me to delve further into Lunenburg’s goings on this upcoming weekend (yup – there’s just enough time for you to plan a trip down – bus it, hitchhike it, shuttle it, bike it .. cyclists get 10% off at Kip & Kaboodle, did you know that? S’truth. Our hostel rocks).

There is also, this very weekend, the Lunenburg Street Festival. Jenna Barry – oooooh, a voice like Irish Cream on a cold winter’s night. And she’s just ONE of the many performers. Slow Cooking Cover, String Fever, Pat Watson, Eilidh & Paul … the list goes on and on. Buskers too, of course. Food, music, art … bargains galore.

Ah … I love where I live. Why don’t you come and get a little taste of it? It’ll melt in your mouth.

Swimming, you say?

Posted by KiwiKaboodle on 5 July 2011 2 comments

Mahone Bay Pool
So I know it: I’ve mentioned a million (okay 3 or 4) of our totally rocking beaches that we have around here. Sandy beaches, castle-building-sand beaches, rocky beaches, beach glass beaches, sand dollar beaches, surfing beaches … we’ve got them all. What I haven’t mentioned, though, is a pool!

It’s true: not everyone always feels like a beach. Sometimes you might feel like swimming somewhere you can be sure there is no seaweed, or hermit crabs, or starfish, or fish, or turtles, or frogs, or anything else that might nibble at your toes or tickle your legs while you swim. And if that’s what you want, we’ve got that too. Both Lunenburg and Mahone Bay have pools, but today I’m going to chat a little bit about the Mahone Bay Pool, as you could probably tell from that photo up top.

The Mahone Bay Pool is perfect. It’s really inexpensive (10 swims for $35, or $4 a day … even cheaper, of course, for those of you who are going to hang around for a long time to purchase a membership – by the week, fortnight, month or season). The water is crystal clear and refreshing. There are shady spots to sit if you don’t want to be in the sun, but lots of sunny spots as well. It’s in a quiet little corner of Mahone Bay so you don’t have traffic noise or lots of people gawking at your jiggly thighs and not-so-freshly-shaven legs in your swimsuit (pardon? Everyone doesn’t have that worry? Sorry, my mistake.)

Anyway, the pool is staffed by the best and friendliest lifeguards around (in my opinion anyway!), and the pool is never so crowded that you can’t escape the more rowdy swimmers, whatever age they might be.

And if, like me, you want to plan a few hours with the pool all to yourself (or yourself and your friends) for an incredibly reasonable price you can rent the pool for two hours with a barbecue to boot, and the fee includes two lifeguards. What more can you ask for, right?

So if you’ve got a hankering for an outdoor swim without the wildlife that sometimes accompanies it, why not head to Mahone Bay Pool. You won’t be sorry.

Coffee & Books – is there any better smell?

Posted by KiwiKaboodle on 4 July 2011 2 comments

Don’t coffee and books go together perfectly? Like wine & cheese. Peas & carrots. Sand & sea. There’s a wonderful little spot in Mahone Bay about 3.5kms from our backpacker lodge that you might not know about called The Biscuit Eater. If you’re from here then you know it, because all the locals know & love it, ourselves included.

The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are devine; the food they serve is all made right there in their very own kitchen and they use local and organic ingredients whenever they can. For those of you wishing to sip & surf, they have WIFI. Prefer the gorgeous feeling of a nice, old fashioned book with real live pages to turn? It just so happens they have second hand books there to browse and buy. Awesome, right?

What make it all even better is that they often have live performances there: readings, discussions & screenings. Even better? Those events run year-round, which is great for those of us who stick around all year.

Definitely a place to visit and chill out for a few. Busy, but not in that horrible, over-crowded kind of way — more like busy in a ‘hey, long time no see’ or a ‘pleased to meet you’ kind of way.

You’ll find them at 16 Orchard Street in Mahone Bay, or on the internet at http://www.biscuiteater.ca.

Come, enjoy… and then come again, because you’ll want to. :)

Hidden Gem’s? We gottem!!

Posted by KiwiKaboodle on 3 July 2011 1 comment


So today I went to the Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct with my family, and it’s just incredible! I had only been there once before, and now I wonder what’s been keeping me away.

Only a hop skip & a jump from Liverpool, Nova Scotia (which is also worth a look, btw).

It is also fantastically unadvertised. Why, when you have such a beautiful piece of protected parkland, would you not scream it out to the world? “COME ONE AND ALL! Come see nesting grounds of the protected Piping Plover! Come climb on rocks, hike a super-easy hike through the woods (our 4-year old did it with no help) and get to the softer-than-soft white sand beaches. The amazing flowers and plantlife are actually quite breathtaking. And the seals shlumpfing along the rocks a stone’s throw away are also kind of neat to see.

Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct. You’ve really got to go there — you can camp there, there’s an awesome camping ground. You can go for the day — it’s only about an hour from our backpacker lodge (nudge-nudge wink-wink) … so about two hours from Halifax. But it’s worth it, man. You will NOT be sorry.

Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct. It’s worth a second look. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.

Posted by KiwiKaboodle on 30 June 2011 Comments Off

(Ooh – don’t know if that photo worked or not, I’ll have to have a look and go back and edit if it didn’t)

So tonight, right? It’s the night before Canada Day and, as I mentioned earlier today, there is so much on down here for Canada Day, so what to do tonight? It’s kind of a grey day, although still quite balmy. The sun keeps looking like it might suddenly spring through those clouds, but then it gets all shy and goes back into hiding.

Thankfully I have a great idea for tonight. Truly. How about The Knot Pub in Lunenburg? The food there is out of this world – homemade everything and the only thing better than the taste is the price. Seeing as it’s a pub, there is also a pint to be had should you find yourself a bit on the parched side of things.

And why tonight? Of course, every night is great at The Knot. To quote them directly from their website: The person sitting next to you could be a scallop fisherman, Christmas tree farmer, Norwegian sailor, world famous actor, musician, painter, scholar – you never know who you’re going to meet at The Knot!

But so why am I suggesting it tonight? Because every Thursday night is trivia night. Why not give it a go? It’s a hoot — you’ll meet loads of new people, have a laugh with your pint (or whatever it is that tickles your alcoholic or non-alcoholic fancy), and learn a thing or two (perhaps teach a thing or two?) … you’ll have a blast.

Plus you can make all your Canada Day plans with the new friends you’ll be making :)