Fall 2019 Road Trip; Part IV A; Canada (Nova Scotia And New Brunswick)

The "classic" Peggy's Cove image as made by thousands of other visitors. (click to enlarge)
All images made with the Olympus E-M1 Mark II and 12-100mm f/4 Pro lens
23mm; 1/125th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200

The next portion of our road trip was planned.  We would travel from Maine, cross the Canadian border in New Brunswick, then drive to Halifax, Nova Scotia.  The plan was to spend five days in Nova Scotia.

Why Halifax?  To spend time with three lifelong friends and their significant others.  There are three of us guys who grew up together on the same block of the same street in our hometown in western Pennsylvania and have been friends since we have any memories at all.  We have remained close friends, really brothers, our entire lives and we try to get together at least once per year with our significant others.  Either we spend a week or so together at one of our homes or rent a house somewhere for a similar time.  We have rented houses in various locations around the U.S. and this year we decided to rent one in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  The week is spent touring the area, shopping (usually the women do that), talking, laughing, drinking good wine and eating fine meals.  It is a special time for me and I really enjoy out times together.  Lifelong friends seem to be a rarity anymore and we each cherish the idea of getting together regularly.  My advice is that if you have very close, long term friends, don't let that friendship wane.  But I digress.

We spent the night in Bangor, Maine and our plan was to drive the seven or so hours to Halifax.  I had no trepidation in crossing the Canadian border as I wasn't attempting to do anything I shouldn't be doing.  Our border crossing took approximately 120 seconds.  I answered the questions asked of me and we were on our way.  Now to remember not to drive miles per hour instead of kilometers per hour!  I certainly don't need a speeding violation in a foreign country!

There is a full sequence of the tidal bore images below.

The made one stop along our way to Halifax and that was to meet up with one of the other couples for lunch in Moncton, New Brunswick.  They wanted to see the "tidal bore" that moves up the Petitcodiac River in Moncton each day.  If you follow the Bay of Fundy up its western (northern?) branch, eventually it becomes the Petitcodiac River.  You probably already know the Bay of Fundy has the largest tidal change in the world, averaging about 43 ft.  You can read more about the Bay of Fundy here.  In Moncton, the tidal bore can be quite the sight, but on the day we were there, it was only about a foot or so high.  Interesting, but a bit of a disappointment.  Certainly not spectacular.

Due to weather and the effects of "group think" we didn't get to see as much of Nova Scotia as I had hoped.  But the time spent with our friends was priceless.  One of the highlights of the trip was a trip to the well-known and very heavily visited and documented Peggy's Cove.  I suspect there have been about a billion images made there but, nonetheless, I wanted to make my own images and put my stamp on what I saw so, besides capturing the iconic scenes, I looked for compositions that the ordinary tourist or casual photographer would not notice.  I'll let you be the judge of whether or not I succeeded. 

Peggy's Cove is a very small area on a Peninsula of the southern shore of Nova Scotia.  It consists of a very small inlet with a rock shoreline, a now "out of service" lighthouse, a visitor's center and shops that were once homes.  Oh!  Did I mention buses, parking lots and swarms of people?  Very crowded, even this time of year.  One worker told me the crowds didn't cease until sometime in November.  That being what it is, I enjoyed seeing in person something I've seen hundreds of images of in the past.  

There is no doubt that Peggy's Cove is picturesque.  That is why it is so popular.  The Peggy's Cove images are posted here.  Any image can be enlarged by clicking on it.

31mm; 1/400th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

29mm; 1/100th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200

38mm; 1/1600th sec. @ f/6.3; ISO 200

17mm; 1/500th sec. @ f/9; ISO 200

17mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/9; ISO 200

100mm; 1/640th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

38mm; 1/1000th sec. @ f/4; ISO 200

54mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

100mm; 1/320th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

25mm; 1/60th sec. @ f/9; ISO 200

35mm; 1/400th sec. @ f/6.3; ISO 200

35mm; 1/125th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200

75mm; 1/800th sec. @ f/9; ISO 200

47mm; 1/200th sec. @ f/9; ISO 200

On the road to Peggy's Cove, I noticed a nice little scene in a different inlet.  On the way out, I stopped and made a couple of images.  This is Yankee Cove and nothing about it is touristy in nature.  I'm sure almost no one makes images here.

61mm; 1/800th sec. @ f/6.3; ISO 200

28mm; 1/1600th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

I'll continue with images of Halifax harbor and other Halifax area sights in my next post.

For those of you who have interest in such things, here is a sequence of the small tidal bore we witnessed on the Petitcodiac River in Moncton, New Brunswick.  Any image can be enlarged by clicking on it.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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