Balancing Rock

While on Long Island and in Tiverton it was decided to go see the famous Balancing Rock. It was a long hike out through the woods (a few km at least!). It was a pretty wooded area, with mini swamp areas to get over via skinny hiking bridges. Some of the terrain made for tough walking as it was rocky and felt a lot like trudging through a few inches of snow. Of course, the slight but constant incline made it a bit difficult as well.After all that hiking was done, there was a ¼ mile worth of stairs (235 to be exact!) to go down. Now 235 stairs didn’t sound all that bad, but these stairs were different shapes, different sizes, different lengths, different steeps, and on top of that the rails were shaky (and it specifically said not to lean on them) and half of the stairs were rotted out so you really needed to take it slow and carefully plan every step you took on the way down.

Once at the bottom there is the Balancing Rock. All that effort and time for 5 minutes of starring and picture taking that didn’t seem worth nearly enough. Especially when it was in the back of my mind that I had to climb up all 235 crazy stairs and walk all the way back out of the woods to get back to my car. If you are a person that enjoys that sort of thing (walking trails / hiking / nature etc) then I highly recommend this trip, if it’s not something in your normal activity likes than think long and hard before heading out just to “see” what’s at the end.

It was very cool to see, and the kids enjoyed the “adventure” but I know this girl is NOT going back there any time soon if ever! LOL I am glad that I went, and even more glad to have my pictures…. If I get the urge to want to see it again I’ll just get out the scrapbooks and remember the time. J

Happy Travels & Sight Seeing

~Jenn

Grand Passage Lightstation

This lighthouse is very cool. It is located on the Northern side of Brier Island and is just a short drive past the Brier Island Lodge, it is easily accessable and there are even picnic tables if you wanted to make a special afternoon trip out to take a look at the Light and enjoy the shore it watches over.

At first sight I thought “Wow, that’s the biggest light top I had ever seen”, but after thinking about it and with knowing it’s not very tall compared to most lighthouses I’ve been too, it’s not so much ‘big’ as just really close to the ground. J

The non-traditional shape, and open waters it looks out on, makes it a very picturesque spot. And As a fun bonus, all over the rocky coast there are lots of little piles of Rocks (inukshuk-like) that are quite neat and fun to look around and try to see amongst all the rocks on the shore. The original Fog Bell for this Lighthouse is located Downtown Digby, and is being display as part of a Memorial to those lost at Sea. More information on this Lighthouse, and Driving directions can be found on Lighthousefriends.com

Happy Travels

~Jenn

Brier Island Lighthouse

The Brier Island Lighthouse (Better known to locals as the western light), is an octagonal shaped concrete tower that overlooks the St. Mary’s Bay. The current Tower is actually the 2^nd one to be in place at this location. The red rings were added to the original structure after 100 years of its Exsistance for visibility purposes and the color scheme was carried over to the new tower.

The Lighthouse is the only structure still standing today but there are many foundations still on site. Lighthouse friends dot com has a much more detailed history of this light and if you give it a read you will know what each was for (in point form one was the dwelling, one a boiler room and the other being for the Original Lighthouse).

The design of this lighthouse is stunning, as is the stone work and color scheme. It is another Light that has a beautiful view of open waters and rocky shores. Definitely one of the most beautiful lighthouses Nova Scotia has to show off.If the light alone isn’t enough for you to takes the ferries and drive out to see, maybe the fact that the area is home to a few endangered animals and spieces, one in particular that happens to grow all over the place near this Lighthouse is the “Lady’s Slipper” flower.

So take a peek on Lighthouse Friends, get your driving directions and plan your trip out to Brier Island!

Happy Travels

~Jenn

Peter Island Lighthouse

First Visible Lighthouse of the 3 you can see while on Brier Island. This lighthouse is not accessable as it is on its own little island, but there are many great spots to stop along the shore of Westport to get some great photos.

I really enjoyed looking out at this Light…. The island was completely covered with Sea Gulls sitting on the beach, some sitting inland, and others flying low and swooping around the Lighthouse. The light is just small, standing at 13.4 Meters tall and is now solar powered.

As always, the complete History, and directions to get to this Light can be found on Lighthouse Friends.

Happy Travels

~Jenn

Boar’s Head Lighthouse

The Boar’s Head Lighthouse can be seen from the end of East Ferry, just before boarding the Petit Princess Ferry that takes you to Long Island. The road to the Lighthouse is a very short distance (to the right) from where you get off the Ferry on Long Island, however this road is not accessable by car. The gate is closed, but there were no “No Tresspassing” signs posted so over the rail and up the road we walked. It was formerly a contaminated site (lead paint from original Lighthouse), but cleanup has been completed. The foundation of the Original Light is still on site.

It was a few km at least to walk out to this Light and a lot of that was uphill. I’m not a huge fan of long distances and even less of a fan of hills to climb, so I learned that day that seeing these Lights up close and in person must be really REALLY important to me to have put myself through the troubles.

It was worth it though, a cute Lighthouse with a great view of Petit Passage; I could see across the water to East Ferry, I watched the Petit Princess come across the water, and of course took my many pictures for this blog and my scrapbook. J

If you are interested in the history and directions to view this Lighthouse please visit Lighthouse Friends.

Happy Travels

~Jenn

Lighthouses are a diing Breed?

So today I have a little bit of a rant to post. In the news now there is talk that the Canadian Government is planning on discontinuing almost ALL of the lighthouses across Canada. Here are a few news articles about this "Lights out for lighthouses?" & "976 lighthouses declared surplus".

I can already see the arguments and battles forming to stop this from happening. Especially here in Nova Scotia. It's no secret that Nova Scotia thrives on tourism and with over 100 Lighthouses in our province alone seeing these magnificant structures is a major part of that. I've lived here almost my entire life and the beauty on Nova Scotia would not be what it is without our beautiful shorelines and they would not be complete without these lighthouses! I am no expert BUT I can see that this is going to be harmful to the tourist industry.

One more bit of beef I have about this... why EVERY time the government decides to do something does it seem to hurt Nova Scotia the most? Crazy taxes, removing landmarks and pieces of our history, I'm almost afraid to ask "what's next?"

Anywho, that's my 2 cents worth about this. Uggh, I've been having so much fun visiting the Lighthouses that I can get to this year. Guess it's a good thing I didn't put off the adventures any longer, and I will continue to visit them and still plan to see as many as I can while I can.

Happy Travels & take LOTS of pictures... things may not be the same upon your next return!!
~Jenn