St. George's Bay

The rocks and hills of Nova Scotia are a welcome sight to this transplanted Newfoundlander living in Prince Edward Island. While I love our little island home, it is flat and made of red soil and sandstone, so unlike Newfoundland. 

Long Point Lighthouse, Twillingate, Newfoundland 

I didn’t realize I missed the granite cliffs of home until our recent visit to Nova Scotia.

While there, with our friends, Carlo and Hiltrud, my husband and I followed the Sunrise Trail from Antigonish north along St. George’s Bay to Cape George. It was over a winding road through the forested countryside, rocky outcrops of granite and hills dressed in their autumn splendor. Beaches were rocky like many in Newfoundland, instead of sandy like PEI. 

Such a strange world to us now, but familiar to our bones.  

The area isn’t all farmland, like Prince Edward Island. Fishing is an important industry in this area as well. In Lakevale, dredging was underway in the channel from the lake to the bay.

while ducks swam nearby.

Further along the shoreline, Ballantyne’s Cove was a boat basin for pleasure craft and fishing boats. We walked the wharf 

and observed the area from a nearby hill. 

Finally we reached the Cape George lighthouse 

and the clear, sunny day enabled us to see Cape Breton across the bay. 

It is the island part of Nova Scotia attached to the mainland of the province by the Canso Causeway.

Nova Scotia feels and looks like Newfoundland more than Prince Edward Island does. Even though we have come to love our red island home, a visit to the land of our birth is overdue. Nova Scotia was a good teaser.

The Landing and beyond

The estuary looks different from above. 

The water looks cold as the gray sky creates a mood which sunshine makes unfamiliar. The straw coloured grasses and bulrushes signify the season. Where there is enough soil for trees, they are changing slowly with the diminishing light.

We had walked The Landing, a dirt road which runs along the estuary and were headed back to our friends’ home in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. 

This is their daily walk in their new hometown. While it is challenging near the end, with the climb up from the lowlands, it is easy for Carlo and Hiltrud after their months of practice.

We need jackets this day as the northerly wind is cool. The trail along the water is well used by residents and we meet a number of them along the way. There are lots of dogs to make friends with. We take our time, rest on occasion, 

and take photographs. The grasses and bulrushes along the road provide a good border from the water which flows to and from St.George’s Bay.

Trees line the fields nearby and autumn colours abound.

Carlo points out an eagle’s nest, partly hidden by the trees. 

Just beneath it, a bald eagle we name Sam, sits and surveys his domain. The detail in his feathers is impressive.

Along the way, we pass gardens where the autumn colour causes us to pause and take in the scenes. 

The next day, a deer was enjoying the plants in those gardens. Deer are an unusual sight for us as there are none in our native Newfoundland or on Prince Edward Island. My husband and I were excited to see her.

Autumn looks good in Antigonish