This was a day to see the coastlines of Nova Scotia, namely Peggy’s Cove.  So, scratch one more item off the bucket list.

The night before was a restless one, the constant din on the street, sirens and a noisy air conditioner kept me awake through the night in a shit-assed hole hotel room.  It rained overnight and was still raining into the morning.  Not ideal conditions for riding, especially during rush hour after labour day.  Around 10:30 am the rain finally abated, I packed up the Harley and made my way out of Halifax.  I had no interest in seeing the city, nor dealing with traffic congestion.  From what I could see, most of Halifax consists of modern construction and like most modern cities, it’s boring, corporate and interchangeable with other cities.  No doubt, there are some scenic older sections in Halifax, however, there was no time to explore them and I was far more interested in seeing the rugged coastlines.

The ride from Halifax to Peggy’s Cove is about an hour.   Once outside the city limits, it was a fantastic trip through rural settings and small fishing towns, such as West Dover.

I arrived at Peggy’s Cove around noon and this is a popular area for tourists.  This little town was overflowing with cars, buses and pedestrians.  The town is centered around restaurants, souvenir shops, boutiques and galleries. 

For me, the main attraction was the rugged rocks, the ocean and the famous lighthouse.  I parked near the lighthouse and for every intrepid motorcyclist, there seemed to be more than one tour bus on group tours.  I did my best to avoid crowds by climbing over the large boulders to get some choice views of the ocean as well as some solitude.  Well worth the effort.

Once again, I appreciated diffused lighting on a cloudy day.  I think it adds some drama to photos and it was comfortable walking around without direct sunlight.  I enjoyed seeing the remarkable coastlines, watching ocean waves crash on the shore and taking far too many photos.  I’m already itching to return there.   Part of me wanted to walk around town, but the sensible part of me was aware of the time crunch and I needed to determine just how much of the western coastlines I could explore before sundown.

I got back on the Harley and rode for a bit and stopped for lunch at the Finer Diner in Hackett’s Cove.  As per the sign, I had the lobster sandwich and it was good. 

Over lunch, I estimated various distances to calculate just how far I could reasonably travel as well as book a room for the night.  I found a place in Smith’s Cove, which is close to Digby.  Unfortunately, numbers do not lie and I realized that there was not enough time to ride around the entire western coastlines and make it to Smith’s Cove by dinner.   So, I compromised, rode the coastline to Lunenburg and headed northbound to Smith’s Cove.  This ride took me through heavily forested areas, with little to no traffic and it was quite pleasant.  I arrived in Smith’s Cove around 5 PM and was very impressed with the motel, with a spacious, clean room and a deck with a view of the water.  It was a far cry from the awful accommodations of the previous night.  There was ample time to get settled, buy some whisky and head out to Digby for a Scallop dinner with an ocean view, which will be the subject of the next blog post.

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