We leave Claire and Ian and start our Nova Scotia round trip with the Light House Route south direction. 17 degrees and sunshine cant hide the fact that the wind is cold. The landscape acts nearly Norwegian with fjords and skerries. Jagged rocks follow white sandy beaches. Small houses are panelled with grey or pastel coloured wood shingles and clapboards, the more modern ones with plastic shingles. Those dont have to be constantly painted, it is cheaper anyway. Strangers on the road wave to us. Peggys Cove is a role model fishermens village where fish and lobster are landed daily since 200 years. A picturesque light house is enthrones on a rock, evenly washed from tide and storms. We nearly cant leave the parking place. Arminius is THE attraction, continuously somebody addresses us; we nearly feel like pop stars. Is that a Mercedes? Where are you heading to? Where do you come from? And: Do you have a blog? This seems to be essential here.
A well visited well attended memorial reminds of the Swiss Air crash 1998, where all passengers had lost their life. On the other side of the bay, in Bayswater, is another much quieter memorial where several victims were buried.
Its 5 p.m. and we just reach Chester, a village with a certain charm, where Germans settle since 1754. We havent even pulled up to drink a coffee when people stop their cars, get out, take photos, get in and leave, come back again with relatives, take more pictures. Among those chat acquaintances are Vivian and Wally. They take us without the slightest hesitation to their large forest plot where they inhabit a cute cottage at a small lake in the middle of untouched nature. The house is packed with personal favourite pieces and self-painted pictures. It radiates so much flair that we feel warm and welcome and we probably wouldnt have needed the roaring wood stove. Vivian creates, as she calls it, flora art magnificent pictures made from dyed plant pieces, leaves and flowers. For the British Queen Elisabeth II she made the Canadian flag from red and white dyed maple leaves as a gift. She paints as well, produces sculptures from most different materials and creates jewellery from self-collected and polished semi-precious stones. She sells all those works of art for prices not even covering her costs. Wally paints as well, cuts wood for a long winter, cooks, feeds ducks and a lot more.
Vivian makes Donair for supper, a Canadian specialty that is said to have its origin in Halifax. These are meat loaves baked in the oven, cut into thin slices and served on flat bread with onion and tomato cubicles, parsley and a sweet garlic salsa. Roll up, eat, delicious. A wonderful evening. In the night the frogs croak at the pond.