7 June 2024
Nova Scotia Welcome Centre 7 June 2024
We stopped at the Nova Scotia Welcome Centre and found it to be very informative and friendly. It could be a destination in itself! We arrived at Five Islands Ocean Resort and Campground on Friday 7 June 2024. On our trip to Lower Five Islands, our GPS kept wanting us to turn on gravel roads to get to the campground. We opted to stay on the primary road (NS 2) all the way. It took a bit longer, but we felt better about the ride. We had an ocean front campsite and could see the tide changes every 6 hours approximately through our back window. The campground is older and has seen better days, but it does have a pool, laundry and a book exchange. Anita opted to wait till Cape Breton to do laundry, in hopes for a more appealing laundry facility.
View from our back window 7-12 June 2024
View from our back window 7-12 June 2024
View from our back window 7-12 June 2024
On 8 June, we ventured out to check out the local area. Five Islands Provincial Park is just a couple of miles from where we stayed. We drove through the park and we could see the cliffs at low tide. We then drove to Five Islands Lighthouse Park. That was nice as it identified the five islands by name: Moose, Diamond, Long, Egg, and Pinnacle – located just off the coast.
Five Islands Lighthouse Park 8 June 2024
Five Islands Lighthouse Park 8 June 2024
Left to right: Moose (half of it), Diamond, Long, Egg, and Pinnacle
Five Islands Lighthouse Park 8 June 2024
Five Islands Lighthouse Park 8 June 2024
On Sunday (9 June) we drove to Truro Nova Scotia for mass and grocery shopping. Online it said there was a mass at 10:30am at Immaculate Conception, but we arrived as all the people had left. Mass was at 9am. The usher told us there was a mass at their sister church, Sacred Heart, at 11:30am, so we headed there. It was a small mission church and well attended with a good homily by the pastor. We tried to find Internet in Truro, but all networks required a password, libraries are closed on Sundays so we ate our lunch and then went to the Walmart. It took us a long time to grocery shop, as the Canadian Walmart is not quite like the ones in the US. We finally found everything, after about a half hour longer than usual.
A stop on the way to Truro Nova Scotia 9 June 2024
A stop on the way to Truro Nova Scotia 9 June 2024
A stop on the way to Truro Nova Scotia 9 June 2024
Sacred Heart Mission Church 9 June 2024
Our plan on Monday was to spend the whole day site seeing, and boy did we! We took the Glooscap Scenic Trail to Cape Chignecto, which has over 50 kilometers of hiking trails. On the way to Cape Chignecto, we took a gravel road to Cape D’Or. At the corner where we turned onto the gravel road, in a short blueberry field we saw a male ring necked pheasant but couldn't get a photo. The gravel road was 8 Kilometers that got muddy in spots from the heavy rain the night before. We even had to use 4-wheel drive for part of the way! We made it and it was beautiful once we got there, but it was a tense drive uphill. It was cold and windy at the top and we had the place to ourselves. Next we stopped Spencer's Island for a few minutes, then finally on to Cape Chignecto.
At Cape Chignecto, there are remote campsites with trails leading to them that are only for tents or a few existing cabins. No RV’s or motor vehicles are allowed on the trails. We went there to see the park and hike one of the trails. It turned out that they had Internet, so we spent about an hour catching up on online stuff. We had lunch at one of the picnic tables, but it was breezy and cold, so we packed up and moved on. We then went to Joggins Fossil Cliffs which was discovered in the 1850’s. It gained world- wide acclaim for the Carboniferous trees, amphibians and unique snails discovered there. We got there in time to still go down to the beach before the tide reached the cliffs. It was interesting. We had left around 8:30am and we got home around 5:30pm, pretty tired.
56 foot tides at Spencer's Island Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Spencer's Island Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Spencer's Island Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Spencer's Island Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Spencer's Island Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Spencer's Island Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Spencer's Island Lighthouse Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Spencer's Island Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Our muddy tires to get to Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Abandoned Copper mine side of cliffs
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Fog light on
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Fog light off
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Tremendous Currents
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Tremendous Currents
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d' Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Tremendous Currents!
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Abandoned Copper mines on side of cliffs
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape d'Or Nova Scotia 10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto 10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto 10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto Red Rocks Hike10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto 10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto Red Rocks Hike looking to tip of Cape (25 mile wilderness)10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto Red Rocks Hike10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto 10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto 10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto 10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto 10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto 10 June 2024
Cape Chignecto 10 June 2024
Leaving Cape Chignecto 10 June 2024
A private home where Marshall Lighthouse once was
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
Joggins Fossil Cliffs 10 June 2024
On Tuesday, our last day in Five Islands, we hiked to the Old Wife rock at Five Islands Provincial Park. That was about a one-mile hike out to the point while the tide was still on its way out. We found the ocean floor there to have more life than we saw at Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick. We saw snails and even a seagull. We needed insect repellant with all the midges and other little things flying around. We really enjoyed the hike and it only took about an hour so we had time to check out a bait shop and fish market Steve was interested in. Tony’s didn’t live up to the big sign on the main road once we drove down the side road. We ended up at Davis Grocery. There we bought some local fresh flounder to cook up for our lunch on our drive to Cape Breton. Anita saw some packages on something called Dulce. The guy at the counter said it’s seaweed. For some reason, Anita had to get some so we bought a bag for $7.00 (Canadian). It turned out to be soft and not crispy like it looked and it was not very good, but Anita will finish it a couple of leaves at a time snacking on road trips. The taste is salty, but has a hint of sea water too. Yes, I know that’s to be expected in seaweed, but something compelled this impulse buy.
A red fox we saw as we entered Five Islands Provincial Park 11 June 2024
June 11 2024
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Old Wife Spire above head at low tide we see this from our campground
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Our campground is in background to the left
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Clam, snails, mussel and crab shells
Old Wife Rock in the distance at Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Many different colors of rocks and minerals
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Five Islands Provincial Park hike 11 June 2024
Wild Lupine we saw often in our travels in and around Five Islands
Overall, we loved Five Islands Nova Scotia. We were amazed at how friendly and nice all the locals are in Five Islands. Folks go out of their way to help and offer conveniences without us asking. We were also surprised by the number of smokers we saw. It was hard to grasp while in such clean air, people would choose to smoke, but it seemed that it was more the norm to see smokers than not.
Well done
Where do you guys get your energy from??? 😁
Wow, you guys are sure seeing amazing things. You're quite inspiring with your energy. Love you and continued safe travels.