ahschneid

Jun 278 min read

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse and a Keji Seaside National Park Hike

We arrived at Indian Harbour Nova Scotia on 19 June 2024 to stay at King Neptune Campground for five nights. The campground was located oceanside with a water view. Our stay there was somewhat quiet after the previous camping stop being filled with hikes and a boat tour. We had to drive to Halifax, about 40 miles, to do laundry and grocery shop and we did that on our first full day. Peggy’s Cove was about five minutes from our campground, so we checked that out. There’s not a whole lot to see/do at Peggy’s Cove, but it is a cute little village with a lighthouse.

Indian Harbour Nova Scotia June 2024

Fishing Boats across the cove from King Neptune Campground June 2024

King Neptune Campground June 2024

Sunrise King Neptune Campground June 2024

Foggy Windy morning at King Neptune Campground June 2024

Departure day

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Fisherman's Monument carved in Granite

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 20 June 2024

One day we went on a short hike through a bog to the site that once was to be a hotel. The hotel was never built, but the basement is there and there was a handwritten sign explaining that it was from the 1950’s. Along the trail we saw various flowers and plants. We stopped to see the Swiss Air Flight 111 Memorial too.

Hike in Indian Harbour Nova Scotia 21 June 2024

Hike in Indian Harbour Nova Scotia 21 June 2024

Hike in Indian Harbour Nova Scotia 21 June 2024

Dragon's Mouth Orchids

Hike in Indian Harbour Nova Scotia 21 June 2024

Indian Harbour Nova Scotia 21 June 2024

Indian Harbour Nova Scotia 21 June 2024

Indian Harbour Nova Scotia 21 June 2024

On the Saturday Steve went fishing on a boat with 6 other people from 7-9am from Peggy's Cove. He caught his limit of Cod, which was five and caught about 20 other cod and released them. He ended up cleaning all the fish caught on the boat too. The other folks fishing were staying in cottages, but had no long term storage. We actually ran in to one of the couples later in the day in Lunenburg and they had cooked and eaten their fish already for a brunch.

Fishing Trip out of Peggy's Cove 22 June 2024

Flat seas with no current

Fishing Trip out of Peggy's Cove 22 June 2024

After Steve returned from his fishing outing, we went to Lunenburg to see the Fisherman’s Museum. On the way there, we stopped at the Hubbards Barn Farmers Market. This was the best farmers market yet in our travels this Spring. We got some fresh asparagus, apples and strawberries, as well as some smoked salmon and Rose Jam (Lebanese). The Fisherman’s Museum was interesting and certainly sobering about the harsh life of sea fishermen. Old Town Lunenburg is quaint and beautiful. We wished we had more time there as it seemed one could spend a week there. We also checked out Oak Island (TV show "Curse of Oak Island") that day. Anita had never heard the story about Oak Island and the Holy Grail, but found a pretty good article explaining quite a bit at https://www.tartans.com/articles/holygrail.html. We had also heard that we should try to see Blue Rocks. We stopped there too to get a picture.

Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

44 pounds!

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Fishermen from Lunenburg who died at sea each year

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Horse drawn carriage tours of town

Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Freezer trawler

Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Lunenburg Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Oak Island Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Oak Island Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Oak Island Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Oak Island Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Blue Rocks Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Blue Rocks Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

Blue Rocks Nova Scotia 22 June 2024

We didn’t have any luck finding a mass to attend in person while in Indian Harbour. When we drove by churches on Saturday afternoon they only had mass on Sunday morning. The one church near our campground that had mass at 4pm on Saturday didn’t have one Sunday morning and we got home too late on Saturday to make it. So we ended up watching one of the masses on YouTube that week.

On our last day in Indian Harbour, we met our new friends Brent and Shannon at Peggy’s Cove for lunch. Steve had a 1.25 lb lobster and Anita had lemon garlic shrimp. It was great seeing Brent and Shannon and we parted hoping to cross paths again if not in Canada, maybe in Michigan.

On Monday morning as we were about to pull out of our campsite at King Neptune Campground, we got to talking to a neighbor (this is not unusual). It turns out they (Larry and Jeannette from Indiana) will be at the same campground in Pictou when we’ll be arriving July 3rd. Maybe we’ll enjoy a campfire with them. They have a Class-A Larry calls “The Bus”.

King Neptune Campground Sunset June 2024

Last night

King Neptune Campground Sunset June 2024

Last sunset

King Neptune Campground Sunrise June 2024

Sunrise on day of cod fishing

Indian Harbour Nova Scotia June 2024

We arrived at Hunts Point Nova Scotia on 24 June 2024 to stay at Fisherman’s Cove Campground for two nights. It was a short drive (about 95 miles), but patches of dense fog along the way. We arrived around 11am and got set up before the forecasted rain. With the rain, we were limited in what we could do in our short time there. We took a walk around the campground and down to the beach across the highway after lunch the day we arrived. Unfortunately, we had no channels come up in our antenna scan. Sometimes we only have one channel, but that suffices to get local news. At Fisherman’s Cove we had no antenna channels and Internet so weak we couldn’t even get email.

Fisherman's Cove Campground Hunts Point Nova Scotia 24 June 2024

Across from Fisherman's Cove Campground Hunts Point Nova Scotia 24 June 2024

Across from Fisherman's Cove Campground Hunts Point Nova Scotia 24 June 2024

On our one full day there for site seeing, we went to Kejimkujik Seaside National Park for a hike. Locals call it "Keji". It was very foggy and only 55 when we started our hike so it felt eerie. About 2 miles into it, we saw a sign warning of a bear in the area! OK…we kept walking. We had opted to do the whole loop which ended up being about 5.1 miles. It was a beautiful hike with so many different sites and terrains along the way. We really enjoyed it and thankfully we never saw the bear and Anita didn’t twist an ankle on the 80m of rocks on the beach. By the time we were done with the hike about 3 hours later, the temperature had risen to 72! The sun tried to penetrate the fog, but it barely shined toward the end of our hike. It was really one of the most interesting hikes we've ever been on with the views changing so much and feeling like we were very remote. We were surprised to see a ruffed grouse in the parking lot! It must have been fed by hikers before because he approached us and even ran after cars! We also saw a porcupine from the parking lot. It was meandering across the gravel road from one wooden area to the other. It didn’t seem bothered by Steve and another lady getting about 10 feet from it for pictures. On the hiking trail we saw lots of birds and one horseshoe rabbit. This time the rabbit didn’t stop for a picture.

Ruffed Grouse in parking lot at Keji Seaside National Park 25 June 2024