Halifax was our first “big city” (pop. over 400,000) stop in Canada. And it turned out to be the place where we had the most consistent rain, fog and otherwise not sunny weather, which is saying a lot since we’ve had some rain all along the way. So, in order to make the best of it, we mixed our touring with some chores while we were there.
Brier Island, the most westerly point in Nova Scotia, is the official entrance to the Bay of Fundy. It is out at the very end of the Digby Neck with the Bay of Fundy to the north and St Mary’s Bay to the south. Brier Island is also known for some great whale watching opportunities.
Something I was looking forward to when in this area was taking a unique whale watching tour that uses zodiac boats and goes out of nearby Tiverton, Long Island. Ocean Explorations is run by a biologist who’s been guiding whale watching tours for 20+ years. We signed up to go out on the first day that showed a clear weather forecast.
Getting to Tiverton meant about an hour and fifteen-minute drive past Digby, down the length of Digby Neck, plus a four-minute ferry to cross over to Long Island. The ferry is available only on the half hour so we had to time it appropriately.
Traveling further down the Fundy Coast, we explored Digby, on the shore of the Annapolis River near where it meets the Bay of Fundy. It’s a considerably larger town than all others we’d visited in the area, with over 2,000 residents.
In 1783, Admiral Digby brought 1,500 United Empire Loyalists from the New England States to Digby aboard the H.M.S. Atalanta. Many of these pioneers are buried in the old Loyalist Cemetery.
Digby is also home to one of the world’s largest scallop fleets. The cold temperature of the waters here doesn’t vary more than a few degrees from summer to winter, which creates conditions most favorable for the survival of the scallops. And least favorable for my ever taking a dip here :).
It has a well-established business district, with some of the buildings actually resting on pilings over the Annapolis Basin. It’s also another good place to appreciate the tides of the Bay of Fundy.
We dedicated time to exploring the Fundy Shore, driving there at different times of day for different perspectives. This shore is in Southern Nova Scotia, which separates the Bay from the Atlantic and is on the other side of the Bay of Fundy from our last campground in New Brunswick.
