We said a fond farewell to PEI this morning, crossed the bottom of New Brunswick and made our way to Truro, Nova Scotia.  Province number 8.

Right near the New Brunswick/Nova Scotia border there is a Parks Canada Historical Site: Beausejour Fort/Fort Cumberland – the little fort with two names.  Beausejour was one of the first pentagonal five bastion forts built in North America – in 1751.  It was designed by a Frenchman as a defensible fort on lower ground.  The British laid siege and secured the fort in 1775, renaming it Fort Cumberland.  It successfully repelled an attack by American rebels in 1776.

Huge earthworks all the way around.

They had artifacts from the 1750’s and early 1800’s in the Visitors Center and had some really interesting things.

  Powder horns An 1850 tea caddy

Ships in bottles made by POW interred at Amherst Detention Center in 1915

A Mi’kmaq style canoe made out of porcupine quills.

We only stopped two more times today.  First was in a little Nova Scotia town called Springhill.  A coal mine was opened there in 1876 and permanently closed in, I think, 1958 although the plaque commemorates deaths to 1969.  The memorial listed those killed in three major mine accidents, 1891: 125 men, 1956: 39 men, and 1958: 75 men.  Behind the main memorial were five markers listing all of the  those killed in single or multiple accidents from 1876 to 1969.  There were only half a dozen years in all that time that had no deaths.  It was a very sad reminder of the dangers they worked in.  This mine prompted the very first Trade Union in Canada, Sept 1, 1879.

Our second stop was a fluke.  We were motoring along and in a break in the trees I saw a huge barrel-shaped island sitting off shore out in the bay.  The tide was out so it was pretty eye catching.  John turned around so we could take a photo of it and then we found a road down to the Five Islands Lighthouse Park where you could see all of the five islands in this huge open bay (the fifth is a slim needle right at the end).  Too bad it was an overcast day it would have been an even nicer view in the sun.

We had to stop briefly just outside to Truro to put Poppy’s top up because the clouds decided to unload some rain the last few miles.  We have pre-planned the next nine days that will take us around the west end of Nova Scotia and over to Halifax.  Lots to see and do.