Those darn rain gods...

Day Two

I learnt several lessons today.

The first? Never trust a Radio Shack employee when they assure you that a North American GPS system DOES include Canadian street maps as standard. I discovered this early this morning when I thought, ‘I’ll just check that the maps are on here’, and to my chagrin, they were not.

Lesson number 2: never assume that a large car rental company (oooh, for example, Hertz) is able to provide GPS systems for their rental cars. Apparently not. Nor maps, for that matter.

The third, and possibly most important, lesson is that driving around new territory with no mental map, no physical map and no GPS is asking for trouble. I eventually found a WalMart, waited (im)patiently for it to open (what IS it with late opening hours on Sunday anyway??!!) and bought a new GPS. I now have two Garmin GPS boxes in the suitcase. What a waste.

Anyhoo, there I was, with tea, Timbits, GPS, wheels and a plan. So of course the rain gods did a dance and it poured all morning. I drove towards downtown Halifax, only to discover most of the major roads blocked off for road works, and then the main bridge’s toll booth was having construction work done too. Sitting in the car, in the pouring rain, surrounded by deserted (!) road works, I decided to abandon my attempt at exploring downtown Halifax, went rogue and headed bush.

Peggy’s Cove... apparently the most photographed lighthouse in Canada. I have no idea why - it’s small, not particularly pretty and the paint is peeling. The top of it is red though, so I have to allocate points for style. Between the wind, rain and dense concentration of geriatrics, it’s a wonder I got out of the car at all, but I managed to snap a few shots, inveigle a passerby to take a few of me (long story involving foreign languages, him falling over a rock and me nearly walking into the sea in despair), resist the temptation to buy a personalised mood ring (wtf?) and nearly run down a herd of slow-moving gerries on the way out. Things were definitely picking up.


I decided to take a look at Mahone Bay, having overheard someone at the lighthouse say it was worth a look. On the way there the rain stopped, and I decided to take the coastal route. Imagine my surprise to see a sign saying, ‘Welcome to Queensland!!’. What the...? Apparently my home state is also the name of a tin-pot town here in Nova Scotia. I planned to stop and take a photo of the sign, but a minute later there was a sign for the next town, so I couldn’t be bothered. But I did find a beach.

Mahone Bay is quite picturesque. Churches, steeples, bay, boats, cafes. All good. $12 for a ham sandwich seemed a bit steep but I was beyond caring by then and wolfed it down in front of the horrified sandwich artiste, chasing it down with a bottle of juice. I think she was waiting for the accompanying belch from the ill-mannered savage, but I managed (just) to contain it.

Finding myself so close to Lunenberg, I went there next. UNESCO heritage site, ya know ;). Again, very cool place with some interesting buildings and piers. A very kind couple took some pictures of me although the chap took about ten minutes to figure out how to use the Nikon. I wondered if he was going to keep it there for a while, but eventually it turned out ok.

Suddenly overcome with exhaustion, I drove the 120km to the hotel and promptly died. Resurrecting myself an hour or so later for a bath and dinner, my day is done. Tomorrow – Prince Edward Island. Gil had better be there....