Friday – September 28 – Today we left Baddeck and drove along
Bras d’Or Lake. Bras d’Or Lake isn’t
really a lake. It’s actually an inland
sea. It's partly fresh and partly salt water. It was cut by glaciers and is 942
feet deep at the deepest point.
The route we took required a ferry. It’s the first time we’ve taken the Winnebago
on a ferry, so we weren’t sure what to expect. For this ferry, they wanted us to keep the Jeep hitched. The ferry was 3 lanes wide and we took almost the full length of the middle lane. It
cost us $7 for the RV, Jeep and Us. Quite a deal!
Waiting for the ferry to arrive. It's pulled across the channel by a cable.
If you look close, you can see it in the water.
Dad and I watching during the ride across the river. I was a
little nervous, but felt better between Mom and Dad.
We couldn't really see where we were going
because the unloading ramp was in front of us.
We made it safely across the lake and by early afternoon, we were at our home for the next three nights, the Mira River Provincial
Park, just south of Sydney, Nova Scotia.
After we got parked at the Campground, Mom and Dad went into Sydney
and went down to the cruise ship terminal to see the big fiddle and look around.
Afterward they went to Breton Brewing for beers and live traditional music. On the way home they went by the market and bought mussels that they cooked for their dinner. I had my usual kibble.
Saturday – September 29 – Today Mom and Dad took a drive along
the coast and went to the Fortress of Louisbourg Historic Site. The French originally built the Fortress in the first half of the 1700's. It was captured by British colonists (i.e. Americans) in 1745. It was returned to the French in a subsequent treaty. Then, in 1758 it was captured and destroyed by the British (this time the ones in England). Mom and Dad are starting to detect a trend in Nova Scotia history - French, British, French, British.
Since this Fortress was destroyed in 1758, what did they see? In the 1960's and 70's, there were many unemployed people in this area because coal mines were shut down. The Canadian government decided to build a replica of the Fortress using labor from out of work coal miners. They used the original plans and construction techniques from the 1700's. Today, there are costumed people that tell visitor's about life in the 1700's. Here are some of their photos.
View from the Battery
The Kings Bastion Barracks
One of the streets
A pasture for livestock and a few houses
Ladies making lace
Farmer taking his geese for a stroll
Here he is again.
Dad trying to get the perfect surf photo.
Yup, that's a big one!
The Louisbourg Lighthouse
The Mira River, near our campground.
They arrived at the Museum just as a tour was about to go into the
mine. Within minutes, they had their
hard hats and capes and were down in the mine with the others. Mom says that it’s a good thing that she didn’t
need have time to think about this. You
see, the first thing that they glossed over for the late arrivals is that the
mine ranges in height from 4’ 2” to about 5’ 6”. The height of the mine is the height of the coal seam. No reason to dig out rock, rock did not make any money. If you are 5'10" like Mom, that means that the whole tour was done bent
over or squatting. The hard hat isn’t
for falling debris. It’s to protect you
when you hit your head on the ceiling or a support beam (not if you do, but
when you do!) Not the most fun when you
are on a 30 minute tour, but kind of drives home the point that these guys
worked 12 hour shifts 6 days a week in VERY difficult conditions.
The tour guide was a retired miner and he had lots of interesting
stories and insights. For example, the miners lived in houses that they rented from the mining company. There weren't any other houses to live in. One of the conditions of renting the house was that a male in the household had to work in the mine. That seems reasonable, except that it meant that if a miner was injured or died, either a member of the family had to go to work in the mine or the family had to move. At one time, there were boys as young as 9 years old that worked in the mines. Our guide started when he was 14. The miners were paid on a contract basis, i.e. how many tons of coal they could dig and load in a day. These mines were hand excavated from the late 1800's through World War II. They got electricity and automated machines in the 50's.
Our tour guide was about 5'2"
Everyone got a cape to protect their clothes from rubbing
on the ceiling when they were bent over.
A few days ago we started to notice some fall color. Each day gets a little better. On the way back to me, they drove by this marsh.
When they came home, Dad made pan seared scallops with roasted cauliflower and gingered carrots for their dinner. It smelled really good, but all I got was kibble 😞
Tonight is our last night at the Mira River Provincial Park. I'll close with a photo of Sunset over the Mira River.
Love,
Doolin
No comments:
Post a Comment