Travels With Wesley

As I mentioned last time, Peggy’s Cove is one of the most photographed places in North America.  I was last there 29 years ago.  None of the images I shot then have survived, but I remembered it as the spot I have seen in hundreds of photos, the lighthouse on the rocks in various light conditions and angles.  Almost thirty years down the road, things have changed.  As we approached, we saw at least 4 huge tour buses leaving, preparing us for the hordes we found at the tourist attraction it has become.  A web site for your edification. http://www.peggyscoveregion.com/

A scene on the way to Peggy’s Cove.

                                               Fujifilm X100 23mm 1/4000 sec @ f/16 iso 200

 

On the way down the peninsula we stopped at one of the memorials to the Swissair disaster of September 2, 1998. On that date, a Swissair MD-11 from JFK Airport in NYC to Geneva crashed in the waters of St. Margaret’s Bay near Peggy’s cove. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissair_Flight_111  All 229 people on board perished.  There are actually three memorials to the disaster in the area, roughly triangulating the crash site. One of the other memorials, with details of the crash and the names of all 229 people:

                                              Fujifilm X100 23mm 1/280 sec @ f/4.5 iso 200

A bad view of the lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove across the bay from the memorial.  The sky was overcast, making for rough photography. 

                                         Nikon D300 18-200mm 95mm 1/160 sec @ f/18 iso 200                                          

 

The lighthouse itself is in bad repair.  The National Government apparently no longer has the funds to maintain lighthouses, which really serve no useful purpose in most cases with the modern navigational devices on ships.  But, apparently they will not give the province or preservation groups approval for renovation, they can’t even paint the structure.  Regardless, the masses continue to descend on Peggy’s cove.

Some parts of the little settlement still look like a fishing village.

         Nikon D300 18-200mm 22mm 1/160 sec @ f/13 iso 200
                           processed in Topaz BW

 

                                       Nikon D300 18-200mm 38mm 1/125 sec @ f/13 iso 200

A picturesque little cove.

                                         Nikon D300 18-200mm 27mm 1/200 sec @ f/13 iso 200
                                                              processed in Topaz Adjust 5

The next day, we went to Mahone Bay and Lunenburg . Stay tuned.

                                    

Some more random images from the long drive the first full day in Nova Scotia.  I know, it will be 2013 before I get through the whole trip.  But it is free.

A view up a pretty inlet. 

                                 Nikon D7000 18-200 mm lens @ 18mm 1/125 sec @f/14 iso 200

Chair on a dock. (What did you think it was?)

                            Nikon D7000 18-200 mm lens @ 105mm 1/200 sec @f/11 iso 200

Old building full of lobster pots.

Nikon D7000 18-200 mm lens @ 105mm 1/100 sec @f/11 iso 220
                                 processed in Topaz Adjust 5

                                    

This old building needs some paint.

                   Nikon D7000 18-200 mm lens @ 31mm 1/100 sec @f/13 iso 250

These guys were just sunning and preening on a rock.

                              Nikon D7000 18-200 mm lens @ 200mm 1/250 sec @f/10 iso 200

Derelict building sitting on inlet.  Lots of these to look at on the drive that day.

                                       Nikon D7000 18-200 mm lens @ 24mm 1/125 sec @f/13 iso 200

This guy took a wrong turn somewhere.

                                  Nikon D7000 18-200 mm lens @ 42mm 1/100 sec @f/13 iso 280
                                                                  processed in Topaz Adjust 5

Finally, all in a row.

 

Nikon D7000 18-200 mm lens @ 18mm 1/200 sec @f/13 iso 200
                                  processed in Topaz Adjust 5     

Tomorrow, we drive to Peggy’s Cove, one of the most photographed destinations in North America.

 

 

Here it is Friday afternoon, and we have been in Chester since Tuesday.  After a long day flying, we arrived at the Halifax airport about an hour late.  Looking forward to an hour or so drive to Chester and or destination at the Gray Gables B&B.  Not to be.  Yours truly missed a turn, and turned the hour drive into a two+ hour nightmare.  Well, not really a nightmare, but a much longer and frustrating drive.  My GPS doesn’t have Canadian  maps, so I left it at home.  The trusty IPhone did help out after I decided to trust it, and a very helpful toll booth operator got us in the right direction after a detour through the industrial section of Halifax (we shouldn’t have gone into Halifax at all.)  With no further problems we arrived safely about 10PM local time (Atlantic time zone.)

We awoke the next morning to a marvelous breakfast prepared by our gracious hostess, Jacqui.  The view from the veranda:

                                             Fujifilm X100 23mm 1/1200 @ f/16 iso 200 

A typical Nova Scotia foggy morning.  I could only imagine what view awaited us.

                                     Fujifilm X100 23mm 1/1000 @ f/16 iso 200

For those interested here is a link to the Wikipedia page on Chester, Nova Scotia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester,_Nova_Scotia

We happened to arrive during the annual boating Race Week, so we pretty much stayed away from the village except to visit Gina’s aunt, and I did some walking around.  It is a very crowded village during the races.  Restaurants and taverns overflowing with boisterous yachting types.  It does have a very pretty harbor, one with very expensive homes. One view:

                                                 Fujifilm X100 23mm 1/2500 @ f/16 iso 200

We lunched with Gina’s cousins and aunt at the Chester Golf Club which sits on one of the many inlets around Chester.  Not a bad place to play golf if one had contracted that disease.

                                                     Fujifilm X100 23mm 1/4000 @ f/16 iso 200

We then took a long drive on a small part of the lighthouse route of the South Shore, covering the Aspotogan peninsula. Some random images from the drive.

  Nikon D7000 18-200mm lens 70mm1/250 @ f/7.1 iso 200 processed in Topaz Adjust 5

   Nikon D7000 18-200mm lens 48mm1/160 @ f/8 iso 200 processed in Topaz Adjust 5

  Nikon D7000 18-200mm lens 150mm1/200 @ f/9 iso 200 processed in Topaz Adjust 5

I’m tired, time for a nap.  More later.