november evening in peggy's cove

Peggy's Cove... a small fishing village located 26 miles to the southeast of Halifax on the east coast of St. Margaret's Bay, named by Samuel de Champlain for his mother Marguerite. The first recorded name of the cove was Eastern Point Harbour or Peggs Harbour in 1766. In 1811 the village was founded by 6 German families who fished but also raised cattle and farmed where the land was fertile. By the turn of that century the community had grown to 300 and supported a school, church, general store and lobster cannery.

As better roads were made, tourism began to grow, the first public art gallery, tea-room, and gift shop opened in a shack in Peggy's Cove in 1937. The government stepped in to protect what it eventually designated as a heritage site. It is so popular today that there is even a themed resort in Thailand inspired by it.

Our trip started late on Saturday afternoon, taking the straightaway down our road to the south shore. Turning northeast, we followed the scenic #3 through villages with evocative names like Hubbards,  Boutiliers Point, then turning south on Peggy's Point Road through Tantallon, Hacket's Cove and Indian Harbour as we travelled the east coast of St. Margaret's Bay.

As we drove the narrow road into town, I was relieved to find there was still enough daylight to capture the maritime romance of this...

incredibly quaint and charming sheltered inlet.

Lobster traps stacked neatly on the dock, it is clearly low tide, the breakwater showing beyond.

We travel the short length of road alongside the quiet cove.

The setting sun is beginning to show its colours in the radiating clouds.

Unaware, I also take my self-portrait in the rear view mirror.

First stop is the Sou'Wester Gift Shop and Restaurant (i.e. the washrooms)

Perhaps I should tell you that a "sou (south) wester" is the name of the oldtime fisherman's hat that channels water away from the face and down one's back. The worst storms seem to come from the southwest here as they do where we live in the Annapolis Valley, curving down from Canada, through the northeastern U.S. seaboard and up again towards us.  I bought one of these hats as a souvenir when I first visited Peggy's Cove, and let me tell you, they work!

A quick survey of the art upstairs and down

and a portrait of dear Wally.

Right out the door, the famous Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

More than 400 million years ago, in the Devonian Period, the plate tectonics movement of the Earth's crust allowed molten material to bubble up from the Earth's interior.  The unique landscape of Peggy's Cove and surrounding areas was subsequently carved by the migration of glaciers and the ocean tides. About 20,000 years ago, an ice ridge moved south from Canada's Arctic region covering much of North America. Along with the ebb and flow of the glaciers, the ice ridge eventually melted and shifted and in the process scooped away and scoured large sections of rock, vegetation, and topsoil. As melted land glaciers flowed back to the oceans the changing tidal flows and rising sea levels filled the scarred areas with water, forming coves and inlets. Large boulders composed of 415-million-year-old Devonian granite were lifted by the ice and carried for long distances before being deposited upon the landscape as the ice receded, leaving rugged barrens. The movement of the glacial ice and rocks left scouring marks in the bedrock that are still visible.

If rock ever looked like it could breathe, this is it.

We follow the concrete path laid out for our safety,

the sky laid out for our beauty

To my left, the heaving rock

The same couple in this otherworldly plain

Connie and I made it to the top

taking a pose with the famous lighthouse

trying to capture the elusive colours from where I stood

and looking back towards the cove

aother view over the ancient rocks

A young family taking it all in, much closer than Wally will allow me to go.

My normally placid Wally gets quite livid when I venture too close.

He is afraid of the infamous "Rogue Wave".

Now that I've done some research on the subject I see that there are, in fact, numerous deaths here every year. Wow! There's so much one can learn "unofficially".

still determined to catch the colour with this little puddle competing with the sun for a focal point

the huge rocks, so difficult to capture for scale except for the gentle waves beyond them

Connie waves to me

pon closer inspection I see that she is taking a picture of me as I am taking a picture of her

It's great to see Wally looking so relaxed and happy.

 My travelling companions by Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

Really, by height, the lighthouse is not that tall. It is its placement on the rocks that makes its light cast so far. And yet, in that link above, someone had said they had once seen the waves crash onto the road beyond it, by the gift store.

Each time I turn I catch a slightly different view of the sun setting over St. Margaret's Bay

the clouds casting long fingers into the darkening sky

The miraculousness of the evening's "sweet light" is finally lending a hand,

 helping me to capture this glorious sunset

The waves are benign tonight, this early November evening

They sweep gently over these slippery rocks

There is a primordial peace here.

Which planet are we on?

Connie takes one last picture as Wally watches on.

The Sou'Wester Gift Shop is in the background.

I take one last picture of the rugged shoreline looking out across St. Margaret's Bay

and the town beyond

And what's this?...

Ah, the warning, caught sight of on our way back up the hill.

This accidental juxtaposition cracked me up.

Connie with Darlene and Crystal from the Sou'Wester gift shop,

Darlene holding the postcard that I mailed myself of these 3 buddies, oldtime fishermen.

one last step out the door

a little closer

and finally time to go.

So, wowee, that was some trip.

Can you believe there is more from this evening?? 

Again I must save them for another day.

I hope this little collection gave you a feel for this magical little spot on Earth.

thank you for coming along with me

*