In northern Nova Scotia we arrive in the town of Glace Bay. Underneath the city lies a net of tunnels where they used to mine for cole. The tunnels are hundreds of km long and up to 800 meters below sea level. After the closure of the last mine 20 years ago, they opened a small part as a Miners’ Museum.
The former miner Sheldon explaned to us how the industry used to work and took us underground in one old mine he used to work in. Many personal stories made this a great experience!
Not far away we visit the living museum of Louisbourg. In Switzerland we have the Ballenberg, Canada has Louisbourg (and many other smaller living museums). The fort was rebuilt in the sixties with the help of unemployed miners from Glace Bay.
Luckily the guard at the gate lets us pass, so we can explore all the historical buildings, exhibitions, and be part of the daily ceremony of a canon firing at noon. In the historic bakery we buy some “real” bread and eat a great lunch at the restaurant.
After over five months of traveling we seem to be surfeited by all our impressions. We have seen so many beautiful places, it seems hard for us to enjoy Nova Scotia at bad weather. Autumn is coming, the nights are cold and damp, the mornings are misty. Whatsoever we try to enjoy our last weaks – may it be at a canoe trip in Kejimukujik National Park, at the bonfire or at animal visits. Fun fact: we spend a lot more time in Cafés and Tearooms 🙂
Thursday we reserved for cleaning and packing. We wash, clean, whipe and repack our van. Unbelievably we needed a whole day for this!
Next morning was it time to bring our Emma to the shipping company. It seems unreal to leave her there and make our way on foot to Halifax – our final destination.
written by Nick