Beyond the Postcards: Discovering the Nova Scotia I Loved

Beautiful beaches, rugged coastlines, colorful towns, and a few surprises along the way.

After all the challenges of getting to Nova Scotia, Roo and I had finally arrived! And I was more than ready to stop worrying about refrigerators, cell phones, border crossings, and campground reservations and start enjoying the scenery.

If you read my previous post, The Road to Nova Scotia: Beautiful Detours, Unexpected Challenges, and a Rainbow, you know getting here wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. But now the real exploring could begin.

And Nova Scotia certainly had some surprises waiting for us.

Five Islands and the Incredible Bay of Fundy

Our first destination was Five Islands, along the Bay of Fundy. I had booked a campground right along the water, and I was excited about the possibility of sitting outside my van and enjoying the ocean.

When I arrived, though, I was disappointed. Where was the water?

I’d expected to look out over the ocean, but instead, there was an enormous stretch of exposed shoreline. I hadn’t known anything about the dramatic tides of the Bay of Fundy, so I couldn’t understand why the water was so far away. This certainly wasn’t the oceanfront view I’d been imagining!

The campground itself wasn’t particularly well maintained, which added to my disappointment. But the location was beautiful, and I was determined to enjoy it.

Then I figured out what was happening. The tide was out, and the water would eventually come back in! Suddenly, I had something to look forward to.

Earlier, Roo and I had visited Five Islands Lighthouse Park. It was a pretty spot, but the wind was fierce! There wasn’t much opportunity to linger and enjoy the scenery.

Back at the campground that evening, I settled in to watch the tide come in, curious to see just how much the landscape would change. I watched as the tide began coming in, gradually transforming the landscape in front of me. The enormous stretch of exposed shoreline slowly disappeared beneath the rising water. I had no idea the tides could change the scenery so dramatically!

And as the sun began to set, I found myself doing something I hadn’t done much of since leaving home.

Absolutely nothing.

I wasn’t driving, navigating, looking for my next destination, or trying to solve another problem. I was simply sitting there, watching the water rise and taking it all in.

Looking back, that may have been the one moment during the trip when I truly allowed myself to be completely present. Not just admiring something beautiful while thinking about what came next, but actually allowing the experience to settle in.

And what an experience it was!

The following morning, Roo and I visited Five Islands Provincial Park. We took a short hike and discovered some spectacular views. I tried to capture them in photographs, but the pictures just didn’t do the scenery justice.

That’s something I would discover over and over again on this trip. Some places simply have to be experienced in person.

Rissers Beach: Now This Is My Kind of Camping!

From Five Islands, we drove across Nova Scotia to Rissers Beach Provincial Park, where I would spend the next two nights.

And oh, did I like this campground!

The campground was right on the ocean, which made it even more special. Most of the campsites were tucked among the trees, offering plenty of privacy. Mine wasn’t quite as wooded as some of the others, but I had a view of the ocean right from my campsite, and I couldn’t see any neighboring campers. The best of both worlds!

Perfect!

I love being surrounded by nature, especially when I can hear the ocean nearby. There’s something wonderful about having trees around you, the sound of waves in the distance, and nobody camped right on top of you.

After so many long days of driving and dealing with one problem after another, this was exactly the kind of campground I’d been hoping to find.

Unfortunately, finding a beautiful place to stay didn’t mean I suddenly had endless hours to enjoy it. I was still moving from place to place, planning what to see next, and trying to keep up with everything that needed doing.

And I was tired. Really tired.

I remember deciding I was going to have an early night, only to spend much of the evening on my phone anyway. So much for that plan! 😂

But there was something else about that day that stayed with me.

Earlier that morning, while still at Five Islands, I’d experienced a strange feeling of being very far from home. Not loneliness, exactly, but a sense of detachment from everything familiar. By the time I settled into my campsite at Rissers Beach, that feeling had faded.

It’s interesting how quickly our emotions can change. That morning, I had felt unsettled and disconnected. By evening, I was feeling much more like myself.

I wrote more about that experience and what it meant to me in my first Nova Scotia post, A Journey of Discovery, Inside and Out.

Sea Caves, Colorful Buildings, and Crowds

The next day, Roo and I headed out to explore some of the surrounding area.

One of our stops was Ovens Natural Park, which I’d been looking forward to visiting. For some reason, I’d pictured a beach where we could walk along the shoreline and explore sea caves.

Well, that wasn’t quite what we found!

Instead of walking along the beach as I’d imagined, we followed trails along the cliffs overlooking the ocean, with spectacular views of the sea caves below. And as it turned out, I think that was even better! Seeing the rugged coastline and caves from above gave me a much broader view of the incredible scenery. It was different from what I’d expected, but I wasn’t disappointed in the least.

It was beautiful, but the walk was tiring, especially with my knee still giving me trouble. And there was a lot more walking involved than I’d anticipated, so I was already getting a little tired. I just don’t have the same energy with a torn meniscus even though I act like I do!

From there, we headed to Lunenburg, a town I’d seen in photographs with colorful buildings lining the waterfront. And the buildings really were beautiful!

But there was something else I hadn’t fully appreciated from those pictures: the hills. Lunenburg is steep! Add in the crowds, the traffic, and the challenge of navigating an unfamiliar town in a big camper van, and I quickly began feeling overwhelmed.

It was also much more touristy than I generally enjoy. I know many people love wandering through busy waterfront towns, browsing shops, and soaking up the atmosphere. But I’ve discovered that I’m much happier in quieter places surrounded by nature.

So rather than force myself to stay somewhere I wasn’t particularly enjoying, I hightailed it out of there! And you know what? That was perfectly fine.

We returned to Rissers Beach, where I could have dinner and get ready for whatever the next day had in store.

Sometimes the best part of sightseeing is knowing when you’ve seen enough!

Peggy’s Cove: Beautiful, But Wow, the People!

Our next day of exploring included one of Nova Scotia’s most famous destinations: Peggy’s Cove.

The drive to Peggy’s Cove was lovely, with hardly any traffic. I was enjoying the scenery, completely unaware of what was waiting for me!

I’d seen plenty of pictures of Peggy’s Cove and its famous lighthouse. Beautiful ocean, enormous rocks, picturesque lighthouse. What I hadn’t seen in any of those pictures were PEOPLE! Where had they all been hiding? 😂

Because when Roo and I arrived, apparently everyone in Nova Scotia had decided to visit Peggy’s Cove that day!

There were tour buses, cars, and people everywhere. Maneuvering my van through the area was challenging enough, but walking around with Roo added another layer of concern. He’s my little traveling companion, and I take that responsibility seriously. With the buses and all the activity around us, I kept him close.

We did make our way to the lighthouse, and the scenery was beautiful. The rocky coastline, the ocean, and that famous white lighthouse were certainly worth seeing.

But the crowds took away some of the enjoyment for me. I know Peggy’s Cove is a popular destination for good reason, and I’m glad I went. But it reinforced something I’d been noticing throughout the trip.

The places I enjoyed most weren’t necessarily the famous attractions. They were the places where I could take my time and enjoy the scenery without feeling surrounded by people.

And fortunately, I was about to discover another one.

Taylor Head: A Welcome Change of Pace

After the crowds at Peggy’s Cove, Taylor Head Provincial Park was a welcome change. Instead of busy parking areas and tour buses, Roo and I found wooded paths and beautiful coastal scenery.

There were trails leading toward the ocean and others along the bay side. I loved the combination of trees, water, and quiet surroundings.

This was much more my kind of place. No crowds to navigate, no busy tourist attractions, just beautiful natural surroundings.

Of course, I was still doing plenty of walking, and my knee was reminding me that it wasn’t particularly thrilled about all this activity. But I was glad I made the stop.

The scenery was lovely, especially where the wooded paths opened up toward the water. It wasn’t a particularly elaborate adventure, and that’s part of what made it enjoyable. Sometimes simple really is better.

East River Lodge: Autumn Colors and Another Internet Challenge

Our next campground was East River Lodge Campground and Trailer Park.

It was a smaller campground, with friendly people and a pretty river nearby. The trees along the water were showing off their autumn colors, and I finally had an opportunity to take some photographs of the foliage I’d been admiring throughout the trip.

So much of the most spectacular scenery (this was a common theme for the ENTIRE trip) I’d seen appeared while I was driving. Often, I’d come around a bend and suddenly find myself looking at something breathtaking. But by the time I spotted a place to pull over, I was already passing it. With my big van, I wasn’t comfortable making sudden stops or quick decisions on unfamiliar roads. As a result, I missed quite a few opportunities to photograph some truly beautiful scenery.

Here, I could actually stop and capture some of those beautiful colors. It was also my SECOND rainbow sighting!

By this point, I’d also been dealing with several nights of frustratingly slow or nonexistent internet service. That was becoming a recurring theme of the trip!

For someone who works online and spends a good deal of time managing a website and social media, being disconnected wasn’t particularly convenient. I couldn’t keep up with everything the way I normally would, and that bothered me.

But there was another side to it.

Without reliable internet, I was spending much more time in the present moment than I normally do. I wasn’t constantly checking social media or keeping up with everything happening back home. I was seeing and experiencing things instead.

Now, I don’t want to make it sound as though I spent my days peacefully contemplating life beside the ocean. Believe me, I was far too busy for that! Between the driving, sightseeing, walking, campground routines, and figuring out where I was going next, most days were exhausting.

But even in the middle of all that activity, I was less distracted by the digital world than I usually am. And looking back, I think that was a good thing.

Discovering the Nova Scotia I Loved

As I look back on this part of the trip, what stands out isn’t necessarily the most famous places I visited.

Peggy’s Cove was beautiful, but crowded. Lunenburg was colorful and charming, but the hills and tourist activity were more than I wanted to deal with. The Ovens offered spectacular coastal scenery, but the walking was more challenging than I’d expected, only because of my knee issue.

And then there were places like Rissers Beach, Taylor Head, and East River Lodge. Beautiful natural surroundings, trees, water, and a little more room to breathe. Those were the places I appreciated most.

But there’s something else I recognize now. Even when I found places I loved, I didn’t always have much time to enjoy them. I was constantly on the move, trying to see as much as possible while also managing everything that comes with traveling alone in a camper van.

I had imagined this trip would be filled with opportunities to sit beside the ocean, enjoy the scenery, and simply take it all in. The reality was quite different. There was always another drive, another destination, another campground, or another task waiting for me.

That’s why that evening watching the tide come in at Five Islands stands out so clearly in my memory. For once, I wasn’t trying to get somewhere or accomplish something. I was simply there.

And perhaps that’s one of the things I’ll remember most about this part of Nova Scotia. Not just how beautiful it was, but how easy it can be to stay so busy experiencing a place that you barely give yourself time to absorb it.

There was still so much ahead, including one of the places I’d been most excited about seeing: Cape Breton Island and the famous Cabot Trail. I’d already seen some spectacular autumn scenery, but I had a feeling the best might still be waiting for me.

And as it turned out, the Cabot Trail would be an adventure all its own!

Next in my Nova Scotia journey: Cape Breton, the Cabot Trail, breathtaking autumn colors, winding mountain roads, and even more rainbows.

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