The brave guards of the Citadel train in the large courtyard. Very Scottish looking, IMO.

How many cities can claim to have a citadel?  In particular one that protected its people for two centuries without ever firing a shot?  Well, Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia can make that claim and we had a chance to explore this fortress on a hill overlooking the centre of town during our brief visit to the city.  But Nova Scotia is really more about its famous coastline and its fishing industry and most of our time in the province was spent on the coast.

Little villages always have surprises, such as this place called Great Village with their huge elementary school

Nova Scotia is a study of wild coastline, rich fishing waters and vast untouched forests.  The French initially settled these remote parts, over the generations melded with the surrounds and became known as Acadians, only to be over run and rudely shipped out by the rampaging British.  It then became a place for hordes of Scots to settle and extend their culture to this land (Nova Scotia means New Scotland).  Much of the cod fishing, mining, logging and other industrial activities have since wound down, leaving a quieter place to live based on a very short tourism season and some hearty hard working locals.

Lazing by the seashore with the flag aflutter could really work if the sun ever came out

We made our way down to the historic town Lunenberg on the coast south of Halifax where we wandered amongst its 19^th century buildings, admired its harbour and ate fish and chips from a balcony overlooking a beautiful harbour scene.  And as a bonus we were waited on by a young lad from Tasmania who had made this small town his short term home!  On ya, mate!

Fish and chips overlooking the bay at Lunenberg – very civilised

We had a look at Halifax, which was the first British settlement up north when they landed in 1747 and built the aforementioned citadel, today a university town with hints of style and fun mixed with some dowdy old red brick buildings and a slightly run down look.  The harbour was cool and we checked out the 19^th century buildings on the wharf which have been converted to chic shops and micro-breweries.

A view from inside the Citadel, now mainly providing good views of Halifax

We headed northward, ever northward, up the east coast, camping on Porter Lake in some very cold conditions, and then continuing up the coast.  We passed through small coastal towns like Tangier with its brief gold rush history and Sheet Harbour which flourished in the late 18^th and into the 19^th century as a logging centre.  The coastline was absolutely superb and the road weaved its way in and out of every bay and cove and inlet long the way.  The day was cold and grey but in some ways that matched the remote and rugged coastline.

Lunenberg’s historical buildings also featured some very bright colours!

And then the moment we had been dreading, another flat tire, again on one of the overloaded rear tires and again I was under Tramp making the necessary changes on the side of the road.  We knew the spare tire was dodgy from when it was hastily plugged after the last flat in Texas so we slowly limped 40 km into the small town of Sherbrooke and introduced ourselves to the young lad at the local gas station.

Not again! Not even the local church could save me from changing another tire

As it turns out, Brendan was quite adept at fixing flats and he had ours repaired and replaced in no time, during which time we saw that the dodgy spare had gone flat and was later determined to be beyond repair.  But it had gotten us the necessary 40 km to town before dying so we were grateful.

This little station in Sherbrooke provided us with one fixed tire and great conversations with some long term locals

While we were there we started talking to a few of the old locals who were getting work done on their cars or just passing by.  They were all retired and had an unusual lilting accent which was not anything North American, a tone influenced by forces unknown.  They had lived in the area their whole lives, known each other since grade school, just local blokes who knew many harsh lonely winters and enjoyed having a chat with nothing particularly else to do.  We couldn’t understand everything they said but it was really good fun.

We drove up to the major town of Antigonish where on the third tire shop we bit the bullet and bought five new ten-ply all terrain tires that would see us through the rough roads of northern Canada and Alaska.  They were outrageously expensive and had to be shipped overnight from Halifax but for reliability and durability we knew we had to get off these inappropriate Goodyear Wranglers that came with Tramp.  In the end we only had four tires and one of them had two patches so we needed to swallow hard and spend the money.

Some locals have a flair for entertaining themselves – or perhaps they have nothing better to do

We bush camped up the coast that night in a pleasant little meadow and at dusk was visited by a beautiful red fox, his long bushy tail and distinctive pointed ears made him a handsome fellow.  We had probably invaded his evening hunting ground but he was a gracious host, just as curious about us as we were about him.

Its early spring and the snow has melted, filling every creek bed

The next morning we had our new tires installed, BF Goodrich ten-ply All Terrain tires with an aggressive tread that would be perfect for northern Canada and Alaskan gravel roads.  They were no bargain but we always knew we had this investment in our future, it just came a bit earlier than we had hoped.

Aren’t they beauties? New tires which hopefully will travel with us for many months (or years!) to come.

We followed the coast northward and crossed the causeway onto Cape Breton Island which has the main drawing power for visitors of this province.  With new tires and the sun shining we were ready!