A few weekends back, I found myself with a rental car and road trip fever. It would have been easy to go back to some of my favourite stops of the summer, or to finish getting all of the stamps on my wine passport. Instead, I had a burning desire to go somewhere I had never been before. Considering I’ve lived in Nova Scotia my whole life and have had jobs in the past which required me to travel the province extensively, this was not going to be easy.

Poring over my map of Nova Scotia, it jumped out at me: Route 215 in Hants County.

I had definitely never been all the way around the Route 215 loop. It runs along the Bay of Fundy, conveniently connecting to one of the wineries I had never visited before, Avondale Sky. In short, the perfect road trip.

Urbania

Getting off Highway 102 at Exit 10 in Shubenacadie, I hopped on to Route 215 and headed north. Originally, I was going to start, and end, my trip with a day of tidal bore rafting, but that didn’t exactly work out, given the scarcity of spots in the boats. Instead, I stopped at the Fundy Tidal Interpretative Centre outside of Urbania (Point B on the map) to go out to the viewing platform constructed out of the old rail bridge and watch the incoming tidal bore.

After the rafters woo-hooed their way past us, it was time to get back into the car and head into the unknown. For no particular reason, I had to stop for this herd of cows, meandering in single file for almost a kilometre. They seemed practically … elephant-like to me.

Burncoat Head

I didn’t know much about Burncoat Head (Point C on the map) other than it had an historic lighthouse.

This was probably my favourite stop of the day, because it was completely unexpected. The local community has built a lovely park and picnic area, including paths which lead directly to the Bay of Fundy.

Take the stairs (carefully!) down to the water, because the view at the bottom is spectacular.

My next-summer-resolution has already been set. I’m going back to Burncoat Head. At low tide, you can walk across the floor of the Bay of Fundy to the base of the little island. It bears a striking resemblance to the Flower Pot Rocks of Hopewell Rocks, don’t you think?

Walton

Continuing on Route 215, past small towns and acres of farmland, I stopped at another historic lighthouse in Walton (Point D on the map). This one was open to the public. Literally. The door was open and a quick look inside revealed visitors can climb a couple of steep ladders to go up to the top. Totally worth it.

I’m a lighthouse keeper!

Coming back down the ladders, a handwritten sign caught my eye. It was only the most effective warning sign I’ve ever seen. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Cheverie

My last stop was practically by accident. Earlier this summer, a local community group worked with a group of engineering students from a local university to build a camera obscura in Cheverie (Point E on the map). I wasn’t sure how to fit it into my summer hometown travel plans, until I drove right past it. The curious structure is worth a closer look, and I won’t spoil it for you by showing the image you’ll see projected inside.

Wrapping up the loop around Route 215 I found this lovely apple-hay barn, which could have been mundane, until I edited it enough to look like it is on infrared film. Art!