Canadian health care – Meanderings & Mind Munchies

Balanced Rock Trail

This morning we headed to Digby Neck to hike the Balanced Rock Trail. As you can see from the photo below, it was a very foggy morning.

Waiting in line for the ferry. The fog was so thick that you couldn’t even see the water. Thinking that we had 50 minutes before the ferry arrived, Greg headed across the street to the cafe for a breakfast sandwich and cup of coffee. We ended up missing the ferry and had to wait for the next one.

Driving onto the ferry. I have no idea how the captain was able to find his way across the channel in the fog.

The trail down to Balanced Rock was an easy walk and thankfully clear of fog.

We saw some pretty cool-looking lichen on our trek.

Greg’s phone claims it was 11 floors’ worth of stairs down to the platform by Balanced Rock.

Looking to the left. As you can see, the fog had not yet completely lifted.

Looking to the right, Balanced Rock. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but Balanced Rock looks like it defies the laws of physics. I don’t know how it is able to balance on such a small piece of rock.

Bear River

Next, we headed to Bear River to see what was there and to visit one of the two wineries.

There isn’t much to see in Bear River. A couple of little art galleries, a grocery store, a cafe, and that’s about it.

Bear River Winery

Bear River Winery was a tiny operation, but the people running it were extremely friendly and helpful. Greg and I enjoyed a flight of wines with a small snack cup.

The view from the back patio of the winery.

There is another winery in Bear River called Casa Nova Fine Beverages, but you have to pre-book a tour and tasting. We were not interested in taking a tour, and I was not sure that we would get to choose which wines we tasted. So we decided not to go there.

More medical stuff

Although the dreaded diarrhea has not yet hit, I was seriously beginning to doubt that the medication I was on was doing anything. Plus, the doctor and the pharmacist had given me conflicting instructions regarding dosing.

Consequently, I ended up calling my doctor in Downingtown to ask her advice. She encouraged me to take the full dose of medicine that I had been prescribed and told me that the risk of developing diarrhea was no greater than for any other antibiotic. She also told me that once I got back to the states, she could call in a prescription for me if I still needed it. That really put my mind at ease.

Digby

Our next stop in Nova Scotia was Digby. After setting up the camper, we headed into town to the visitor center, which had closed 5 minutes before we got there. Since Digby is well known for its scallop fishing, we decided to have dinner at one of the local restaurants and sample the scallops.

I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of my dinner. Greg enjoyed his but claimed that the scallops were not the best that he has ever had.

Port Royal National Historic Site

The next morning we drove to another living history museum. This one was called Port Royal National Historic Site.

Port Royal was a small settlement where French colonists traded European goods with the Mi’kmaq in exchange for furs.

Once again, the weather was dreary.

Greg had me sit at the head of the table so that he could take a picture. (This is not that picture, just in case you were wondering where I was.)

I tried on several pairs of clogs. They were extremely uncomfortable! There must be a trick to wearing them.

This is the room where the Mi’kmaq people came to trade with the French settlers.

Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens

After Port Royal, we headed to Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens.

The roses were past their peak, but I captured a few photos of those that remained.

These roses were a beautiful lavender color.

These looked like they went from yellow to pink to white as they flowered

And some other flowers, too. I have no idea what any of them are, but they sure are beautiful.

I took this picture for Migzie and Marianne.

I think one of the gardeners told us that this cottage is a replica of a 1600s croft, but don’t hold me to that.

The mosquitoes were relentless. They eventually chased us back to the car.

More medical stuff

On our way back to the camper, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some food.

While we were there, the doctor that we had seen in Lunenburg called to say that, based on the results of the culture, the medication he had given me was not going to work for my infection. He called in a new prescription to the pharmacy at the grocery store, and we picked it up before we left.

When the pharmacist handed it over, she warned me that it would give me severe diarrhea. It would not be an understatement to say that she completely freaked me out.

We had reservations to take a whale watching trip the next day. It was going to take us an hour and a half to get to the tour (plus two ferry rides), and we would be on the water for 3 hours. When I woke up the morning of the tour, I decided that it would be too risky for me to go. I had no desire to have diarrhea and have no easily accessible restroom. So Greg went on the tour by himself. He took some really amazing videos of whales playing in the water and breaching, which he showed me when he got back.

The Ovens Natural Park

Today, we visited a small private park near Lunenburg called Ovens Natural Park. It is known for its sea caves and slate cliffs.

It is possible to kayak into the sea caves during high tide, and if we had been in Lunenburg longer, I might have tried to talk Greg into doing that.

These cement steps lead to an underground tunnel with a view of the interior of one of the sea caves.

The view of the entrance to the sea cave.

The interior of the sea cave. Through that hole in the back wall, deep underground, we could hear the thunder of the waves.

Lunenberg

After visiting Ovens Natural Park, we headed to the golf course across the harbor from Lunenburg to see if we could get a good picture of the town.

I tried zooming in on the town to take a picture, but the photo looked grainy, and the details were not crisp. I had better luck taking an unzoomed photo and cropping it.

This photo was taken from the town of Lunenburg looking toward the golf course. The harbor had a large number of double masted sailing boats.

I love all of the pretty colors! Lunenburg really is a cute town. It is fairly touristy, though.

Greg was really excited to see the historical reproduction of the Bluenose schooner. Unfortunately, it was out of town at a regatta while we were visiting.

There is more that we could have done while we were in Lunenburg, but our last day was taken up with another ER visit and stop at the pharmacy to get medicine.

There is a bike path from Lunenburg to Mahone Bay that would have been fun. And I wouldn’t have minded a boat tour of the harbor, a visit to the Fisheries Museum, a walk through Mahone Bay, or a whiskey tasting at Ironworks Distillery.

Harbour Hopper

Today we headed to Halifax for a Harbour Hopper tour, which is similar to a Duck tour in the U.S. As you can see from the photos, the skies were cloudy and gray.

The Drunken Lampposts are an art installation along the harbor boardwalk. There are three of them. One is called Fountain (because it is peeing into the harbor), another is Get Drunk, and the third is Fall Down. You can just see the curve of part of Fall Down in the photo. (The rest of it is lying on the boardwalk, passed out.) Together, they represent what happens in Halifax at night on the waterfront.

St. George’s Island. I wanted to go over and tour the island, but it never happened.

One of the stories that our Harbour Hopper tour guide told us was about a huge explosion that occurred in 1917, when a French cargo ship fully loaded with explosives collided with a Norwegian ship in the harbor, causing a blast that killed more than 1,700 people and injured 9,000 others. The explosion destroyed buildings within an 800-metre radius and created a tsunami that exposed the bottom of the harbor.

Another medical clinic

After our tour, we stopped by a local restaurant on the boardwalk and had lunch (more seafood chowder).

Then we walked to a nearby pharmacy/medical clinic to get another UTI test since I was still having a lot of discomfort, and I was almost out of antibiotics. Although the people were very nice, I wasn’t really satisfied with the experience.

At that point, we headed back to the camper because the weather was getting even more threatening.