Kitsch and Beach

17.9. Lunenburg, Unesco World Heritage. Founded in 1753. With exceptionally preserved wooden architecture. Although the name of the town is very much German, as were most of the first settlers, the village layout had actually been planned by British colonial settlement.

The Unesco part of the deal of course requires the upkeep of the buildings. Each and every house has to be in pristine condition, individually in its design and colour. They look a little Disney to me, and it helps if you are colour blind, because some colours just don't go too well together...

Fisherman's memorial

The Bluenose

Anyway, Lunenburg is a gem, a must-see for the Nova Scotia tourist. Just be careful what you spend your money on: accommodation as well as dining comes with a price tag (hence me staying on the outskirts, and preparing my own meals...).

And some extra trivia: Besides its heritage, these days Lunenburg is also 'starring' in the fiction/fantasy TV-show called Haven, now in its fifth season, and loosely based on Stephen King's short story Colorado Kid.

With no big plans in mind I meander south along the shore, and take a cute little cable ferry to LaHave. About 20km south I meet with friends (who wish to remain anonymous), whom I know from my time in Calgary. They expect family guests and hence, our time together is limited. But we get to have a coffee and a nice little chat, before they send me on my way.

After this I spend some time at the beautiful Crescent Beach, where I get a sunburn... at this time of the year! I better get moving...

I am running low on gas, and it's time to refill. A gas station shows up right on cue, but a sign on the pump says 'out of fuel'. What? It is bound to happen: ten minutes later the motor calls it quits. David had said: You might never need it, but take the fuel bottle anyway. As a matter of fact this is the second time the MSR bottle came in handy. Thanks, David!

An older gentleman stops and asks if I need help: No, I tell him, just a petrol station. Oh, there is a General Store with a pump down the road, he tells me. I get to the store right in time, running on fumes, and refill the tank as well as the bottle: 14.7l thereof 13.8l go into refilling the bike...

All is well with the world again, and I continue with my loop, have a little picknick at the lighthouse in Port Medway, get haunted by flying objects of the stinging kind, and therefore eventually track my way back to the cottage.

Shortly before arriving I hit a huge pothole. Usually I have gotten quite good at dodging these, but I couldn't see this one. It is hiding in the shadows. The bike goes in like a pro, while I manage to straddle the tank and grab the handlebars as hard as I can. An unpleasant experience to say the least (ouch, says my back).

Back in my host's garage I check the spokes, the frame, the chain, the forks, just in case. From a lay(wo)man's perspective everything seems fine. Except, that the left saddlebag looks a little askew. Nothing broke, but two of the four nuts and bolts holding the bag in place must have come lose during the dive (or maybe there were lose before?). I ask the host, a former Hell's Angel member by the way, for permission to use the tools in his shed (most of them were imperial of course...), and with his help get the issue fixed right away.

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Auf meiner Kanada-Seite gibt es hierzu zwei Berichte:

KLICK für Lunenburg

KLICK für die zweite Tour