Picturesque Peggys Cove

Rigging and lobster trap

Location Coordinates:
44°29'34"N
63°53'03"W
Peggys Cove,
Nova Scotia
Canada

     Waves crashing onto rocky shores, lobster boats, windswept buildings, fishing nets - these are all images I associate with the northeast coast. That's exactly what I found in Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia. But I had to fight a bit to find the quiet solitude that I also associate with this scene. Gale-force winds and a driving rain literally put a damper on things, as did way too many cantankerous tourists grousing about. However, I persevered and managed to find a few peaceful moments in this very pretty setting.

Peggys Cove fishing boats

     I arrived in nearby Halifax in the early morning and, determined to not let the lousy weather discourage me, boarded a tour bus for the roughly thirty mile drive to the small community of Peggys Cove. Peggys Cove is known around the world as an archetypical small coastal fishing village, and I'm sure at one point or another virtually everyone has seen an image of the village in a calendar or post card or other such publication. Our bus fought its way through heavy Halifax traffic and eventually cleared the city heading in a southwesterly direction through the rural Nova Scotia landscape. As we made our way I was surprised to find an abundance of trees and vegetation. My mind had always imagined this area to be rocky and barren. Then about five miles from Peggys Cove it began to look just as I had envisioned. Our bus made a sharp left turn onto a very narrow road that led into the town of Peggys Cove, and I was able to see even through the driving rain the village was just what I was expecting.



The Peggys Cove lighthouse

      The actual population of Peggys Cove is less than fifty people. The problem lies in the fact that with each arriving tour bus the population doubles, and then triples, and then quadruples . . . well, you get the picture. My tour group was deposited at a centralized gift shop/restaurant which has as its sole purpose the servicing of tourists on their respective thirty minute stopovers. The scene was similar to an airport, with tour busses coming and going on an almost constant basis. This unfortunate fact diluted the town's ambiance to an almost irritating point. Upon leaving their respective busses, most all of the tourists headed for either the gift shop or the lighthouse. As such, I immediately went the opposite way. With one vigilant eye keeping track of the various crowds and one seeking eye admiring the setting, I managed for the most part to keep ahead of the hordes. This process helped me to see the peaceful, rustic side of Peggys Cove. And that pretty image made putting up with the crowds worthwhile.



Fisherman's bench

      Had the weather been sunny I could have stayed in Peggys Cove all day, filling my camera with hundreds of images of boats and lobster rigging, lighthouses and weather-beaten homes. But my thirty minutes expired, and it was back on the bus for me for the return trip to Halifax. I wouldn't mind visiting Peggys Cove again . . . in a rented car . . . very early in the morning before tour operators open for business. Then I'd really have a chance to experience that quaint seaside village quality that is there behind all the t-shirts and souvenir whale bones.