Dreamin' Of Lazy Days

This is Lily Lake near Middleton in Nova Scotia.




Photo Credit: Grant MacDonald CC=nc-flickr.

Tuesdays for Travis - Lily Lake

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[3- Sunset at Lily Lake]














Lily Lake is near Middleton, Nova Scotia.



Photo Credits: [1][2][3]-Grant MacDonald CC-nc-flickr.

Samuel de Champlain - Part 1

[1-Samuel de Champlain by Ronjat]

Samuel de Champlain (c. 1575 - 25 December 1635), known as "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, geographer, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, ethnologist, diplomat, chronicler, and the founder of Quebec City on July 3, 1608, of which he was the administrator for the rest of his life. It is from Champlain’s published accounts of his voyages that established him as an explorer and geographer.

Champlain arrived on board the Bonne-Renommée (the Good Fame) on his first trip to North America on 15 March 1603, as an observer, with members of a fur-trading expedition. Although he had no official assignment on the voyage commanded by François Gravé Du Pont, he created a map of the St. Lawrence River and after his return to France on September 20th, wrote an account published as Des Sauvages: ou voyage de Samuel Champlain, de Brouages, faite en la France nouvelle l'an 1603 ("Concerning the Savages: or travels of Samuel Champlain, of Brouages, made in New France the year 1603").

[2-King Henri IV of France]

When asked by King Henri IV to make a report on his further discoveries, Champlain joined a second expedition to New France in the spring of 1604 led by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts, a Protestant merchant given fur trade monopoly in new France. They chose as their base the tiny Ile Ste-Croix in the southwestern corner of modern-day New Brunswick. After a disastrous winter in what turned out to be a most inhospitable location, the remnants of the community migrated to a more congenial site across the Baie Française (Bay of Fundy), settling in a location they named Port Royal. Champlain remained at the site until 1607, while he explored the Atlantic coast.

[3- Port Royal Habitation]



[4- Port Royal Habitation courtyard]



The Port-Royal Habitation was constructed during the summer of 1605; consisting of several buildings grouped, French-fashion, in a four-sided arrangement around a central courtyard. Although this new community did not last long, it was the earliest European settlement of any permanence in North America, north of Florida, and it introduced a way of life that was both innovative and unique for its time and place.

[5-Port Royal Habitation]


[6- Port Royal Habitation Kitchen]

The Port Royal Habitation is the reconstruction of early 17th century buildings representing the former colony of the French who settled for a time on the Nova Scotia coast.



[7 - Port Royal Habitation- Sieur de Champlain quarters]





[8-Chatham, Cape Cod present]

In 1605 and 1606, Champlain explored the land that is now Chatham, Cape Cod, as a prospective settlement but small skirmishes with the resident Monomoyick Indians dissuaded him from the idea. He named the area Port Fortune.

TO BE CONTINUED


Photo Credits: [1][2]-Wikipedia, [3]-Grant MacDonald CC=nc-flickr, [4]-paige_elize CC=nc-nd-flickr, [5]-mooncross CC=nc-sa-flickr, [6][7]-William George CC=nc-nd-flickr, [8]-Chris Seufert CC=nc-nd-flickr.

Sources: wikipedia;
Library and Archives Canada here;
The Illustrated History of Canada, edited by Craig Brown;
ParksCanada - Port-Royal National Historic Site of Canada

Tuesdays For Travis - Kejimkujik National Park (Nova Scotia)

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Kejimkujik is the only inland park in the Maritimes, with many lakes and rivers set in lush woodlands and rolling landscapes. Visitors will find many canoe routes, portages and hiking trails.

For fishing enthusiasts, the angler needs to obtain a fishing license, the season is from April 1 to August 31 inclusive. The fishing areas are divided off into non-fishing areas, other areas where the daily catch is a maximum of 5 fish, and the western half of the park where there is catch and release only.

Of the wildlife available, visitors might see any one or more of the following: white-tailed deer, porcupine, beaver, coyote, American marten (rare, with 130 reintroduced in 1987), and black bears. There are approximately 178 varieties of birds found in this region, more particularly the common loon, woodpeckers, barred owl, warblers and other northern and southern species. The is the richest area for turtles in Atlantic Canada: eastern painted turtle, snapping turtles, Blanding’s Turtle (first discovered in 1953 and listed as an endangered species in Nova Scotia), snakes, salamanders, seven species of frogs and one toad. Rare animals in the park are: flying squirrels, the ribbon snake, and the Piping plover.

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For thousands of years the Mi’kmaq aboriginals canoed the lakes and rivers, setting up their camps for hunting and fishing. European settlement in the area began around the 1820s.

For the campgrounds in the National Park camping permits need to be obtained through www.pccamping.ca.

For hikers, there are 15 trails ranging from distances of 0.4km return to a 6 km loop. For wilderness seekers the park contains over 80% of backcountry which is accessible only by hiking trails and canoeing.


Research: Parks Canada, Wikipedia.

Photo Credits: [1][2]-Aconcagua, GFDL, CC-by-sa-2.5, Wikimedia.

The Cabot Trail

[1] The route measures 298 km (185 mi) in length and completes a loop around the northern tip of the island, passing along and through the scenic Cape Breton Highlands. It is named after the explorer John Cabot who landed in Atlantic Canada in 1497, although most historians agree his landfall likely took place in Newfoundland and not Cape Breton Island.

Construction of the initial route was completed in 1932.



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Photo Credits: [1]-Photography by Dani CC=flickr, [2]-Bobcatnorth CC=nc-sa-flickr.