It was a scramble on Saturday morning as we woke up and realized we had left our planning to literally the last minute. All we knew was we had the weekend off, a borrowed car and a hankering to get out of the city! We had several tentative plans involving relative strangers with country cottages, closed down hostels, and tents. We eventually decided our best bet was the tent. So, a winter camping trip it was!

We didn’t make it out of town ’til early afternoon, and we headed south. Stopping at Blue Rocks outside of Lunenburg for a windy picnic and continuing on to Hirtles beach for a beautiful hike in the fading sun.

Hirltes Beach at sunset

We were ready to find a sheltered spot for our tent by this time, so we continued down the road, further south, crossing the La Have river by ferry and driving until we reached Rissers Beach Provincial Park (http://parks.gov.ns.ca/parks/rissers.asp) which was closed for the season. We pitched a tent behind some trees and got a nice fire going to warm up around.

Rissers Beach in the morning

Upon waking we took a walk down the beach, checking out the beautiful spot, basking in the glory of the ocean, and generally enjoying being out of the city. We remembered seeing a bakery on our drive the night before, and so we quickly broke camp and went to warm up and enjoy a cup of delicious coffee and fresh baked cinnamon buns. La Have Bakery is in an historic building right on the river, a great spot to check out if you are around Bridgewater!

The rest of our day was spent driving further down the coast, with stops wherever we pleased. A highlight for me was the Kejimkujik Seaside (http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ns/kejimkujik/visit/seaside-bord%20de%20mer.aspx) where we went for a hike along the Harbour Rocks trail (Port Joli Head trail was undergoing some construction on the boardwalk).

Kejimkujik Seaside

Before we knew it the sun was on its way down, and we were all pretty tired. Time to drive back to the city. A weekend well spent!

Nova Scotia Rocks

TAO is a proud sponsor of the popular OutdoorActive program, which incorporates nordic walking, resistance training and a variety of fun, easy-paced outdoor exercises to improve fitness, flexibility and posture.

This summer we’ll be running drop-in classes around HRM.  Visit our website for more information and to join our summer mailing list!

www.outdooractive.ca

Contact the instructor, Kat Kitching, with any questions:

info@outdooractive.ca

Working out on the South Common

Last Sunday was the annual McNabs Island Cleanup, organized by the “Friends of McNabs Island”. I made it down to the harbour with my sister just in time to get a free ticket for the boat,  we got some of the last seats on the boat. This was surprising as we showed up at least 45 minutes early!

It was a beautiful sunny day and we lounged on the outside deck of the boat on the way to the island. We arrived and my sister, as well as my friend and I set off with one of the organizers, Justin, to the far side of the island to clean up around Timmonds Cove.

We took a beautiful trail through the center of the island, winding through swampy meadows and forests. We walked past the ruins of an old bottling plant, it was reassuring to see nature regenerating and taking over the land that not so long ago had been developed. It took us a good 30 minutes before we eventually ended up on the shore line.

It was high tide, but even so, there was a shocking amount of garbage to be found. We picked up bags and bags of the stuff, from scraps of plastic to mysterious looking old glass bottles (no messages!) to a figure of an old cowboy that looked like someones missing toy. We collected trash for a couple of hours before stopping in the most perfect grassy meadow for lunch and a bit of a break in the sunshine.

After lunch we made our way back around the coastline to where the boat was going to pick us up. We walked past piles and piles of garbage bags, left above the high tide mark for future pick up. It felt both good and a bit disgusting in equal measure to see how much garbage was collected. McNabs Island acts as a sieve for garbage coming out of the HRM. It took just over an hour of scrabbling over rocks to make it back to the dock, and we were happy to see the boat waiting.

Everyone piled back on and we headed back to Halifax. It was the perfect way to spend a sunny Sunday, getting out of the city and helping to protect a beautiful area in our own backyard. I’d like to say the trip back was picturesque and magical, but I don’t remember, I was fast asleep on the deck…

The first outing of barefoot running was this past Monday. Quite the success despite the heavy down poor we got! John and I went for an awesome run in the rain.. the sound of droplets hitting the ponds was a great addition to our excursion.

The meet up will be happening again this Monday, still at 4:30pm, starting at the end of Young st. Anyone who is running barefoot or in barefoot inspired footwear is welcome to join.

Looking forward to meeting more of you barefooters!

Cheers

The chezzetcook trail runner is organizing another trail run. This time a technical run on the Muskodoboit Backcountry trail system.

It is going to be run on Sunday June 19th, 2011 at a cost of $20 for participants in either a 8km race or 15km.

Check out all the full details at http://chezzetcooktrailrunner.blogspot.com/2011/03/musquodoboit-muffin-trail-run.html

Also check out pictures and video from last December’s Chickadee Trail Run

After two days of fishing in the wind, during a cold front our 17 participants of the Nova Scotia Spring Smallie Slam 2011 made their way home across the province and as far as New Brunswick with smiles on their faces. We all had a blast with great fishing and fun around the fire.

LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? Please seek out details of this event on the website www.CanadianKayakAnglers.com and stay tuned for more events like this.

Last night TAO Traveler, Ian MacRae shared stories of eating sheep’s heads, following jaguar tracks, photographing the two-stomached stink bird and much more!  He took a trip along the Tampobata River in Puerto Maldonado,Peru with his daughter Denby and said he’d do it again in a heart beat!

Ian and his daughter Denby.                           Sheep’s head for dinner.

Gwyneth finds a friend!         $25 Gift Certificate winner!

* Wednesday April 20th: PROTECTING OUR COAST presentation at 7:00pm at TAO The Adventure Outfitters, 5187 Salter Street, Halifax, NS.

Limited seating.  Please call to let us know you’re coming!

*Refreshments will be provided.

Keep up with TAO.  Whether we’re holding kayak sessions or hosting expedition presentations, all of the info will be HERE.

You won’t want to miss what’s, (should I say)…who’s coming to TAO.

* A father-daughter duo tell about their trip deep into the Amazon jungle.

* Ecology Action Centre staff member presents stunning photographs of our beloved coastline and tells us what’s happening to it and more.*

Check back in this week for dates, times and locations.

SEE YOU SOON!

Hi-Tec came all the way from Toronto to showing off their latest hiking gear.

If you told them what inspires you, local artists sketched it and mailed it to you!