Going Like a Pro on Shortts Lake

Hi Blog!

Tuesday, July 31, 2018, was our first full day at the Scotia Pine Campground. We are located north of Halifax and south of Truro on the east side of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. We will be in this area for a couple weeks. We have plans to fly back to Philadelphia next weekend to visit family. We also hope to see the famous bore tide on the Bay of Fundy.

We've been toying with the idea of getting a GoPro for several years. Well, we finally did it. This afternoon, we took our new GoPro video camera out on Shortts Lake for a test drive. Unfortunately, the headgear that goes with the GoPro wont's be in until Tuesday. Dave used an old headlamp and duct taped the video camera to the base. We are ready to roll footage!

With Dave in charge of video, Kathy was tasked with manning the still camera. Most folks don't realize that Dave takes 95% of the photos that appear in this blog. Today was Kathy's chance to let her inner Ansel Adams shine through!

Shortts Lake is completely ringed with lake front cottages. The first cottage was built in 1904. Shortts Lake is three-and-a-half miles long and a mile wide, and at one time it had been known as Otterson's Lake. However, the name change occurred when Francis Shortt arrived from Ireland in 1911 and started a grist mill at the lake's north end.

Rather than video the entire paddle, Dave took short video bursts. By the time we were done, we had over 20 different videos. The limits of our campground internet won't let us upload them all, so we picked one of the fun ones to share with you. To see how the locals do it, click this link.

In the meantime, Kathy was busy cruising the shoreline looking for likely subjects.

While some properties were immaculately landscaped, others had a more natural feel to them.

Dave has Kathy in his cross hairs! Lookout - he's shooting!

As we paddled about, we kept one eye on the sky. Now that we are in full summer, the chance of afternoon thunderstorms are always a possibility. It's no fun being two miles from the boat launch with thunderheads approaching.

With so much of the lake shore developed, we were surprised to see a number of geese and ducks. They apparently like to hang out on the docks and swimming platforms. These two were nibbling in the shallows.

Every property had some sort of boat. We saw speed boats, fishing boats, pontoon boats, canoes, kayaks, paddle boards, giant floaty things, but this swan took best of show.

Just one more flower photo!

It's always fun to discover another lighthouse.

We are looking forward to taking our GoPro for a bike ride tomorrow. Stay tuned.