Nova Scotia: Full Moon Shelters & Salty Hikes

After leaving Cape Breton, Guillaume and I traveled back down the belly of Nova Scotia and stopped off at Peggy’s Cove.

There’s some interesting folklore surrounding Peggy’s Cove. One story states that a pretty young shipwreck survivor washed up on shore and couldn’t remember her name. She fell in love with a local Nova Scotian fisherman and everyone started calling her “Peggy of the Cove.” Today, her cove is a spectacular sight, with a gorgeous lighthouse serving as the coup de grâce. 

Our next stop was Mahone Bay. We were scheduled to stay with James and Jennifer, the owner/builders of Full Moon Tiny Shelters.

James lead us down his narrow gravel driveway. “It might be a tricky turn around,” he warned us, “But, I’ve done it before with another tiny house your size.” A few branches were sacrificed as we slowly weaved our way through James’s secluded driveway, but aside from that, no tiny homes were harmed in this parking.

The following day, Guillaume and I were lucky enough to tour the Harmony House, which is the residence of Dawn Higgins – the third builder/partner of Full Moon Tiny Shelters.

The Harmony House was unlike any tiny home I had ever seen. I was thoroughly impressed by the bathroom. Completely jealous of it actually! I thought the layout was unqiue and Dawn’s great room was flooded with light from a wall of windows. The house runs on solar, is fully insulated to withstand a harsh winter and features a wood stove for heating.

Backside of Harmony House

As you enter front doors

Great room with elevated sitting / storage area

Great Room

Looking back towards tongue of house

Loft over the kitchen

Harmony House Kitchen

Bathroom on the tongue

Bathroom sink

Bathroom storage

James, Jennifer and their son, Magnus, were great hosts. We enjoyed a few meals together, including our first dinner party in the tiny house! Five people sat around our teeny tiny table. I strategically served chili because we didn’t have enough space for five plates (but five bowls would work)! But my plot was foiled when I remembered Guillaume and I only own two bowls. Drat! In the end, Jennifer, James and Magnus agreed to BYOB – Bring Your Own Bowls.

Lunenburg is a cute town near Mahone Bay, jam-packed with extensive history. We wandered around the bright harbor one afternoon and munched on fried scallops, lobster rool and amazing french fries at the Fish Shack.

My favorite portion of Lunenburg was the old cemetery. I have a fascination with tombstones, perhaps that makes me odd. I like the idea that random strangers, whom live centuries apart, can identify with one another because of a few short words carved in stone. And after a couple hundred years of weather and erosion, those words become illegible. I guess that’s when a person’s memory really dies. When they are finally allowed to disintegrate. That thought always leaves a bitter sweet taste on my tongue.

On our final day in Mahone Bay, we went on an epic hike (Gaff Point Trail at Hirtle Beach).  It’s one of the BEST HIKES WE’VE EVER BEEN ON! The scenery is just stunning. And the diversity – wow!

It was a windy day, and at one point during the hike we were standing on the edge of a cliff. The wind threw us back hard. Really hard.

Guillaume and I were blown away (quite literally) by the well-maintained trail, but I think Salies appreciated the hike even more than we did. It was so much fun to watch her act like a puppy again. Running in circles, jumping in mud. Never thinking about the consequences:

So that's what the tub is for! #smallesttubever #dogwash #tinyhouse #tinybathroom

A post shared by Jenna | TRAVEL & TINY BLOG (@tinyhousegiantjourney) on Oct 5, 2014 at 4:27am PDT

Next up: Tiny House swimming lessons! We put our home on a ferry from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Portland, Maine.

– Jenna