We are on the edge of the grassy surrounds of Chester station. The station has no railway - it has long gone - and it stands now in the dusk, a visitor centre closed for business. It is dimly lit. We have just finished eating our tea and waiting for the night to come before putting our tent up. There has been a few dog-walkers but now it's really quiet. With little talk we start pitching the tent.
"Harruphh!" We freeze. "Harrupphh!" There it is again. A man coughing. A man close by. We are next to a tall hedge and beyond it is the outline of a house. There's a man stood on the balcony outside the upstairs door having a smoke. "Haarrupphh!" And a cough. A real phglemish smoker's cough. He's about 5 metres away from us but he can't see us and we can't see him. We daren't move. And then the door closes. We quickly finish putting the tent up and shoving all our gear inside. "Harruphh!" We stop moving. Just our luck - a chain smoker.
We reached Chester along the Rum Runners Trail - another rail trail that began outside our Airbnb house in Halifax. As it's a Sunday there are plenty of other folk out on the trail - runners, walkers and cyclists. It's a very relaxing way to leave a city - no navigation required. We know the trail goes all the way to Lunenburg. Along the way we are treated to some lovely rivers, woods and coastline. Lunch is eaten at a private dock in a cove. There are some wonderful and large wooden houses dotted around the coast here. The South Shore of Nova Scotia seems like another world compared to the Eastern Shore. It helps to have a main highway cutting down just inland from the coast and easily connecting all the small towns and villages with Halifax.
We cycle the next day down to Lunenburg which has a pleasant touristy feel about it. The town was built by the British to house other protestant European craftsmen and the like to augment the settlement at Halifax. The story goes that the colonial power devised a town plan without ever setting eyes on the actual geographical location, which might explain the network of streets that are stretched up and across the steep hill above the harbour. Down on the waterside there are still some large sheds housing boat builders. But the main business these days is tourism.
The town campground has a great location at the top of the hill but we are not remotely tempted. A new arrival, a car camper, comes back to the office to complain that the pitch he has been given, in a near empty site, is right next to the only other tent. There are a few campers on site - the weather is still sunny and warm. We stock up with water and ride on out of town.
