Oak Island, Nova Scotia

"If you go ashore from a boat you probably won't get shot but "they" will make their presence known."   

We were having a discussion with Dutch at the Marina about Oak Island, the theories, the tours, and asking if anyone ever tries to go to shore by boat, and this was Dutch's response.  ~~~The Quote of the Day

When we first started looking for a house on Nova Scotia, we were looking for one close to the town where JB is teaching his class.  It was evident immediately that the only homes for short-term rent are along the Bay of Fundy on one side or up and down the Atlantic shore on the other.  We refined our search to the southern shores of the province specifically looking at St. Margaret's Bay, Hubbards, and the Chester area.  Unfortunately no homes were found that we could rent there, all booked so we looked a little farther south and came up with the house in Western Shore.  There is actually another house on the same road that rents as well but it was already reserved.  It turns out that we ended up with the best house to rent for our family.  The homes here all advertise that they are overlooking Oak Island. 
While we were trying to figure out why they all made such mention of an island, Scott appears and exclaims, "Oak Island, that's where those boys found the pit and dug for buried treasure."  He begins to tell us the story and the history.  Apparently he first found it from an e-book I downloaded from Homeschool Resource of the Day several years ago.  Then I vaguely recalled the story as well.  So here we are looking for a house to stay in that's right across the water from the famous Oak Island.

It is very intriguing to watch documentaries and videos about Oak Island and we are very curious now to stay near here.

Sunrise over Oak Island from our Yard

The house we're in is about as close to the island as one can get without going ashore which is not possible unless you want to be shooed away.  According to Dutch at the marina, some Americans own it now for the last couple of years and have sunk about $30 million into equipment and resources to start digging again.  There are only a couple of houses on there in which caretakers live and they also keep people off the island.  There is a causeway to the island which has no trespassing signs on it but there are no signs or any seemingly restrictions on the rest of the shores surrounded by water.  We have watched this island for days and other than an old barge that we can see on our side and an occasional vehicle on the causeway to it, there is no one and no activity.

Early in the week we went to the Chester Visitor Center which has a permanent display about Oak Island and all the happenings over the last 200 years with treasure seekers and others.  There was enough visual information to get the little ones full of questions.  I must have tried to answer 100 or more.  There was a reproduction of the tree with the rope attached and the pit in the ground, a cross-section of the depth that has been dug with the oak logs found in between every 10 ft and lots of photographs, newspaper accounts, and even artifacts from the island. 
One morning JB and Scott decided to take the boat out and they rowed over to the island and then disappeared behind it.  Later they reappeared on the other side of it and hefted their boat up and over the causeway to come back on this side.  They made it all the way around and no, did not go on shore.  Apparently though on the side where there is an inlet that cuts into the island for a long ways, they saw the other house and child playing on its deck.  There are weekends, about 4 or5 each year when you can pay $10 and go on a short tour where you see a shack and Borehole 10X in the ground but not in July.  The next tour is in August.
Here are some pictures of the island from the house, the dock, and the boat.

Daytime View of Oak Island in the distance as seen from the house

The chair is on the dock we use.  Oak Island is the further island in the distance.

The one visible house from the side as seen from the boat.

Another view from the boat.

More views from the boat.

On the Edge of Nowhere

Somewhere on the southern shore of Nova Scotia on the western shore of Mahone Bay overlooking infamous Oak Island...............................................

The darkest night, small towns one by one, so small you miss the sign and wonder where you've been; you certainly don't know where you're going.  There are few street lights, fewer cars, just a bumpy road with lots of potholes and some gravel.  Blindly follow the car in front, the baby cries and cries.  It's dark dark dark and late in the evening.  There is no moon...yet; it rises at midnight. 

There is a turn off the main road which could hardly be classified as the main road as we know them.  Now, one lane, very bumpy, a sharp turn to the right, a road going down down down, to water, maybe?  Then a turn onto gravel.  The crunch is a comforting soothing sound, this is a dead-end so we must end soon.  It's Granny's Lane in the pitch black, it's a path through a forest, no one is here but us and we are unseen just heard slightly moving, like numbers in a bingo holder.  Then among what looks like a forest of trees, a house appears and a drive.  We are here.

Quiet, still, no noises, no lights but open windows.  Glass open to screens, a pleasant night, a place where doors are not locked but we seem locked into the dark surrounded.  There is water, ocean here somewhere and somewhere a lake, maybe across that gravel road? 

It seems from peering outward through loads of glass that there must be a view, the ocean must be here but it is as silent as the glass.  We are confused; we've seen a picture but not of this front of this house.  Are we in the right place?  Will we walk into someone else's unlocked door?  But no other houses are seen here, none in the darkest night I have seen in years.  This must be the place.  The front is the back and the back is the front.  The ocean, is it the front or the back.  It is all of that and more. 

We move, we settle, we designate, we put to bed, everyone has a bed, a joy!  We put away food, unpack coolers, start laundry, we move silently through this large house wondering how it is we have managed such a find.  A dark, lonesome place that is now seeing life.  It is still quiet for now, but it's respite time is over.  No one has been here for lots of moons but we are here and the house is peaceful.  Tomorrow the sun will rise in the same place we see the moon rise at midnight and there will be laughter and music and noise and the house will hum again as it must have before. 

The moon does rise before we bed.  We are tired but there are some things to do so we can settle tonight and waste no time tomorrow on the other things we must do...play in the water, on the dock, explore the gardens and paths, enjoy the sunshine that will surely come and light up our new world.  It's as if we cannot go to bed until we see the moon.  It sheds new light and meaning on our home away from home. 

Ah, there it is, the water.  Shimmering black and dark blue, still and wavy all at the same time.  We have found the back or maybe it is the front but there is an ocean and it's in view out of every window on this side.  The moonlight fills our bedrooms and lights up the way no other light can.  We cannot sleep for marveling at its first yellow then white beauty.  We cannot wait to see the daylight and it does not wait on us, sleepyheads from watching the moon bright enough to wake us in the middle of the night.  Before we are fully rested, the sun who is an early riser at 5 am, fills entire rooms with magnificent glory, so bright some look for sunglasses in the breakfast room.  It is a wonderful sunrise, full of promise for this new day. We can now see what was only a dream in the night; the beauty and awe of this place which in the dark is cloaked with secrecy but is now revealed and we will find that we are not alone on this dead-end road in a town of witness-protection ambiance.  We will have new friends in just hours, Dutch, Mohammed Sode, and the Frenchman.  We will be wet, dirty, bee-stung, mosquito-bitten, sun-drenched, barefooted, and hat-headed in this paradise.  People will ask us for directions as we walk barefoot down the road for no one comes here unless they mean to.   This beautiful garden home overlooking a famous, possibly treasure-filled island in a small bay off the Atlantic Ocean is filled with wonder.  There is a spirit here of love and peace, and we will be happy and blessed, very happy indeed.

Oak Island in the Distance

Oak Island

Another sunrise on the bay. 

Our New "Dingy"

There are neighbors at the top of the road.

A garden arbor leading to a path which goes to the dock.

We Have Arrived!

Our arrival on Sunday evening before dark was foiled by circumstances beyond our control:  the 4:30 ferry unavailable; a trip by the airport for the rental car; a wrong turn; a dinner stop; and to make it even harder for the last 20 minutes of driving (which felt like an hour), the baby cried and screamed.  I think by this point, she had had it.  She was very tired and she wanted to nurse which is usually not a problem in the car while traveling.  I've had lots of practice over the last 14 years, but I was driving, so no nursing.  So she screamed.  Sarah Kelly sang and talked softly to her and got very close in and it helped for a few minutes and then she would start up again.  This was very hard as not only were we all tired and wanting to arrive, but I'm not used to a crying baby in the car.  All of mine LOVE riding in the car and usually sleep a lot as babies.  It must be hereditary; I sleep well in the car too, as a passenger that is!So when we finally arrived,  I scooped that baby up and held her for, well, at least an hour before she'd let me put her down.  We identified rooms for everyone, unloaded, got the little ones all to bed and the rest of us stayed up and got food, shoes, towels, and just about everything you can think of settled.  On Monday we'll unpack clothes and finish laundry.  We got 2 loads completed so we won't have as much (only 4 loads or so) tomorrow. We stayed up late enough to see the moon rise over the ocean which we knew was out there somewhere but in the black night we just couldn't identify it and then that golden waning gibbous moon rose over the water which is viewable from 3 bedrooms upstairs and the sun room, family room, kitchen, and breakfast room downstairs.  It was absolutely breath-taking. 
Then on Monday morning we got our first glimpse of the area and grounds around us.  It looks much different in the bright day than in the darkest night with no street lights!  Since the sun rises in the same place as the moon, bright light fills the rooms upstairs overlooking the water and all the downstairs rooms (except the laundry and dining room) around 5 am.  We have decided that if you want to see both the moon and the sun rise, you can only get about 4 and a half hours of sleep in!

View from one of the upstairs bedrooms.  Oak Island is in the distance across the Mahone Bay.

View from our dock. 

A new day is dawning and we are exploring our own little paradise tucked away in the foilage and trees between the waters.