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Most visitors hurry through central Nova Scotia , the chunk of forested land north and east of Halifax, on their way to Cape Breton Island, PEI or New Brunswick. By and large they're right to do so, but there is the odd pleasant diversion en route, and a couple of places make for a convenient overnight stay. One place it's difficult to avoid is workaday Truro , the region's largest town and major crossroads, situated at the east end of the Minas Basin and so subject to the Bay of Fundy tides. The most appealing parts of the bay are well to the west in New Brunswick , but if time is tight you can view the tidal bore here at Truro - the downtown tourist office, at the corner of Prince and Commercial streets (tel 893-2922), has tide tables and will provide directions. Heading northwest from Truro, the Trans-Canada Highway heads off to New Brunswick's Fort Beausejour , scooting past the old coal-mining centre of Springhill , home to the Anne Murray Centre detailing the life and times of the town's most famous daughter. Near here too - though there's absolutely no need to actually go there - is Spencer's Island, not an island at all, but a former shipbuilding centre and home port of the Mary Celeste , which posed one of the greatest mysteries of Victorian times when she was discovered in the mid-Atlantic without a crew - and with the table set for dinner. In the opposite direction, the highway travels just inland from the northeast shore, whose gently rolling countryside was a centre of Scottish settlement from the end of the eighteenth century. The Scots first landed in Pictou , and this is the pick of the fishing, lumber and agricultural communities round here - especially as it's both conveniently close to the PEI ferry terminal and midway between Halifax and Cape Breton. An alternative route between Halifax and Cape Breton is along the southeast shore , an isolated region of skinny bays and the tiniest of fishing villages connected by a tortuous 320-kilometre road. The coastal scenery is often quite delightful, but the villages don't deserve their redolent names - Spanish Ship Bay, Ecum Secum, Mushaboom - and the only place worthy of attention is Sherbrooke , where around thirty old buildings have been preserved to create an enjoyable village museum. Sherbrooke lies some 200km east of the capital on the coastal road, but is more rapidly reached from the Trans-Canada Highway from outside either New Glasgow or Antigonish. Acadian Bus Lines operates a four times daily bus service from Halifax to Truro, with three buses daily continuing either northeast to New Glasgow and Cape Breton Island, or northwest to New Brunswick's Moncton. VIA Rail 's Halifax-Montreal trains pass through Truro en route to Moncton. There's no public transport to either Pictou or Sherbrooke.
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