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Signs proclaim PICTOU , 170km from Halifax, as the "Birthplace of New Scotland" on the basis of the arrival in 1773 of the ship Hector , loaded with settlers from Rosshire, the advance guard of the subsequent Scots migrations. To maintain the connection, the town has its own middle-of-August Hector Festival , a five-day affair featuring Scottish traditional dancing and the playing of the bagpipes - and very good it is too. Pictou has also spent years building itself a replica of the Hector , an expensive and time-consuming project because they stuck to the original shipbuilding techniques. The boat was finally launched in September 2000 and now either bobs around the harbour or sallies forth along the Nova Scotian coast. The dock where the boat was built forms part of the Hector Heritage Quay Interpretative Centre (May, Sept & Oct Mon-Sat 9am-6pm & Sun noon-6pm; June-Aug Mon-Sat 9am-8pm, Sun 10am-6pm; $4), which gives the historical lowdown on the original voyage - complete with nautical sound effects. It's all excellently done and spruces up Pictou's unassuming centre, where the narrow streets slope up from the harbour dotted with stone buildings of Scottish appearance. Pictou is a convenient place to spend the night and there are several quality inns and hotels to choose from. The best is the Consulate Inn , 157 Water St (tel 485-4554 or 1-800/424-8283; $60-80), housed in an elegant early nineteenth-century mansion that once served as a US consulate. There's also the modern and comfortable Braeside Inn , on a hillside above the harbour at 126 Front St (tel 485-5046 or 1-800/613-7701; $60-80), and the Auberge Walker Inn , 34 Coleraine St (tel 485-1433 or 1-800/370-5553; $60-80), a pleasantly renovated Victorian house metres from the Hector Quay. For food , the best restaurant in Pictou is at the Consulate Inn , where both the seafood and the steaks are delicious. Amongst several rather average town-centre cafes, try the filling snacks of the Stone House Cafe , just up from the Hector Quay at 11 Water St. Pictou is 8km south of Caribou , where there are frequent car ferries over to Prince Edward Island most of the year (May to mid-Dec 4-9 daily; 1hr 15min; $11 return, $49 for car and passengers; schedules tel 1-888/249-7245, www.nfl-bay.com ).
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