Make Tracks for Truro... and glorious Victoria Park

Man, I hate those rookie photographer mistakes. I'm no pro but I'm a lot better than forgetting to recharge my camera batteries the night before going to one of the most stunning, and surprising, city parks in Canada.

One of many tiny waterfalls

Patti and I visited friends in Truro this past weekend for a birthday party, our first visit to the city that calls itself the hub of Nova Scotia. Truro's slogan is "Make Tracks for Truro", which is a lot of fun to say, by the way, and recalls the city's railroad past, I guess.

At the party, we had several locals tell us of the glories of Victoria Park, an inner city park that was supposed to blow us away if we got a chance to visit. I'm always skeptical about these kinds of comments, since too many people in the world suffer from too much civic pride, in my opinion.

When I got the chance to visit Victoria Park the following morning, however, I learned very quickly that Trurorians (I just made that up) have every reason to be proud of this magnificent park.

The placid stream

Victoria Park is absolutely beautiful. Centred on a narrow river valley, it features a gorgeous wooded setting, complete with complementary wood bridges and stairs that lead up the sides of the valley. It's quiet and lush; you feel like you've left the world completely behind.

Unfortunately for me, however, I had neglected to recharge the Olympus' batteries before my visit and suffered the ignominy of hearing the "Batteries Dead" chime immediately following my second photograph of the day.

Even worse, the two shots I did manage to take before the batteries gave up the ghost are pretty bad. They capture none of the park's beauty and, in fact, insult my memory of the place. The bottom shot is especially awful, making a beautiful stream look like a sewer. Oh well. We'll go back and I'll get more, better photos. I promise.