Ocean River Retreat - Waterfront Cottage

This is your waterfront staycation overlooking the tidal river that flows to the picturesque white sands of Summerville Beach! The warm river provides fantastic swimming & is just a short canoe ride (or walk, bike or car ride) to the beach that is the jewel of Canada. Try surfing this gentle beach break, fishing, hiking scenic trails at nearby parks, or just relaxing in the sand. Explore a little further to the numerous parks, restaurants, shops & so much more. Truly a beach lovers paradise! We have travelled all over the world and our cottage and this area of the country is by far our favourite, and we are so excited to share this part of Nova Scotia. with you. The mile-long white sand beach is a quick walk or car drive away. We are on a tidal river so at high tide the ocean water comes up the river, and reverses later pulling brackish water out to sea. This is important should you be using a canoe or kayaks as timing with the tide is helpful for an easier paddle home. The river can be shallow at low tide so there is no suitable place for diving at the cottage, but the swimming is wonderful! At the beach where it meets the river, there is an old train bridge which locals use for diving. Exercise caution as it also can be shallow at times. WATER: We are on a shared dug well. Obviously, water is a special commodity and we treasure it with conversation in mind. We have a water UV filtration installed so you can drink the tap water- a rarity in this area. We also provide a water cooler from the Liverpool municipal water supply with an extra 25gl which we use to supplement our shared water consumption. Often we use the cooler for drinking, coffee, boiling, etc. However, our tap water has been regularly tested and is safe for babies, dogs, adults, etc. For the toilet we suggest, "yellow mellow, brown flush it down." No feminine hygiene products in the toilet, even “flushable” will create a problem. Kindly use the garbage can. Should water run out please call us and we will call the local fire department to fill the well. FIREPLACE: To start a fire in the woodstove insert, begin by opening the damper/ flu by turning the knob (left of the fireplace) all the way to the left for maximum airflow. Start a fire with paper and kindling. We have firewood inside and outside for you. After your fire is lit, feel free to lessen the damper (closer to the right- but not all the way) to make your fire last longer. Keep the door to the fireplace closed when in use. The fan switch is on the side and should be set on low however it will automatically shut off when the fireplace temperature cools to below the level of the room. The ABC fire extinguisher is located by the fireplace should you require. Additional extinguishers are located in the kitchen and hallway. OUTSIDE FIRES: Exterior fires are not permitted because of frequent fire bans in Nova Scotia during the summer droughts we have been experiencing recently. HEAT: All rooms are equipped with electric baseboard heat Generally, we only turn this heat on in the winter or cold shoulder seasons. We find the fireplace to be most efficient! Please be mindful if you are turning the heat on to turn it off when not using that room. Please be sure to keep clutter away from the heaters while in use, and use only while you are at the residence. Rooms heat up fast! DISHWASHER: The dishwasher is more efficient when fully loaded then doing dishes by hand - lucky you if you have lots of plates/ glassware/ utensils to use at each meal. MICROWAVE: The kitchen is equipped with an over oven microwave and experience has told us to use lower than suggested cooking time provided on most recipes. There are light setting options for under the microwave if you need a nightlight for little ones who may wander into the kitchen at night. TECHNOLOGY / MUSIC / WiFi: The cottage has WIFI for your emailing, (Hidden by Airbnb) ing, Netflix and PInteresting pleasures. The user name and password will be provided in the manual at arrival. We use the metal stereo as our amplifier. To use your phone or computer select the VCR setting on the silver stereo. If you don't have a device, we've provided playing cards, cribbage board and lots of board games in the coffee table. Remember Pictionary? To listen to the record player set the silver amp to the TY setting Turn the record player power on and turn to PHONO on the record player itself. It can take upwards to 8 records at a time- load on the stick and then pull the arm over to lock records in place- hit the start switch and the records will play in session. Please handle with care we love our records! Feel free to scratch the CDs…. The tape player is eating tapes currently. We are trying to rectify this problem but in the meantime please see the 80s records for substitution. It seems we only really had tapes from that time anyway. BBQ: The BBQ is on the deck by the kitchen door. The automatic starter should work with no problems- however you can find matches above the fridge for an emergency. Generally most people know how to operate a BBQ- quick lessen if a grill master does not step forward: turn the gas on first. This is the propane tank under the BBQ- then turn on one side on the grill, ( be careful not to turn on side burner unless that's your purpose), the push the red button igniter in to light fire ( lit match if necessary) should start- please watch your eyebrows because if you are new to a BBQ chances are the gas has been burning long before you lit the auto-starter which is not what you want. After grilling: please scrap BBQ and turn off gas and then burner(s). Cover the BBQ again only after completely cooled. TRASH/ COMPOST/ RECYCLING This is a recycling and composting community. We separate trash from food waste and plastic / paper / metal/ glass etc. there is a blue bin and bag in the kitchen : please rinse when necessary and place your Cans, Bottles, All plastics, and glass, tin foil, paper products. In the compost we take all food waste, paper, and non-corrugated cardboard (corrugated cardboard to just beside recycling blue bin please. Also put decomposable boxes from food waste directly in the compost- such as pasta boxes etc,.. Feel free to use the box by the fireplace of paper waste to start/ add to your fires. All other trash goes in the garbage black bag provided. This should contain none of the above items. WILDLIFE /TICKS Ticks/ bugs/ wildlife are all common in the area. Ticks are especially bad this time of year, especially in tall grasses. They have a hard skeleton and cannot be squished like other bugs. We recommend you wear covered footwear and socks and use a Deet bug repellent to avoid encounters. Some types of ticks can carry Lyme disease- most notably when feeding for 72 hours- therefore we suggest you check for ticks everyday. They bite under the skin. Should you find one on your skin- remove carefully by using tweezers to gently remove the whole tick from your skin. we suggest you place the tick in a sealed container for identification with our local natural history museum in Halifax just to be sure. If you have any questions please call us. WALKING / HIKING There are some great walking and hiking trails within 15 minutes of the cottage. Summerville Beach: to walk Summerville beach it will take you (Phone number hidden by Airbnb) mins. To walk to the whole beach and back is somewhere around an hour or so we were told. We don't usually time it. Carters beach: it's close to a 10 min drive- head towards Port Mouton ( locals call this Port Moo-TUNE) and stay left of the old #3 highway drive along the shore road until the very end- always staying left. It's a secret but if you get lost someone will tell you how to get there. Seaside Keji Adjunct National Park : head west on the 103 highway and look for all the signs. The drive will take you about 37 minutes until your destination. It's about 15 kilometres. Thomas Raddell Provincal Park :: head west on the 103 highway. The drive will take you about 30 minutes until your destination. All the cottage is accessible to guests except for a small back room we use to store our personal items and daughter's toys. Always available - once AirBnB allows us to share phone numbers, please call or text us if you have any questions or requests. This is a rural resort area of Nova Scotia. You feel out in the woods but you're close to all the basic amenities you could possibly need. We share a well and driveway with our neighbour. Water can be dry in the summer months. Please conserve where you can. We recommend a car during your stay however, you can walk, bike or canoe to the Summerville Beach and local restaurants. This area is simply stunning and is our favourite part of Nova Scotia. Lots of great restaurants and resorts close at hand if you feel like having a break from having dinner on our cottage deck that overlooks the Broad River at sunset, or you burnt out from another night of mussel boils on the beach at Summerville. The town of Liverpool and village of Port Mouton have incredible history throughout while the rest of the South Shore is is yours to explore from here. Lunenburg is only 30 min away going north and Shelburne is only 30 min away heading south. Halifax is a quick 90 min commute on the highway.