SEPTEMBER 25, Monday,
WOW! Did we ever have a windstorm overnight! Had to get up at 4 a.m. and put the awning down and away. Our neighbor, who was under a tarp and tent, had his tarp shred to pieces but luckily the tent stayed up.
Right now, it's cloudy and windy but not as strong. It was, however, a warm night. Never went down below 14*C
Decide to stay another night. Got my mail today. YIPEE!! Val is doing the wash and I checked all the bills. Also checked our e-mail.
Still windy and it's starting to cool off.
SEPTEMBER 26, Tuesday
Up at 7 a.m. We are taking the 11 a.m. ferry off the Island and onwards to Nova Scotia.
We left by 9:20 and were one of the first ones to arrive at the ferry. Third in the line up @ $93 for the crossing. We loaded at 11.a.m. and the crossing took an hour and a half. One of our neighbours at Murray River is also on board. We sat together and chatted and got to know each other a bit better. They are from Alberta, Tena and Al are their names.
We arrive don the other side at 12:30 and followed hwy 106 thru Pictou then Hwy 104 at New Glascow.
We stopped at an info centre in Antigonish and got some good info on Cape Breton Island and what to see. We crossed the Canso causeway into Cape Breton and arrived at our site in Baddeck. We are one km from the turn off to Cabot Trail.
After dinner, we went into town to the Tissle Pub as we were told that was going to be Celtic music. No such luck. The place was almost empty. We got talking to a group of people who were here for a wedding and found out that one of them was from Chase: a lady of 86 years old. Her son was from Belgium and some of them were from Edmonton.
Came home after a beer. It's pouring cats and dogs right now, very strong rain too. Time for bed
N 46*05' W 60*51" Alt: 156 feet Dist. today: 280 KM
SEPTEMBER 27 Wednesday,
It is sunny again. Weather changes really fast here it seems. Left at 10 a.m. for the Cabot Trail. Took exit 7 and headed North East to the coast and the gulf of St-Lawrence. We followed a valley to the coast with mountains on both sides. We arrived at Margaree Harbour. Stopped and looked around the village and took a couple pictures. This place was supposed to have the oldest and longest wooded bridge but it was replaces about 10 years ago with steel and cement. Oh well!!!
Headed north along the coast and our first stop was Cheticamp village. The coast was/is absolutely gorgeous. Up and down and around we went. The village was wonderfully quaint and we had a coffee at the local Horton and ate our packed lunch.
Talked to a couple locals and got to hear the accent which is very distinct. Bought a couple CD's with local music. This is an Acadian town. 20 minutes out of town, we climbed to 1500 feet over French and McKenzie mountains. we zigzagged down to Pleasant Valley then headed inland east to the top of Cabot Trail. At Cape North, we headed north to Bay St-Lawrence where the road ended overlooking the Gulf. N 46*00' W 60*28".
We came back to the village of Cape North and headed south and west. We climbed again over North Mountain into Ingonish Beach; a beautiful beach with white sand and protected from the ocean. We had our first glimpse of the Atlantic ocean. I can now say that I have been coast to coast, ocean to ocean!
We visited the Keltic Lodge and the golf course ( rated 64th in the world and #2 in North America). We spent about a half hour here then headed out.
The rest of the trip was a bit anti-climatic. The road was narrow, windy and poorly maintain. The only other place worth mentioning is ST-ANNE (20 minutes form Baddeck) where we had a beautiful view of a wondeful bay.
As a footnote, we saw the ferry for NFLD going across the Ocean out of Sydney. We also saw Sydney in the distance. The west side of the Cape was definitely the best for scenery.
Got back at 6p.m.
SEPTEMBER 28 Thursday
Looks like another nice day. Sunny and warm. We went into Baddeck and explored. We visited the Graham Bell museum. He lived here in his retirement and loved the country side and the town. He continued to invent more stuff and work on his hydro plane. we bought a couple more souvenirs for the house and got some groceries. Also checked for our e-mail.
Came home and had a happy hour with Tena and Al who are also staying at the same campsite. They are members of PASSPORT like us.
It sprinkled rain in the evening for a while but soon stopped.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 Thursday
Cloudy but warm today. 14*C right now at 10 a.m. We packed and left by 10:20 and arrived Louisbourg at 12:30 at "Hidden Treasures" campsite where all the treasures are hidden. Al and Tena are also here along with a Bounder from BC. This is another Passport camp but in fairness to the owner, he just bought this place and already is doing some improvement.
We have been here 4 hours and haven't seen any signs of any owners. We ran out of power and thank goodness for a friend of his who was on site, we got the power back.
It's very windy again and a slight drizzle is falling.
N 45*59' W 59*59' Alt: 17' Dist: 113 KM
SEPTEMBER 30 Saturday.
We went to the fortress today. Took over 170 pictures. Thank god I don't have to pay for any development or it would cost a fortune.
Louisbourg fortress was a very nice fort and very well done with local volunteers dressed in the era's clothing. It was rebuilt in the 60's as it had been destroyed by the english in the 1800's
In the summer it is very busy and there are more volunteers. As it is, we are on their last day of full demonstration so we are lucky. We got to see a change of the guards and the firing of the noon gun
We visited a bakery where the baker makes her bread in an old oven heated by coal and wood. We bought a loaf of bread from her.
From there, we went to Main-a-Dieu which is the Eastern most driveable point south of the Gulf of St Lawrence. N 46*10" W 46*00'
Came home and decided to leave in the a.m. this place (campsite) is not the best, that is for sure. We paid $36 for two nights ( owner showed up today).
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