The Cabot Trail

Monday, 30 September

Today was our big drive around the Cabot Trail, approximately 9 hours including stops for morning tea, lunch and one or two (!!!!!!) photos. The trail is 298 km and it took us from sheltered inlets to wild and windy coastline.
We passed through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, up and down steep roads, some of which were being repaired and most of which were in need of repair. I think the icy winters here must do a lot of damage to the roads.
We saw signs indicating that there are moose about but unfortunately the signs were as close as we got.
There were some beautiful autumn colours but we think we were a little too early for the deep reds we had hoped for. In some places there has been damage from Hurricane Dorian, which not only blew trees and branches down, but also dropped salty water onto them, shrivelling leaves and turning them brown.
When we finally arrived back in Baddeck around 5.30 we were surprised to see a cruise ship in port and even more surprised that it was a Hurtigruten ship. No sooner had we arrived than it departed, as we must do tomorrow.

Louisbourg

Sunday 29 September 

Our drive to Louisbourg today took us through some spectacular scenery that was not at all spoiled by a bit of mist and drizzle. It just reminded us why it was named Nova Scotia. On this drive we were happy to find a couple of proper lookouts where you could pull off the road to admire a view. Fortunately the weather had cleared by the time we reached our destination.

St Anne’s Lookout

Another lookout

We bypassed Sydney, the biggest town on the island and a couple of kilometres beyond the town of Louisbourg found Fortress of Louisbourg, a reconstruction of the fortress built by the French in the mid-18th century. The reconstruction was begun in the 1960s, initially to give employment to out of work miners. From a heap of rubble and original documents archaeologists and artisans were able to rebuild this amazing community. We had expected to spend a short time looking at a ruin and instead spent half a day exploring a village and fortress. 

Then it was back around the bay for a closer look at the Louisbourg lighthouse, before taking a different route home to Baddeck. There is always water close by and this evening we even had a ferry crossing.

Halifax to Baddeck

Saturday 28 September

Anne took the wheel this morning, as we left Halifax and headed north to Cape Breton Island, a drive of about four and a half hours through beautiful forests with vistas of sea and islands appearing unexpectedly as we crested hills. We saw lots of road kill which looked very different from ours and a highlight was the flattened black creature with a white stripe which we realised must be a skunk! Didn’t stop for a photo though.

A woman we talked to at breakfast this morning, and who lives on Cape Breton Island, suggested that we visit Isle Madame on the eastern side of the island. It is inhabited by descendants of the Acadians, early French settlers who were deported by the British during struggles between the British and French for control of this territory. We decided to detour here for lunch before heading to our destination, Baddeck. Things are starting to close for the winter and we were lucky to visit a fish and chips cafe on its last operating day.

We then retraced our steps back to Cape Breton Island and on to Baddeck. Most of the countryside today was forested but we did see a few farms with corn and the occasional cow.
Baddeck is a very pretty town and our bnb is well-located close to the water, shops and cafes.
Our nice neighbour pointed us in the right direction for the supermarket but it was much further than we expected and had closed by the time we got there. Should have taken the car, but it was a beautiful walk along the shoreline and we did find  a convenience store just a little further up the hill.

Red Roof Cottage

What is it aiming at?

Dinner at “The Yellow Cello” was a salad for Anne and a lobster roll for me. Lobster rolls are advertised everywhere so I finally had one, and although it was enjoyable, there are many better ways to eat lobster. Unfortunately they’re not in season so I won’t be indulging as much as I’d like to.

Halifax - Peggy’s Cove - Lunenburg

Friday, 27 September

I’ll say this for us, we’ve got stamina. Despite our very long day yesterday, this morning we were up, breakfasted and out to wait for a bus to the downtown area. After standing at the bus stop for about 20 minutes we gave up and decided to walk, as Anne’s leg seemed to be operating pretty efficiently. It was a pleasant walk on a sunny 22 degree day and we found the Avis office no worries.

Our hire car is a black VW Golf. Thanks Rob for your Tom Tom. The nice Avis man set it up for us while he was showing us the ins and outs of the car. We all had trouble opening the boot but worked it out OK.

We set off with some trepidation but managed to drive to a shopping centre where we wanted to sort out phone issues. Have decided that mine can’t be sorted sensibly till we get to the USA and Anne’s is working well when we’re in an area with good network coverage. This settled we had a bite of lunch in the food court before setting off for Peggy’s Cove.

It certainly is a different place in September compared to December. There were people everywhere and all the little tourist shops were doing a roaring trade. They were expecting busloads of people from a cruise ship as well. 

This car certainly sticks to the road!

Because it was already about 2.30 we decided to take the scenic route to the highway and then follow
 it to Mahone Bay, rather than winding around the very long coast road. Mahone Bay was overrun by tourists and it took us ages to negotiate our way through the town and then on to Lunenburg in time for a look around and a desperately needed cup of tea. It was busy here too but nowhere near as bad as the other places. My recommendation for future travellers is to go in December!

Lunenberg

We headed back to Halifax on the highway and stopped for a few supplies at the same supermarket that Karyn, Chris and I shopped at last year. Then it was back to the hotel, finding somewhere legal (I hope!) to park the car and up the road to a nice little cafe for a meal of pumpkin soup. By this time it was about 8.30 and we were flagging somewhat.

A great day for our first in Nova Scotia although once home we both had to remake our beds.
Whoever has that job here has no idea how to do it. Last night the sheets only came up to chest level, the bottom sheets were straying everywhere but where they should be and the blankets were  too
small to tuck in at all.This hotel will not be on our recommended list. The scary breakfast  lady who watches to make sure we put our dirty dishes in the right spot and don’t take extra food for lunch is a bit of a turn-off too.

But tomorrow is another day and another location!

Melbourne to Halifax

Thursday, September 26
Up at 4.00 after a sleepover at Anne’s and out to the airport in record time. Anne had booked a wheelchair and what a great experience that was! We were whizzed through special gates and all the formalities in no time. Might not have been quite so great for Anne in her cumbersome leg brace. She does not look comfortable.

After a very long day - 31 hours since we left Lilydale - we have finally made it to our hotel in Halifax. If it were not for Anne’s leg we almost certainly wouldn’t have made our connection in LA, but being chauffeured through all the special needs lanes really speeded things up. Susan was waiting and Anne handed over an enormous bag of marmalade and Australian goodies, while Susan gave each of us a lunch bag, as we wouldn’t have time to buy food. Still a few treats left for tomorrow.

We started the journey in an A380 and the planes got progressively smaller. Our last, from Montreal to Halifax was a Bombardier with propellers.