Make sure you don't miss Cape Breton Nova Scotia

After PEI our next stop was Cape Breton but to get there we had to catch the ferry first. We arrived in plenty of time for the ferry as it was only 45min from the cottage.

  

We purchased our tickets and parked Hank in line ready for boarding. For lunch we walked over to the ‘Crabby’ seafood shack just near the port. We shared the clam chowder and another lobster roll (all delicious). But the best part was the guy running the shack, his son had been living in Aus for the last 12 years and he was up for a talk so we had a good chat with him while we were there.

The ferry ride was quick (about an hour), which was good especially because I don’t like boats.  But it was cool to drive Hank onto the Ferry and then sit back while we crossed the ocean

Nova Scotia was beautiful, the drive to Cape Breton Island was only about 2 hours after the ferry but was really nice. When we reached the actual scenic drive the 'Cabot Trail' Marc drove so I could look around and take pictures. So much to see on the way but my favourite part was Cape Smokey Mountain. A huge mountain by the sea with great views and even a ski hill. 

 We Arrived at the Cape Breton National Park after 7pm and stopped at Ingonish beach camp for the night. Marc and I are getting really good at the whole camp thing now, we setup Hank and cooked dinner all within an hour! Cape Breton looked amazing and I could not wait to see more.

Day 1: We were up early and went for a run. Originally I just wanted to go for a run along the beach, however when we got down there the tide was in and we could not run along the sand. So we decided to run to the Celtic Cottage we could see on the point in the not so far distance. Next thing I know we have run up the hill to the cottage/lodge and I suggested to Marc that we run to the point… next thing I know it’s a really long run I have taken us on again but it was so good.

When we made it to the end of middle cove we stopped to take some pictures and take a moment to realize we were so far away from home and basically half way around the other side of the world.  

It was a really good run we just could not run all the way back as it was so long and we were exhausted.




 
When we finally made it back to camp we had breakfast and packed up ready for the drive.

 It was an amazing drive around the coast. Most of the communities were very small and the houses where probably only used in the summer.

We stopped at Green cove, and made our way up to south harbor, stopped for lunch and walked along the beach at Sugar Loaf, walked Macintosh Falls, and walked around the old growth forests

By the afternoon we had finished the national park portion of the trail and were stopping for the night in Chiticamp. On our way though we stopped in to book a zodiac whale watching boat ride for the next morning.

We found a camp site and setup for another night in the van. We have not setup the tent since Yellowstone as we have not need to. The van is actually super comfortable and less effort then the tent would be.
 

After we had setup for the night we collected our washing (8 days worth), we made our way down to the laundry and beach for a swim. We had so much bloody laundry 3 loads to be exact. We left the washing and walked down to the beach for a swim, the tide was out but the water was amazingly still and clear. The swim was cold but so refreshing, I love all the ocean swimming after 2 years with no ocean!

The rest of the night we finished up laundry and also looked into the possibility of going to Newfoundland the next day instead of Halifax. After some discussion we actually decided to go for it. Who knows if we will ever be able to have the opportunity to go so easily again.

Day 2: We woke to a beautiful morning in Cape Breton, Marc made us some toast for breakfast (our one kitchen device is a $6 toaster from walmart) sooo good.

 We arrived at the harbour in perfect time. We meet a really nice couple from Ontario who were touring around on Harley’s that were also going on the boat. After life jackets were handed out we jumped on the boat and took off.

The Zodiacs were so much fun very fast and close to the water (my fear of boats has slowly been disappearing with all this ocean travel). The boat ride out was fast and wet and we were cruising around for about 30 mins before we spotted our first pilot whale, then another and another. It was amazing we followed a pod of the whales for a really long time as they slowly moved along so slow. They were not the biggest whales but they sure were amazing. We also saw some Atlantic dolphins that were motoring along so were not able to get up as close. Just before we headed in the driver decided to take us out for one last look at the whales before we headed in. This time the whales where basically right underneath us we could have touched them it was incredible.

Once we were back at shore we took off for Sydney not too sure what we were going to do with the afternoon before we had to catch the ferry to Newfoundland. To fill in our time we found a Harley store for dad then headed into Sydney for lunch. It was hard to find somewhere to eat but when we did we had a mini picnic on the foreshore. Still with 3 hours to kill before we had to be in North Sydney I suggested to Marc that we go and check out a National Park’s historic site ‘Fortress of Louisbourg about a 40min drive away thinking we would only need an hour to see the park.

It was a really nice drive there and when we arrived lucked out with a good park. We made our way in not really knowing what to expect. We found out we had to take a bus to the site which was a little concerning considering that we only had an hour. On the bus we realized that the Fortress was actually really big and we were not too sure how we were going to see everything in a really short amount of time. Marc and I basically power walked around the whole park in 45mins. We managed to see the three main buildings, some muskets being fired and some demonstration dancers. The 18^th century replica fortress was really cool and great to be able to see even if only for a rush look.


We made it back to the car with an hour to get to the ferry. We made it to the ferry with 15 min to spare, parked Hank ready to load and re-organised our stuff.

 It was a 5.5hour ride to Newfoundland and we would arrive at 1am Wednesday. We paid a little extra for some reserved seats. Loaded the ferry around 6pm and took off at 7. Surprisingly the ride was very smooth kind of like being on a plane. I really love being able to take Hank on the Ferry its loads of fun. We also booked our return ferry for next Tuesday night, which gave us a week to see ‘The Rock’,