7/26 - On the way north from Halifax we stopped to see the Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck. Modern, interesting and well presented, it’s well worth a few hours time. Then on to Piper Campground, Indian Brook, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, a campground on the edge of St. Ann‘s Bay. At 46.4 degrees north, 60.5 degrees west, we’re now closer to the North Pole than to the equator. It starts getting light about 5am and doesn’t really get dark until after 9pm.
An indian totem pole outside of the
welcome center on Cape Breton.
The view of the bay from our front yard is stunning; we’ll be staying here for a while as we explore the Cabot Trail and vicinity. It’s sparsely populated and quiet here, a welcome change from two days ago.
7/27 Another early start today! Sunny and mild. Drove up the east side of Cape Breton (Cabot Trail) then across Cape Breton Highlands National Park to Pleasant Bay where we caught a boat going out for whale watching. And guess what? We saw whales!! Many pilot whales swam and dived round the boat for more than an hour, some almost near enough to touch. The boat also had a hydrophone so we could hear them clicking and singing as they cavorted all around us. very exciting 2 1/2 hours for us (Bob got seasick)!
Cape Breton is breathtaking - tree-covered cliffs on one side of the bumpy, (Canada’s roads are the pits !) 2-lane road, and the ocean (Gulf of St. Lawrence) on the other. There are so many places to pull off the road and see one more unbelievable panorama that we got tired getting in and out of the truck.
Returning south on the west side of Cape Breton, we saw a young moose grazing on tree branches right beside the road. Traffic was stopped while we took pictures. We had seen many moose warning signs, but no moose (until now) as they are quite shy. Made my day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7/28 Rainy & cool. Visited the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts & Crafts. There are several of these in Canada where they teach the Gaelic culture, music and dance. On the way home we stopped to eat in a tea room which occupies half a building. The other half is a traditional church chapel and they are connected by a small atrium. It seems the church operates the tearoom! Good eating and charming ambience.
7/29 Cloudy, rainy and cold (for us.) We drove over to Sydney, the only city in Cape Breton, and went under the ocean. Visited the Miner’s Museum and were intrigued. The coal veins here protrude under the ocean floor and we couldn’t resist taking the tour.
Our guide was a former miner of 35 years, witty, knowledgeable, and loving his job. The tunnel followed a 5 foot high vein of anthracite , and the tunnel was 5 feet high, hard walking after a while. I asked why they didn’t dig them 6 or even 7 feet high and was told, "We didn’t get paid to dig rock." These guys didn’t get paid by the hour, but by how much coal they brought out. He gave us a demonstration of a compressed air hammer used to loosen the coal and also showed us how a coal mine looks with no lights. Actually, it doesn’t look at all.
Afterward, a simulated ride in a tram down into a working mine, very well done. We doffed our capes and hard hats and went topside, where the weather didn’t seem so bad after all.
7/30 After calling Broadcove, across the island, to determine the state of their weather (still stormy here), we decided to drive over to the 44th Broadcove Scottish Concert. It is a concert put on yearly by the local church and was worth the 2 hour drive. We stayed about 3 hours and heard many fiddle and piano players, some pipers and saw a few dancers. Not enough piping and dancing for me {Ed. note: The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.}. We wandered about the grassy area or sat on the hillside listening, watching the people, especially the kids at play, and listening. A great day!
Note: Before we leave Nova Scotia, some of the towns we visited (and a few we missed): Ecum Secum, Pugwash, Chezzetcook, Antigonish, Mushaboom, Ingonish, Tatamagouche, Wycocomagh, Washabuck Centre. (My spell check program just crashed!) And who could ever forget Doctor’s Brook, located only two or three miles from Malignant Cove.
Continue to Prince Edward Island
