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| A-Halifax, NS; B-Sherbrooke, NS; C-Bras d'Or, NS; D-N. Sydney, NS; E-Argentia, NS; F-St. John's, NL |
August 21 was a much appreciated free day for the RV caravan. We were still in Peggy’s Cove so we visited some of the local stores to get our shopping done, then we returned to the park to prepare for a group potluck. The weather continues to be lovely, so we were able to eat outside and enjoy the view.
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| Gordie scratching a cat in the barn at Heritage Village |
The next day we were off once again. We stopped at Heritage Village – a 1800s town reconstruction – lots of old farm implements, school house, living quarters, etc – not unlike the old villages you can visit in the USA. They served a nice lunch of baked beans, tomato-rice soup, sandwiches, and gingerbread with applesauce – very nice.
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| Sherbrooke Village - 1700s village |
We arrived at our campground in ShereBrooke, NS, unhooked the car, then went back into town where we visited Sherebrooke Village. This was a large 1700s settlement reconstruction. We were really fortunate that it was their 40th anniversary and we were able to get in free – you can’t beat that!!! Here there were folks dressed in period costume in many of the buildings. There was a potter that spun a pot while we watched, and a blacksmith who creates many of the old tooks and such for the village.
That night the Wagonmaster and Tailgunner couples fixed an Italian Extravaganza dinner (spaghetti and bread) and we brought all the extras. This was followed by karaoke and joke telling by those who were so inclined.
August 24 we were off again on our way to New Harris, NS (on the north end of Breton Island). On the way our GPS failed us by sending us into Antigonish, NS where the Walmart was supposed to be. Well….as we were driving these big RVs around downtown, a nice fellow flagged us over to see where we were trying to go, then led us to the Walmart (which was nowhere near where the GPS said it was) – really nice people all over Canada.
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| Alexander Graham Bell Museum |
From there we drove without mishap to the town of Baddeck where we visited the Alexander Graham Bell museum. He was a US citizen, but lived much of his life in Baddeck, NS – a beautiful little town on Bras ‘de Ore Lake (pronounced Bradoor). We were amazed to find that he had invented MANY things besides the telephone. He developed the phonetic alphabet and worked extensively with the deaf. He was instrumental in the development of the hydrofoil boat and early flight. He loved his family (his wife was deaf) and especially children – unusual for a brilliant man.
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| Saint Andrew's Channel Bridge |
We were then only a short distance from our RV park on Cape Breton Island where we parked with a view of the St. Andrew’s Channel Bridge – just beautiful.
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| Neil's Harbour |
The following day we had a full day (7:45AM-6:30PM) bus trip around the Cabot Trail that goes all around Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada. Gordie and I drew the lucky straw and were able to sit in the front of the bus and thoroughly enjoyed the expanse of scenery all along the way.
We visited a scarecrow ‘farm’, Flora’s very nice gift shop, the Catholic Church (very old) of Cheticamp on the west coast, then we had a very nice lunch also in Cheticamp.
Then it was on around the north end of the park to a small fishing village of Neil’s Harbour, and on to Ingonish where there is a world class golf course and lovely resort. All along the way we followed coasts of the Bay of St. Lawrence, the Atlantic Ocean, and Bras ‘de Or Lake – spectacular scenery. Our bird-watchers spotted a bald eagle, but we have yet to see a moose. We still have plenty of time for that. Our tour guide was wonderful – had us playing games, telling all the history and interesting facts of the areas we drove through, handing out candy and prizes – made for a most enjoyable day for everyone.
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| 15 hour ferry ride from Cape Breton, NS to Argentia, NL |
The next day we stayed in the campground and relaxed for the morning (doing fun things like laundry and washing the RVs and cars). Early afternoon we had a ‘Mexican’ hotdog feed and made plans for our evening loading of the ferry at North Sydney for our 15 hour trip to Newfoundland. What are Mexican hotdogs you ask? They are hot dogs served in a tortilla with all the trimmings – chili, beans, sauerkraut, cheese, mustard, onions, relish – you choose. They were good!!!
We left the RV park at 4:30PM and drove in numberical order the 15 miles to the ferry terminal where we were put in lines and waited to be loaded. Loading started at 8PM and finished after 9:30. The ferry was really a big one – kind of a low class cruise ship. Many of us were exhausted and went to our staterooms while others enjoyed the entertainment in the bar before turning in. Note: we were not allowed to sleep on the vehicle decks in our RVs, even though that would have been a lot more comfortable. The staterooms had two sets of bunk beds with very thin hard mattresses. But we did have our own bathrooms, so we survived AOK.
In the morning we had breakfast on the ferry and then passed the time until our docking at 1:30PM. The weather was perfect and the seas were calm, so we were able to go out onto the decks of the ferry without coats. I thought ocean air was always quite cold. Interesting fact – In Newfoundland/Labrador the time zone is 30 minutes ahead of the rest of Atlantic Canada – not an hour, half an hour. Isn’t that crazy??? So we are now 3 ½ or 4 ½ hours ahead of most of you who read this. At least this is the last time change until we start back and can gradually back up our watches and clocks.
We’d had to unhook the cars from the RVs and we were loaded onto separate decks, so it took a while for everyone to get hooked back up and on the way again. Eventually we all made it to our campground in Saint Johns, Newfoundland. (Remember when we first crossed into Canada we stayed in Saint John, New Brunswick.)
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