Cape Breton Highlands National Park
To get to Cape Breton, I decided to follow the coastal road along the Eastern Shore. From the Bay of Fundy I quickly traversed the land with a stop near Halifax to stock up groceries and to do some laundry, boring everyday tasks have also to be done while traveling. Why did nobody warn me?!
The scenery along the Eastern Shore was very similar to the one on the South Shore, however there were quite a few old Irish settlements. I also did a quick detour to the Isle Madame, which I think is worth a visit, if not for the cute little towns just for listening to the “French” radio station which is rather strange to listen to. Anyway, I don’t think I have to be ashamed of my swiss accent anymore, that’s some crazy butchered French they speak 😀
The plan was not to drive too far today, however the Provincial Park I wanted to stay for the night was still closed thus I had to drive on, since I really needed a warm shower. The regular RV parks are worse than camping in Italy, thus I kept driving all the way to Sidney. I almost gave up on finding a nice campground and was already on the Highway 125 to the Cabot Trail when I saw a sign that promised a small campground.
The family running the campsite does bird watching boat tours to the “Bird Islands” since 45 years and have some camping spots on their premises.
Spontaneously I decided to do the boat tour because they promised me to see Puffins. When Rachel and I were in Iceland year ago it was too early for Puffins. The next morning at 10am the boat left for the Bird Islands. All in all it’s a three hours trip and we spent a bit more then 90 minutes along the islands, going around both of them.
The Captain was entertaining a knew a lot about all the different birds on the islands and the history of the surrounding area. On top of that the other bird watchers on the boat were all very friendly and we chatted quite a bit. If one of you reads this, you should leave a comment and I hope you are happy with the Puffin pictures I sent you! 😉
If you are into birds (especially Puffins ;)) and on the way to the Cabot Trail I can highly recommend to stop at Mountain View Camping. Their WiFi was the best so far, I was able to upload the timelapse that you can see in the first Nova Scotia post and I downloaded Season 5 of House of Cards on Netflix, yay!
After the birdwatching I only drove about an hour to a nice secluded spot close to Wreck Cove, a few meters from the ocean. During the afternoon it was so warm I could wear short pants the first time, however at about 5pm the wind changed and instead of the warm inland wind it’s now freezing cold wind from the ocean. But I won’t complain!
An other highlight from the Cabot trail is definitely the Skyline trail, very touristy but nice. There I also became an official Parks Canada Volunteer by planting four trees 😀
Along the Cabot trail are many hikes, I really enjoyed the one to the Broad Mountain. In case you want to that too, don’t do the loop, you won’t see anything interesting on the way back but you will be hunted down by a bunch of mosquitos and black flies.
The campground at Meat Cove is at an amazing location but way overprized, not worth the money imho.
Just outside the Cape Breton National park is Chéticamp with its amazing beach. I camped there for a night and got one of the best sunsets I’ve seen so far!
After almost 3000km on Nova Scotias roads it was time to enter New Brunswick!
Ben,
It is wonderful getting to know about you as you travel, take photos and write about your journey. I am an avid bird watcher and we have within a half hours drive both north and south of me great bird sanctuaries, plus the Clark Fork River which runs through Missoula is a natural pathway for migrating birds. Anne-Marie, my daughter, Rachel’s cousin, knows these mountains and great back country exploration areas as she and her family venture out year-long….both kids are competitive mountain bikers and skiers and the family explores the areas from Canada south and from Wyoming to Idaho and her husband is a Montana native who has always enjoyed the country.
So…what I am saying is, please oh please try to have on your journey from Colorado to Idaho some time here in Missoula where the craft brewery businesses abound, birds are everywhere and the mountains and rivers and lakes are spectacular! And, we want to meet you and get to know you!
Much love,
Kristin
Hi Kristin, I’ll do my best to pass by Missoula and visit you, after all it is on the way to Banff!