Cape Breton or Bust!

Cape Breton came on to my radar...... I decided back in the winter that this is where we needed to go on our next adventure.  I'm not really sure how it popped up, but it made sense for us to go someplace new and didn't require big travel expenses.  And when this trip happened to work out in conjunction with my Middlebury Maine trip, it seemed like destiny.

So, after meeting up in Acadia (waiting an extra day for the passports to arrive), we were off.  We made no reservations, but had a car full of camping equipment and eager attitudes.  This fly by the seat of your pants way to travel isn't really within my comfort zone.  I usually like to know that we'll have a place to stay and like to have a plan.  John assured me that we'd be just fine. So we set off

It's a 10 hour drive from Acadia to Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  We didn't leave our campground until almost 3pm and then stopped in Ellsworth for groceries and supplies.  We drove about 5 hours to Moncton, New Brunswick and then set out for the park first thing in the am.

We'd heard that Corny Brook was an amazing camp ground with few facilities, but first come, first serve.  It was Thursday, so I wanted to be sure to get there.  We did stop for lunch at the Celtic Music Interpretive Center where there is access to an amazing bike trail (the Ceilidh trail) and it was a perfect adventure to break up the drive. 

We arrived just in time to get a site at Corny Brook.  It was even more amazing than I imagined...... on a bluff, looking due west, with a stoney beach and a river to dip in.  

Corny Brook-- the river

Pebble Beach-- not sure if the river was colder?

We had a swim and cocktails, followed by dinner on the beach, and a gorgeous sunset.

 

 

Friday, we headed straight to the Skyline Trail-- a gorgeous 5 mile hike along the coast.  We were thrilled by the views and a close encounter with a real, live moose!

After our hike, we headed to Margaree Harbor to explore the town that John visited as a kid.  There was a fun beach and Hazey and I did some extreme adventuring. 

That evening was spent much like the first....... cocktails, swimming, dinner on the beach, sunset, fireworks. 

Saturday was a bit overcast, but we headed out on a 4 mile hike to a waterfall.  Upon our return, we were told the winds might hit 40 mph, so a ranger recommended we move our tent to a more sheltered area.  We then took off to do a bike ride on the Salmon Pool trail and get a little laundry done (we had signed up for a whale watching zodiac ride, but the winds were too crazy and that was cancelled).

 

This time, when we returned to our campsite, we were told the campground was closing and we had to evacuate..... So we packed everything up and moved to "overflow" camping closer to the Cheticamp campground.  We were right under a cool band of cliffs and next to a river, so we couldn't complain. And we still went to Corny Brook beach to see the sunset, high winds and all.  

We decided to head to Meat Cove the next day, but not before we did some exploring along the Cabot Trail.  The kids had picked up a guide that encouraged them to visit 7-10 spots and get stamps at each place, ultimately collecting a "prize" at the end.  It was really cool and educational.  This meant stopping at a bog, a 350 year old maple, and other cool spots. 

By the time we got to the east coast of the island..... it was sunny and these polar bears were ready for a swim!

And Meat Cove did not disappoint!  It was a gorgeous afternoon and there was a great beach to explore.

Here is a view from our campsite:

It was honking windy that night and threatening to rain, but we had to do the recommended hike:

Since the rain was expected to stay, we ate lunch at the Meat Cove chowder house and set off to the east side of the park (Meat Cove isn't technically in the park).  We had heard that camping at Ingunish was fun (close to a beach and lake). But first we had some more stamps to get at various spots:

Jack Pine Forest and Coast Trail:

Bird Watching at Green Cove:

Reward time (for collecting stamps at various sites on the Cabot Trail)

A quick visit to the beach before Explorer's Club:

The park naturalist puts on a program most nights at 7pm:

Listening to music at the Keltic Lodge (because the fancy stove we brought decided to DIE)

So excited to see whales in a zodiac (didn't bring a camera, but we saw tons of dolphins and seals):

Chilling out at our campsite in Ingunish:

S'more contest

More Natural Park fun:

Biking out to the "gold mine":

After six nights in the park, we decided to head begin our voyage back to the US.  After much deliberation, we decided to take the ferry from Yarmouth, NS to Portland, ME.  It's a five and a half hour ride, but they have movies and live music and we were all ready for a break from the car.  The good news, is that we could check out Halifax.  We found a great campground 20 minutes from the city and were excited for good food, coffee and craft beer!

Eating dinner at the Wooden Monkey:

Exploring the boardwalk the following day:

Checking out Peggy's Cove on a stormy day:

Checking out Lunenburg:

Heading home on the ferry-- aka the vomitorium.  It seemed too good to be true, but none of us got sick.  Phew!

Sunshine before arrival in Portland:

What a trip!  I had a sense Cape Breton would be interesting, but it far exceeded any expectations.  It was the perfect place for us.  I was so proud of our family.  We did so much, saw so much, had so much fun and shared so much love.  Just making memories and trying to enjoy it while we do it.