Maritime Inn Nova Scotia

... It would appear that the fiddling and stepdancing culture is alive and thriving within the youth of Cape Breton Island after having been nearly lost a generation ago.
Did a relatively short hike in the afternoon (although quite steep) above the campground and reached some great viewpoints looking down on Lac Bras d’Or.
A pot of chili when you’re camping goes a long way so….you know our supper menu. To bed with the sun, hoping for a good night’s sleep!!

... After setting up camp, Brian had a short nap while I read and napped in the lawn chair (recovering from the much broken sleep on the ferry coming over) A local couple out walking stopped and gave us some leads on “must sees” in the area.
Later went to the local Coop, picked up groceries and returned to our humble campsite to make chili. Early to bed….it really cools off when the sun goes down.

We woke up to pouring rain today. That's OK though as today is a travel day. We're off to the Bay of Fundy to watch the 'tidal bore' or just the tide whichever is possible.

The rain stopped as we arrived at the Shubenacadie River to watch people suiting up and getting their rafts ready to ride the tidal bore. Tidal Boring is when the tide comes rushing in but the river is flowing out - the meeting of the waters creates rapids which for many is ...

... was met by Daine (yes, that is the correct spelling) who runs tours of Newfoundland and also has a hostel in Gros Morne National Park. He had 2 other travellers with him and we headed to a town called Twillingate, where we saw icebergs and a minke whale. The icebergs float past this Northern end of Newfoundland for about 2 months every year, I timed it nicely. Then we carried on to St John's, the provincial capital ...

Sherbrooke is on a large river and when we left town we went by a couple of lakes that I presume feed the river. It didn't take too long before we were in the thriving metropolis of Antigonish. After driving past some magnificient buildings, we realized that they were part of Saint Francis Xavier University. What a spectacular campus - almost makes one want to go back to school! Other than the university we didn't see much of ...

Well at least the rain has stopped! Boy that was something yesterday, but today dawned bright, but cloudy and windy. We had to do a few chores this morning - keep the businesses running - and the baliff from the hotel door - so it was around 11 am when we headed out east of Halifax/Dartmouth to Musquodoboit Harbour. This was the route we had thought about taking when we headed east to Cape Breton, but Hwy 7 definitely is a slower, windy ...

... Katrin tomorrow. Apologies for not describing the individual trails in more detail but I will let the photos do the talking. A young Moose grazing on the Skyline trail, Cape Breton Monday.- The lack of tea in the morning and no shower, results in a grumpy Englishman and I was not in a negotiable mood. On the drive through the park we stop at some lookout points at Katrin request along the northern parts of the ...

... parents reading this; Yes, I'm a bad Mother! We explored the beach and the kids had loads of squealing fun avoiding all the gross slimy jellyfish in the water as they ran in and out of the surf and along the sand. We also had to cart back around 40 pounds of beach detritus that they absolutely couldn't part with! We went quite a ways down the beach and couldn't gauge how far away our towels ...

... As soon as Les primes it and turns it back on, the water starts to replenish. Les takes us aside to let us know that Dot had a heart attack last year and must still take it easy. His tact is un-called for, since Dot herself regales us with the whole story and assures us that she is being very careful to be "heart-smart" now. She cooks a late-night dinner of good spaghetti (with our hamburger added in) and takes a modest cup or so herself. However, it transpires that ...

... with other young friends in a car, and they had lots of alcohol in the trunk. They'd gotten stuck in line with The Hells Angels cyclists in front and behind them. The mounties suspected young Jim of carrying alcohol for the bike game. "The REAL Hells Angels," he said incredulously, opening his eyes wide like an owl. The best story, though, was Dr. Jim's explanation of why his hair's overgrown. "I only get my hair cut once a year. Oh-oo, I had a traumatic ...