Day 81: Cape Breton NP

 

Today we started the Cape Breton Cabot Trail. It's a 185 mile loop around Cape Breton that takes us through Cape Breton Highlands National Park. This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful drives in all of North America. Our first stop was Black Brook Beach where we joined the locals and tourists on the beach for a swim and romp in the sand. The water was pretty chilly but everyone was swimming, so I went in, not for long, I am out and warming in the sun. It was in the mid to upper 80's today and sunny so it felt refreshing. It is now high season so we expect to see many more travelers on the road this week in Cape Breton. After the beach time, we drove up the coast a bit to check out some boondock spots at a lighthouse and some pull offs but no luck. We mosey up the road until we do find a small pull out with an ocean view and call it a night.

Miles: 81 / 5976

Day 80: Ferry Ride

 

We say goodbye to Newfoundland after 65 days on "The Rock" as they call it locally. We we actually had reservations for the ferry on Aug. 3, but we were ready to get on with our home bound trip. We rebooked for July 29, only to find out when we arrive a the terminal at 9pm, our tickets say Aug. 29, not July 29. I was in panic mode as Yoli is in the Jeep at one gate, and I am in the RV in another gate, we are chatting on the radio's swapping booking numbers, holding up traffic trying figure out if we can even get on this ferry that is totally booked. Yoli's gate agent was a champ, they wrote it off as agent error and booked us on the ferry for the 11:45pm overnight trip we thought we were booked on. We did not have a cabin so we had to sleep in the chairs, which was aweful. But hey, I was glad to get on the boat and not sit and wait for weeks to get on. We got off the ferry at 7am with very little sleep. We drove a half mile to a local park on the wharf and popped the slides and took a 3 hour nap. Later in the day we go for a walk and only get 50 yards before we engage with some local ladies that live locally and have been friends for 68 years. We chatted about local lore and our trip and certainly enjoyed the sunshine wharf side chat. That is the thing I did not expect, and the thing I will remember the most, the people of Newfoundland and this area have just been so welcoming and helpful. It was a blast meeting so many wonderful people. We talked so long we decided to postpone our next segment of our trip up Cape Breton on the Cabot trail. We head to Baddeck Nova Scotia where we here they have the best seafood dinner. And it was, it was awesome. We got the all you can eat seafood chowder and mussels with a whole lobster chaser with desert and coffee. It was awesome, we only drove 45 miles today, but certainly had good food and good chats with new friends. We pulled into a gravel area just a block from the restaurant we found on iOverlander and popped the slides to call it a day.

Miles: 37 / 5895

Busy Ferry Terminal in Sydney

Ferry loads through Bow

Ferry in, Ferry out

Local Chat club

Lobstah!

All you can eat chowder and mussels

Day 78-79: NL Provincial Parks

We spend our last days in Newfoundland at one of the NL Provincial parks, J.T. Cheeseman Park. We had a great spot on the river and the campground was almost empty. We bike to the beach, walk to the falls, and last minute shop in Port aux Basque.

Day 77: The Last Weekend

We woke up this morning to sunshine and blue skies. So much better than the all day rain yesterday driving to get to Cape St. George. We hiked the local coastal Danny's trail at The Gravels between Port au Port East/West. We just love these coastal hikes, and when the sun shines, it is fantastic. Since it is Saturday, many locals were coming out for the hike so we packed it up and headed to JT Cheeseman provincial park further south only 6 miles from the ferry terminal. So this weekend we got a sweet spot on the river before we load the rig on the Ferry back to the mainland and say goodby and farewell to Newfoundland. We have been here just over two months and it is time to head home, or at least in that general direction south.

Miles: 106 / 5812

Danny's Trail

Danny's Trail

Danny's Trail

Danny's Trail

Danny's Trail

Danny's Trail

Danny's Trail

Danny's Trail

Danny's Trail

Danny's Trail

JT Cheeseman Provincial Park

JT Cheeseman Provincial Park

JT Cheeseman Provincial Park

Day 76: Cape St. George

 

Not a long drive today, only 88 miles to Cape St. George. We stop in Corner Brook for groceries and top off the fuel then bak on the Trans-Canadian 1 HWY. We planned to go all the way out to the point but, 20 miles in and 28 miles to go on a rough road, we decided to park the rig at a nice turn out on the ocean called Danny's Trailhead just past Port au Port East. We unhooked the jeep and drove the last 28 miles to the point. Several vans and RV's were there and the sun came out and it was beautiful. It had rained all day since we left Blow Me Down in the pouring rain, no fun. But finally the sun was out and the ocean view was beautiful. I wish we would have brought the rig out, but on second thought, maybe not, it was a long rough narrow road to get there. We got back to the RV and had dinner and a movie. It was a tough day driving in the rain and rough roads, but the hike we did along the coast was beautiful when the sun came out.

Miles: 88 / 5706

Day 74-75: Blow Me Down

 

It was so sunny and beautiful at Bishop falls, we hated to leave, but had to move on. Another big travel day of 208 miles to a Canadian Provincial Park called "Blow Me Down". Blow Me Down comes from the famous Capt'n Cook. As the story goes, when Capt. Cook stood atop one of these mountains in the high winds and uttered words like it tried to "blow me down" which gave them the name. Blow me down provincial park was a typical park in the trees, no hook ups, but dump and water available which is nice. We walked down to the water of the day use area and enjoyed the sunset. We also hiked bottler cover out to sunset rock which was another outstanding jagged rock coast cliff hike. It was sunny and beautiful.

Miles: 208 / 5618