| Andi & Anne's Cape Breton Adventures |
| Andi agreed with me about the beauty of the Highlands when we finally got up there. She was also glad she wasn’t driving. Hairpin turns are not fun when you are tired. We laughed at the term ‘mountain” as most of these “mountains” were merely 700 feet tall. Mount Smokey was a laugh for us but fun to drive on. I was trying to get to the other side by sunset. I had a vision in my mind of the way the scenery would look at sunset and I wanted to capture it on film. I think I did a pretty decent job. |
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| This ribbon of highway is the Cabot Trail |
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| Here is the Cabot Trail road |
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| Sunset on the Cabot Trail |
| We stopped in Cheticamp, an Acadian community along the Cabot Trail. The scene was so beautiful, we both stopped to watch the sunset here. A group of kayakers were caught on film trying to make it back to the dock before dark. |
| Sunset Kayaking in Cheticamp |
| The harbour in Cheticamp |
| After sunset then we really were just trying to kill time before the ferry ride to Newfoundland the next morning. Too cheap to rent a hotel room, we figured we'd sleep in the van at the Ferry Terminal. So we didn’t want to get there too early. As we drove along the west side of the Cabot Trail, we went through some of the towns that were homes to our instructors at the Gaelic College. Andi was looking at the map and discovered a town called Dunvegan. We immediately thought of that fiddle piece that we had gotten so sick of playing – Morag of Dunvegan. Her best comment that evening was, “Omigod! There’s a town called Dunvegan! Wanna go and find Morag and beat the crap out of him?” I was tempted, believe me. We passed the Gaelic College and left a note for Sandy MacIntyre hoping we could get his fiddle book and get recommendations for Andi to get lessons in the Buffalo area. Then we continued on to Bras D’Or where we ate a late dinner. At the Pizza Den, the waitress made us laugh when she brought a little wind-up fiddling chef doll to our table. We were both wearing fiddle pins and had told her we spent the week at the Gaelic College. He played “That’s Amore” but the thing that drove us to fits of laughter was the fact that he did the “foot thing” and kept time with his playing. LOL! Well, I imagine we both picked up the accent in the week we were there because she told us she thought we were locals till we asked her about an all-night laudromat in Sydney. “No such thing on this island,” she said, “Up till now I thought you were locals! Where are you from?” It would not be the first time in the next 24 hours that comment was made. Made us giggle a lot to think we’d be mistaken for Cape Bretoners. Someday maybe I’ll BE one. When we got to the ferry terminal, we found a spot in line and discovered we were not the only ones with the same idea. We bedded down for the night in the van with Andi taking the back bench seat and me on the passenger side reclining seat. So was it Midnight at the Oasis? No! Ferry Terminals and sleep don’t go together for me. I thought it was just being with Vic and Karen in the same car sleeping that was the problem but it is apparently just MY problem. Sleep did not come for me with any great success. It didn’t help that Andi was fighting with someone in her sleep and had leg cramps so she‘d kick her feet out at irregular intervals. Everytime I’d doze off, she’d ask a question in her sleep or kick the van. *sigh* |
| So at 6:00 AM I gave up and went into the terminal to wash up and then see what I could do. They always have a movie or two playing and there is usually someone up wandering around, so I was not alone. I met a woman named Mary who was going to Newfoundland to visit her son and his wife. She and her husband had driven a camper trailer all the way from Alberta. This was her first trip to Newfoundland. Both she and her husband are retired, he being a former coal miner, and they wanted to tour Eastern Canada. Chatted with her a good long time about places we’d both been to in Eastern Canada and I told her about my experiences in Newfoundland. She was surprised with my answer when she asked me where in Newfoundland I was from. She couldn’t imagine going to Newfoundland and not having relatives there to see. LOL! This comment about “why are you visiting Newfoundland if you don’t come from there?” is still coming up! So many people asked us that same question 2 years ago when we made the same ferry ride. I don’t know why people can’t think of Newfoundland as a vacation spot. I wish I could do this every year for vacation! I went back and tried to wake up Andi so she could wash up before we left on the ferry but she wouldn’t wake up. Undaunted, I went back and had breakfast with Mary and her hubby. I stole a Cape Breton Fiddlers Poster from the terminal wall and carried coffees for the two of us and a cinnamon bun for Andi. Unfortunately, I didn’t see that there was a 3-inch step there and just tumbled down to the concrete, spilling our coffees all over, skinning one knee and wrenching the other one. I thought for a minute I’d have to visit the ER but then discovered I could move the knee, so I just got up. The nice lady behind the coffee counter brought me another 2 coffees and asked if I was alright. I told her yes and as I hobbled to the van, they announced that we were getting ready to board the ferry. So I HAD to wake up Andi – and she did wake up this time! She wanted to drive onto the ferry and we switched places so she could do that. |
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| Got this neat picture of the cormorants in North Sydney Harbour. |
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| Bound for Newfoundland |
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| View from the top of Mt. Smokey |