So today Sunday, we decided to revisit our favourite part of the Cabot trail and also to visit Englishtown where a small car ferry usually operates from but major work is being carried out this summer and so is not in use.
At high tide the lovely old sailing ship left Sydney harbour in the mist. We watched it sail away from our hotel bedroom window. It looked so regal as it moved away down the coast in the morning mist.
First stop was to photo a marshy area on the way to the green bridge on the causeway to cape Breton. The mosques were biting but I used my deet spray!

 

We went down to Englishtown where there is a car ferry, well having renovations at the moment!

We returned to the cabot trail and went through part of the National park again. here we stopped by a rocky shoreline and sat in the sunshine.

After a couple more viewing points and stopping by Ingonish for an icecream we turned round for home and stooped at our favourite bakery/café “the cackling chicken” for our evening meali had pan fried haddock and grandad had a turkey dinner

So tomorrow we head out on a 4 hour or so journey to Halifax Nova Scotia.

Really love and miss you all mum and dad xxx

 

So today it was grey and raining and much colder when we left the hotel. We drove to St. Peter’s and had an early lunch then explored the coast up to ingonish .

By this time it was afternoon and much warmer the sky had turned blue with fluffy clouds and the sun was shining.

The coast around that area is full of pebbly and sandy stretches of beach. The water reaches the fields and farms. Lots of houses with beautiful views and lots of land are to be found there.

We saw some deer a mother and her 2 bambi s. I managed to get a snap of this blue heron before it flew away too.

We headed for home and came to a short car ferry over part of the lake to Iona. This part of the lake is gorgeous and worth us visiting again, but we were tired and headed for Sydney again. Another nice day and sunset xxx if you look carefully you can see the masts of a sailing ship near the big violin in port.

Today grandad told me a secret he’d been keeping from me. We were to meet up with his cousin Ken and Doreen and grandchildren over here from Newfoundland.

We met up at 11am and spent all day with them until 9 pm.

First we went to Two Rivers Wildlife Park and saw lots of animals and some we don’t we don’t see in Europe. Skunk, mink black bear, red fox, artic fox , red deer, owls , bald eagles, peacocks and some very different colours from ours. Porcupine, wolves, wild cats,

.There was also a pets farm and wagon rides with horses. We had a good time there, although we thought the animals could be better looked after!

Next we went to the annual strawberry teas at a church hall in a nearby town of Marion. I had an enormous bowl full of strawberries and there were BRETON cakes of all varieties.

Doreen’s sister Sharon was there and we were invited back to her house for supper. Her husband Millet, had been busy barbecuing salmon over cedar wood that he had been preparing all afternoon. He had been a grand master in the Masons and showed us his medal.

All in all we had a lovely day and here are a few pics I took on my iPad xxx

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Hi once again we visited and drove through the Cape BRETON National Park on the Cabot Trail road. The sun was strong and there was not so much wind so hardly any surf today. We spent a while on the beach at Margaree Harbour. People were swimming in the cold clear water but we just walked through the sanddunes and along the beach jumping over the stream to the end where the cliffs are

We called at all the view points and stared at the sea. 2 beluga whales have been in the area and 2 kayakers filmed them.

We saw more dragon flies in the bog.This is the road that grandad drove me along. I’m so pleased I didn’t have to drive it. It is a long road but so worth while travelling along it. It was so sad that Alex has had the bike and large baby carrier trailer stolen. There are wicked people in the world. So pleased I have a lovely family and friends who care and support us. xxxx

Hi we had a day full of history today.

First we visited Fort Petrie created to protect the local steel and coal production in WW2.

Then we went on along the coast 4 miles to find a working lighthouse.

At Louisbourg we stopped for coffee and lunch then visited a huge fortress. It is an historic site of Canada, a totally reconstructed French Fortress of 1744.

People were dressed up as soldiers and towns people. It was so interesting. The British took it over twice from the French (worth looking up the full history of the events especially about General Wolfe).

Anyway it was sunny with a cold strong wind from the sea but very enjoyable to visit.

And to finish the day we went to the opposite side of the harbour to photo the fortress.

Love to you all xxx

We didn’t journey as far as we had intended today as what we found was so interesting it took up most of the day.

We went along the le Bras d’Or lake road up to St Peters. Here we found a double lock gate where the canal had been cut by hand  by the settlers into granite rock to join the lake to the ocean. Before that they had to portage the ships over the land to the sea!

As we got there the locks were being operated to allow a small Norwegian boat through to reach the ocean.

We liked the town of St Peters and the surrounding coastline of the huge inland lake.

Then we went to a small island Isle of Madame. It seemed to be very Irish and some French there. It was so remote  and because of that so beautiful. Loads of sea birds and little harbours and rocks were there to see and explore.

 

Back at Sydney we walked along the board walk and took these two photos. Do you like the giant violin? Also the sculpture in memory of the merchant seamen in WW2

Today we did the rest of the Cabot Trail that we missed yesterday. Again it had beauty all of its own. we saw surf beaches, and lovely scenery, hills covered in trees and a few lakes too

A bog full of insect eating plants and frogs and dragon flies

A moose was by the side of the road just as we went by and we got many fab photos of him. We were a safe distance from him, don’t panic.

It was much cooler today 16/17*c and windy. the air was clearer and refreshing.

I hope Louis is enjoying his school holidays and that Otis and Lily enjoyed their summer parties. Love to my babies Xavi and Alice and to my lovely Anona. You are all lovely!

xxx

 

We covered about a third of the Cabot trail through the national park today.

We saw such beauty in the landscape and seascapes

 

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It was soooo hot this afternoon too and so windy too. We took lots of pics and I had a paddle in the freezing sea.

Do you like Grandad Moose? and funny hat Grandad!

We found a lovely bakery café about 1 1/2 hours travel away and stopped there for lunch and tea on the way back.( we didn’t get back to the hotel until 7pm  so mostly just photos today). We have now booked up all hotels until we leave on 29 July …phew!

hi Here is my last sight of Prince Edward islandand now the view from our Sydney Nova Scotia hotel bedroomwe had a fantastic sunset view last evening!

Now for a day of exploring Cape Breton part of Nova Scotia xxx

Hi everyone we’ve arrived in Nova Scotia.

We left PEI via the ferry and then had a 3 1/2 hour journey to Sydney. We are in the Holiday Inn right on the water front with an amazing view from our window.

Here are a couple of pictures as we travelled along the highway to Sidney, and we are looking forward to seeing more beautiful sights over the next 2 weeks.

This evening we walked down along the board walk around the waterfront. There was a bagpipe band practising and we bought fish and chips from a kiosk and ate them in the sunshine while we listened to the music.

There is a lovely sunset just developing so I’ll post photos of this when I can. It is very hot still with temps from 25*C o 32*c and due to last another 8 day or so.