Phase 3 of our vacation had us driving out of New Brunswick, through Nova Scotia, and on to the little island of Cape Breton.
The island is believed to be the first place John Cabot landed in America. The French later built settlements, but the Brits took the island over after the French and Indian War. It has a very interesting mix of French and Gaelic communities, is home to the largest Gaelic speaking population outside of Europe, and is also the location of North America's only Gaelic College.
And besides all that..........it is an unbelievably beautiful place. These pictures don't really do it justice.
The Cabot Trail winds it's way around the northern portion of the island. This road could be a destination in and of itself. We never got tired of that view!
Tiniest little toad we ever did saw!
Apparently, throughout the park there were 10 of these Adirondack chairs. It was a challenge to find and photograph all of them. We hiked close to 25 miles and saw exactly 2 chairs. This one at a view point, and another in front of the visitor's center. No clue where the other 8 were hiding!
We booked a whale watching cruise on Friday. The weather was not cooperating with us and instead of the sunny blues skies and calm seas we were anticipating, it was grey, stormy, and choppy! I think our tour guide would have gladly cancelled, but we were there, and so were some other people, so the tour was on. Ironically, the group we were with were locals from the other side of the island. The three adults were all teachers, and once they met our captain, they instantly recognized him as the former middle school vice principal. It was great chatting with them and learning all about island life and their education system!
Oh, and the whales.....they were cool, too.
Pleasant Bay Harbor...
Lobster/crab traps...
All the whale watching boats had their own little sheds lined up beside the dock. We later found out that they all stagger their tour times so someone always has a boat out to follow the whales.
Captain Stan of Fiddlin' Whale Tours welcomes his guests on board his boat with some fiddle songs!
Another whale boat and our first glimpse of the pilot whales we were tracking down.
This pod had a dozen or so whales, including several momma and baby whales!
Our captain tried his best to get us great shots of the whales. Not so sure the whales appreciated his efforts, but we definitely got close to some of them!
By this point we were wet, cold, and pretty far from land. So of course it started to rain. It's a good thing nobody was sea sick!
Ahhh.....that VIEW!
The Skyline Trail was the most popular hike on the west coast of the island. At about 6 miles round trip it was long, but the view was worth every step!
At the end of the trail was a boardwalk that you could take to overlook the ocean and mountains. No guard rails to stop you from plummeting off the cliff!
It was so incredibly windy up there!
Beautiful!
This was also the trail that seemed to have the most moose sightings. As we hiked and passed people, we'd get moose sighting reports. For about a mile people kept saying there was a large bull moose walking up the hill. We kept looking and never saw it. Eventually we began to pass people who hadn't seen any moose so we figured we had missed it.
Then we went around the corner and here was this big guy hanging out about 15 feet off the trail. He was BIG! And totally aware of people walking by, just relaxing and people watching. When I saw him my first instinct was to back away slowly!!!! Then Earl reminded me I was clutching the camera with a death grip, so I had better get a photo. No way was I going to get any closer and risk a trampling, so I stealthily "shot" him through some trees.
Big moose print!
Earl's one regret was we did not get a moose scat picture.....
The Skyline Trail as seen from the road...
One of the neatest things to see were little streams coming out of the interior mountains and going into the ocean. It was far too cold for (my) comfort, but this stream looked like it would've been a relaxing place to soak and watch the waves.
The Bog.
This was one of our favorite trails. It doesn't look like much, but it was so peaceful and filled with nature sounds.
All along the Cabot Trail were pull offs with these incredible views.
And another.....
And another....
We managed to snap a picture of the sun peaking out between the heavy cloud bank and the ocean on our last night on the west coast.
The next morning it was onward and forward to explore the other side of the island!
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