Rain, Fog, Sun, and Moonlight!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Tuesday began with what promised to be better weather, but instead, fog rolled in and out all day. Greg got up early and walked to breakfast at a close by cafe. He spent the meal eavesdropping on the old lobstermen who were lamenting the state of the lobster fishery in the area and how the catch is dwindling. Then we drove to the local laundromat to do two weeks worth of laundry. Two hours later, we drove to the lighthouse on the other side of the harbor. By the time we got out on the point to see the lighthouse, there wasn't much visible except the rocks close by on the shore. A surprising amount of sightseers were there, including a tour bus. After we ate lunch, Greg decided to do the 3 kilometer hike along the shore through the fog. I stayed behind and put away laundry and made the bed, while listening to the Americans from the tour bus, standing around the parking lot complaining while the bus engine loudly idled. Then we drove back to our campground and watched the locals drive through and ogle the campers. Small town Nova Scotia. We felt so exotic!
Tuesday night the rain started again. The forecast called for partly cloudy and I guess it was somewhere, but we drove through rain all morning as we headed south to leave Cape Breton Island. The southeast coast is very sparsely populated and by midday we had reached the only large town in the south of the island, Port Hawkesbury. We needed a resupply of groceries, so we stopped for the first time at an Atlantic Superstore, which seemed to be the same as the Sobey's we had stopped in last time. Even the President's Choice brand that we keep finding all over Atlantic Canada is the same.

The light at Louisbourg Harbor

View from the Coastal Trail

We went in to rain and came out an hour later to sun! Crossing the causeway off the island and back to the mainland we left the main highway and followed the coast south again towards Halifax. Driving along Chedabucto Bay we saw cargo ships waiting to load up after traveling up from the Atlantic Ocean. By late afternoon we had reached the fishing port of Canso, on Cape Canso, on the northeastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia.

One-lane Bailey bridges were common

Monument to the first European to land in North America

Yet another cute lighthouse

Typical country church

Canso was founded in 1604 by the British, and was sacked and changed hands between the French and the British many times over the centuries. During the Revolutionary War, Americans came up and sacked it too. Parks Canada runs a boat over to Grassy Island where the original settlement existed, but they don't start until July 1st. We stayed overnight in the Cape Canso RV Park right on the harbor in a semi-grassy field.

View of Canso Harbor from our campsite

View of Canso village from our campground

This morning before leaving Louisbourg, Greg called Paul at Cyclesmith and found out that they were working on my bike and it would be ready in the afternoon. Because we were still about 200 miles northeast of Halifax, we arranged to pick it up Friday morning. We left Canso with the sun still shining. Glorious! Traveling back down the coast took us through lots of small villages on the many bays and harbors. Around every turn we had a beautiful vista. There is so much waterfront property in Nova Scotia. If you aren't into coastal scenes, there are tons of freshwater lakes as well. The population is mostly on the coasts. The interior is mostly empty and wooded. Rarely do you see a junky yard. Nova Scotians seem to be hardworking people who care for their properties even when they aren't prosperous. With the sunny weather, we saw laundry hanging on lots of clotheslines.

View from Coastal Highway 4

Our lunch stop in Goldboro

Another fine bridge

Stop in St. Mary's for more smoked salmon

Salvage operation or just a wreck?

We saw a bald eagle soaring overhead as we drove an interior stretch due to a closed ferry. The one downside of the day was the state of disrepair of Nova Scotian roads. The freeze-thaw cycle is rough on roads, but we have been driving on lots of provincial and local roads that have multiple patches on multiple patches, potholes and crumbling edges. The national highways, like our interstates are good, but once off those, you can expect anything. Our RV sways and bounces quite a bit anyway, so we are constantly entertained as we drive, by drawers sliding in and out on turns, hats and shoes falling off the top bunk and occasional crashes in the bathroom! From time to time as we drive, I have to get up and balance my way down the aisle to check on something. All those years of bus rides for school field trips paid off with my moving vehicle balancing abilities!


This evening we came back to Porter's Lake Provincial Park where we tried to stay over a week ago, when we were looking for a few nights stay to wait out the rain. At that time there was no potable water so we left. But, we had toured the campground, so we knew that in nice weather it would be a good place for one night of dry camping. We picked out a great spot on an island in the lake. There is only a tent down the end that we can't see. We have a gorgeous view of the lake with just a few houses in the distance. After dinner we took a walk and found a beaver swimming along the edge of the lake at dusk. We watched it for a while as it swam up and down and nibbled at bushes on the lake shore.

Porter's Lake campsite

View from campsite

Best yet view from bathroom window!

Causeway to island where the campsite is located

View of island - campsite hidden behind tall pines

Moonrise over Porters Lake

Beaver or Nessie?

 The almost full moon, which we haven't seen in ages due to the rain and fog is currently high over the lake and shining on the water. With no one to see in on the lake side of the camper, we left the blinds open. I would love to open the window a crack to listen for loons, but since there are some black flies here, I expect there are also no-see-ums.
 
Tomorrow we drive early into Halifax to retrieve my bike, and then we are hoping to drive north to the Northumberland Strait and hop the ferry to Prince Edward Island. Time to explore a new Province!