Tag: nova scotia

Day 5: The Cabot Trail

August 10, 2012
PEI2012

Today we were touring the Cabot Trail. We approached the Trail from the east side and went counter-clockwise so we were driving on the outside lane most of the way.

Claudia at the first Lookoff, the first of many we would stop at through the day.

Once we entered into the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, we stopped at the Keltic Lodge to do the Middle Head trail. The map said it was approximately 3.8 km.

Along the trail.

The trail provided some great views.

Coming through a meadow.

The trail ends at a headland.

There were a couple of bald eagles on a rock outcrop.

There were also a lot of seabirds.

The scenery doesn’t get old.

Big sea gulls.

Some kayakers on our way back.

Next stop was Lakies Head.

Looking north.

Angela at Lakies Head.

Susan.

Angela hanging on for dear life.

Gillian climbing back over the top.

Claudia taking her turn.

Nothing like exploring over the rocks.

Around the bend from Lakies Head was Green Cove.

The scenery there was just as spectacular.

The weather held out for most of the day, while we were driving and getting in and out of the car we had overcast or the odd time sun. The only time it rained hard was when we were driving back to the hotel.

Claudia and Angela looking for bugs or sea creatures.

Gillian at Green Cove.

Angela and Claudia running from the waves at Black Brook Beach.

Watching the wave just about to break.

Claudia in her element.

Lunch was in Pleasant Bay at the Rusty Anchor. Susan and I had the lobster.

The girls in front of the restaurant.

Looking down towards the Rusty Anchor where we had lunch.

Looking south from the Veterans Memorial Lookoff.

The last stop of the day was at La Bloc Beach, it was a rock beach with lots of flat stones.

The girls walking the beach.

Final photo of the day at La Bloc Beach.

It was a full day on the Cabot Trail, the guide books say it takes 3-4 hours to drive the trail and you need 1-4 days to experience it. Having spent close to 10 hours, it is easy to see how you could spend a few days.

Day 4: Cape Breton and the Big Fiddle

August 9, 2012
PEI2012

Day 4 continued our road trip from Fredericton to Sydney, NS.

Our first stop of the day was the Nova Scotia Welcome Center on Highway 2.

Angela raising the Nova Scotia flag.

Another good day of weather, after a lunch stop in Truro, it was on to Cape Breton.

Crossing the Canso Causeway from the Nova Scotia peninsula to Cape Breton.

The word “Canso” is believed to be derived from the Mi’kmaq word kamsok, which means “opposite the lofty cliffs.” The swing bridge allows ship traffic to get through and keeps Cape Breton a true island.

It was a scenic drive along the 104 and highway 4 to Sydney.

After dinner we headed down to the waterfront to see the big fiddle. It is located at the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion.

The girls holding up The Big Céilidh Fiddle.

Next they plucked a few strings.

A close-up of the fiddle and bow.

The girls on the wharf.

Still dancing after a couple of days in the car.

Tonight was the start of the Rock the Dock 2012 festival at the Sydney Marine Terminal Grounds. Among the groups playing tonight were Signal hill, Matt Anderson and Walk off The Earth. Also playing this weekend are the Trews, April Wine, Myles Goodwin and the Privateers.

One last shot of the fiddle at night.

The girls with a memorial to immigrants to Cape Breton.

Looking back over the Cruise Pavilion.

We were able to catch a Cape Breton sunset.

When we got back to the hotel we Skyped with g-ma, g-pa and Chloe.

Our route today was 637km and took us 8 hours with stops. Tomorrow we are driving the Cabot Trail.

Kejimkujik 2

March 14, 2012
Work Posts

What was suppose to be one trip down to Nova Scotia to mark out a new site, turned into two trips a week apart. The first week I rented a Mazda CX7 cross-over.

The new site has been cleared, not an easy feat inside a National Park.

Due to some mis-calculations of the original marking done by our counter-parts in the Regional office, we were off 5-10m in the clearing of the trees. Back on a plane, I returned the next week to straighten out the marking of the trees. One of the difficulties is the site encompasses part of an old farmstead within the park, therefore there is the possibility that during de-stumping or construction it may disturb some artifacts from when it was a farm back at the turn of the century.

Logs stacked along the access road.

Nova Scotia Bound

March 5, 2012
Work Posts
2 Comments

Work has me heading down to Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia this week to do some work on our new site in the park. I’m flying down Wednesday and back on Thursday night. Between this site, a new one up near Longlac, ON and three new ones out west, it will be a busy year ahead.

Timing is Everything…

November 24, 2011
Work Posts

Unfortunately mine wasn’t so good this week. I managed to time my trip to Nova Scotia this week with their first snow storm of the season. We were able to land okay but the highway conditions from Halifax to Bridgewater were poor. Passed numerous vehicles and watched vehicles slide off the road into the ditch. Many areas of the province set snowfall records for the day. Halifax received 34 cm.

I was heading to Kejimkujik National Park, near Caledonia,NS , but only got as far as Bridgewater due to the storm.

By Thursday morning the storm had cleared out and the sun was shining. Kejimkujik got about 23 cm of snow on the ground. They were forecasting plus 10 deg C this weekend, so this will all disappear.