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Published: August 30th 2011
Nova Scotia & the Cabot Trail
Hello all! - Aled here. Apologies for my laziness thus far, as this is my first blog entry. Anyway, i'm sure you'll forgive me. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that....
As last Beth left you, we had arrived at Quebec train station. After a little wait our "shuttle" arrived to take us to Charny station. This "shuttle" consisted of 4 or 5 taxis which we were assured were all going to where we wanted to - we really hoped so as, due to insufficient room, we were put into a seperate taxi to all our baggage. We arrived to find some good news and some bad news; our luggage was all safe and sound, but unfortunately the train was not only delayed, but also the station appeared infested with every child between 12-15 in Canada involved in some sort of irritating, shouting competition. It turned out they were infact some sort of YMCA camp exchange programme, and unfortunately were not only infesting the station but also took up the entire of the carriage that me and Beth were in.
As the train started at 11pm we (well mostly I)
went pretty much straight to sleep. The scenery was pretty amazing, mostly dense forest with the occasional meandering river and small sleepy town. I'd heard that New Brunswick was 85% forest before I went on the train, but didn't quite believe it until this journey! Overall the train wasn't to bad (apart from the kids) - we just mixed it up with reading, eating listening to music and sleeping (again, mostly me); between that lot the 19 hours wasn't to much like torture and we arrived in Halifax around 6pm. Our friend Kirsty from Quebec arrived looking a lot more refreshed than either of us (she had a private cabin for the train) and the three of us headed out to find our hostel. After signing in and freshening up we headed out for dinner. After 24 hours of cereal bars, apples and crisps we fancied a little more nutrition and headed out to find lobster, a food stuff which Nova Scotia is apparently famous for. We managed to find a place called Mcelvies, which had the motto - 'Delishes, fishes, dishes'.... I was sold. However, after we looked at the menu and realised how much lobster is we opted
for lobster rolls instead - even these lived up to the glory of the place's motto.
The next couple of days we explored Halifax. On first impression it was a pretty cool town; far more English than Quebec, and with plenty of pubs to show for it. It's a pretty cool town and one which is certainly lively at night. The hostel in Halifax was really good too with plenty going on and we met a number of interesting people over our short stay.
We woke up early on Tuesday to check out of the hostel and go and collect our car which we had from midday Tuesday through to Saturday. We arrived at Enterprise and picked up our litle Kia Rio and were ready to head off. At this point I would like to state; I have never owned my own car, last drove a year ago, have never driven abroad and have never driven an automatic - so it's fair to say I was a little nervous. Unfortunately the car rental place merges straight on to the busy overpass so it's safe to say there were a few shakey moments in the opening 10/15 minutes. As
well as this, I was pretty unsure what I was doing or exactly whos right of way it was at a fair few junctions. Despite this, we made it to the open road...... as far as Walmart; where we stopped to pick up food supplies for the next few days and ended up buying a note book (small laptop for you oldies)! Because ever hostel charges to use the computers but you can use the wifi for free and the notebook was only about $200 we though that this would be worthwhile. We got back on the road and started the long drive north.
By the time we hit Cape Breton Island the scenery had become very rugged and beautiful, with trees and mountains covering the land. About 45 minutes in to Cape Breton we arrived at our hostel - Bear On The Lake. We were greeted by a ridiculously friendly girl called Kat, and quickly made ourselves at home. The view was our across the Bras D'or lakes and backed into a forest. It was late afternoon at this point and after a day of driving I fancied stretching my legs so me and Beth went out for
a bit of a hike. The hike we attempted was VERY steep and as dusk was approaching we also had to fight our way (unsuccessfully) through the mosquitos, but despite all this, it was well worth it once we reached the first view point. It was a warm clear day and we could see miles across the lakes, islands and forest - it was truly spectacular! We returned to the hostel and mingled with the guests who were all incredibly friendly and from all over the world. We ended up spending the night chatting away and finished it with a game of Cluedo with a guy called Graeme and two girls; Claudia, Michelle who were all from Toronto - they were awesome. This was hands down the best hostel i've ever stayed at and it was awesome that we were coming back to it on the way back from the Cabot Trail.
The next morning we woke up early and headed out 30 kilometers to the start of a road called the Cabot Trail; this is basically a 300km scenic road along the East and West coasts of Cape Breton and through the national park. Admittedly when I was
back driving in the UK it was mostly along the A345 from Salisbury to Pewsey so I don't have much frame of reference, but i'm pretty sure this is the most beautiful road in the world. It winds its way up mountains, through forests, along lakes and seas and even hits the odd coastal town. After lunch in a small seaside diner in Pleasant Bay we headed to the start of another hike (I know, check us out). On the way we noticed that a number of the cars in front of us were pulling in to the side of the road so out of curiosity did the same, only to discover everyone that there was a moose there! I was very excited as I was worried I wouldn't manage to see a moose throughout our time in Canada. Once the excitement died down we did the Skyline Trail hike through a forest and out along a mountain peninsula, during which time we saw another four moose! (they were getting to be old news by this time). On our journey back to our Plesant Bay guest house we managed to catch a brief glimpse of a roadside coyote....... but still
no bear. We stayed in a guest house called 'Sea Shanty' that evening, calling it a night fairly early as we were tired from the hiking and driving.
The next day we got up early to go on a Zapcat whale watching tour in Cheticamp, which guaranteed whale sightings or your money back. The boat trip itself was awesome and we hammered it around the sea following tips from the other boat tours who were all communicating in an attempt to locate the elusive creatures. Two hours later we were well and truly soaked but were no closer to seeing any whales. The captain got wind that there were whales further round the coast, however, unfortunately we had ran out of time on our trip - so headed back to shore and received a full refund. It was frustrating not too see them, but a free two hour powerboat ride is a pretty damn good deal!
The rest of the day we spent circling around the remainder of the Cabot Trail, stopping for a hike out to a waterfall, an ice cream on the beach and a trip out to the outer northern peninsula. We returned to the
Bear on the Lake hostel that evening and met the new group of travellers who called this place home for the evening. After a big bbq meal round the table we headed outside for a bonfire and cooked marshmallows and a Canadian native food stuff called Bannock bread. We met a number of awesome people including two Canadian guys called Noam and Jeremy, who we arranged to meet up again with when we got back to Halifax. Around midnight we called it a night, with (yet another) long drive on the cards for the next day.
We woke up early as to continue our journey the entire way back down Nova Scotia, past Halifax to two towns on the South West coast; the first was an awesome little town called Peggy's Cove - this coastal village has a residential population of roughly 45 people and is famous for its striking lighthouse. It really was well worth the visit and in the fog the entire town had a kind of eerie feel to it. We drove along the coastal road through beautiful scenery to our hostel for the evening called Kip and Kaboodle in a place called Mahone Bay. We
dropped our bags off at the hostel and chatted to our new host, a Kiwi chap called Greg. We then headed on to the second place we wanted to visit, a beautiful coastal town called Lunenberg. It was recommended in my Canada guidebook as one of the 30 things to see in Canada, and did not disappoint. The town is full of charming multi-coloured clapboard houses strewn along the coast line. We spent the evening there, had dinner at a nice little restaurant and then headed back to the hostel.
The next day signalled the end of my illustrious driving career as I had to drive back to Halifax to return the car. Beth was on directional duties and managed to (mostly) direct me back worry free with 30 minutes to spare!
Anyway, to anyone who managed to read the entirety of this post, I salute you.
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chris evans
non-member comment
awesome
Just read your blog Aled--awesome. That Cabot Trail is definately on my Bucket List. Glad you met great people and hope all goes well when you enter the States and meet up with your friend. keep up these great blogs