Days 73 - 74 : Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia

We left Halifax and drove a couple of hours to the northern part of mainland Nova Scotia. We camped that night before crossing over to Cape Breton Island.

Right after I took this picture (it looks kinda stretched, doesn't it?), I tried to leave the camera on the chair. Fortunately, Greg realized the camera was missing the next morning and we found it. That woulda been bad. We already had to replace one camera this trip!

 The lady at the Visitor's Center told us about a ferry on Cape Breton that would be fun. She didn't say that the ferry went about 50 feet (or 100 yards - Greg). Seriously, you see that land on the other side of the water? That's where the ferry took us. 

 Cape Breton Highlands National Park is absolutely gorgeous.  

Our first hike took us along the northeast shoreline....

 Super green, long, lush meadows....

 ending in rocky cliffs looking out on the Atlantic.

 In typical Canadian National Park fashion, they are not shy about bringing you down with reality...

 Puffins!

 After our hike, we grabbed our bikes (helmets included), and rode down to what was supposed to be an old gold mine. 

 It turned out to be an old disappointment mine.

 No, not even a mine. Just some stone barracks-looking things. No signs to explain anything, no history, no nothing. Hmmmmm.

 That didn't keep Greg down for long.

 Back to the dramatic shoreline. Like the rest of the eastern seaboard, this area was formed by glaciers. 

 Driftwood beach! Cool.

 Fun with shadows!

 Back at camp, Kipper practices his Jedi mind tricks..."ball you will throw"....

 ...and Greg gets creative with Super Glue.
Why would the air line fitting for the rear air shocks on LeTigre be made of plastic?

 Jedi mind exercises can be tiring.

 The next day, we did a few more very short hikes. 

 And saw some more very pretty scenery. Every turn revealed another breathtaking view. It was hard to put down the camera.

 Fortunately, everything in eastern Canada is bilingual...french and english, side by side.

There's a lot of Scottish influence in Nova Scotia (duh).  This is a shieling, a stone shelter used in Scotland to shelter crofters (tenant farmers) and their livestock.

Good night, Cape Breton! Thank you for sharing your gorgeousness with us!


Next: Prince Edward Island