Posted by Seth on August 5, 2011 under Hotel, Review, Trip Reports | 
At this point I think I’ve probably written about all that I can regarding our four days in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. It is simply some of the most beautiful scenery out there. But I’ve got a few (dozens, really, but I won’t go there) photos left over that I haven’t worked into any other posts yet so I’m sharing them here. Enjoy.
These last two were taken from the beach area outside our room at the Glenghorn Beach Resort, our last hotel in the area. I’m not entirely sure what qualifies it as a resort but it was relatively cheap and in a good location for what we were doing. Other than that and these views, however, not a ton to recommend it.
The first is of the sea shortly before sunset, exposed for 0.8 seconds to provide that soft feel.
This one is a 30 second view straight up. The lack of light pollution does amazing things for viewing the stars. The red dot traveling towards the upper right corner is an airplane passing overhead.
Posted by Seth on August 3, 2011 under Flying, Trip Reports |
It seems that about once a year or so a news piece comes across the wire about a passenger who books a flight to Sydney and ends up in Sydney, only to find out that it is not at all what they expected. Rather than arriving in Sydney, Australia they find themselves in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Quite a difference there.
As part of our Canadian Maritimes adventure I purposefully booked an open-jaw award ticket. This was partly to ensure that we got to see as much of the area as possible without needing to double back with the rental car when it was time to leave. Just as much, however, it was to be able to fly out of Sydney. On purpose.
The flight was completely uneventful. Nothing special at all. Well, except that a woman in the row behind us was on her first flight ever and it was on a DASH-8 prop that took just about every bump along the way and transmitted it right into the passenger cabin. There were a few yelps at those points.
Soon enough we were in Halifax and ready to connect to our onward flight back to Newark. Not nearly as entertaining as the flight from the "other" Sydney.
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Posted by Seth on July 30, 2011 under Dining, Review, Trip Reports |
Our journey through the Canadian Maritime provinces was yet another in the long list of trips where I truly wish I could eat more. The food was delicious at every turn. One particularly difficult choice we faced was lunch on our last day in the area. We had just finished up our kayaking trip so we had definitely earned a good meal. Alas, there are two restaurants in Neil’s Harbor to choose from and we had only one meal to eat.
We ended up at Sea Breeze, supposedly sacrificing the view slightly for a better seafood chowder. After lunch we walked out to the lighthouse and saw the other restaurant and I cannot believe that the view there was sufficiently better to justify giving up anything on quality of food, mostly because the food at Sea Breeze was delicious and the view didn’t particularly suck.
The restaurant only operates seasonally and doesn’t appear to have changed much over the seasons. The full menu is on display but there’s always a chance that something isn’t available if the seafood isn’t fresh. No crab, for example, when we visited. There are specials, too, adding to the choices. In our case this meant more lobster options, keeping our streak of lobster every day during the trip alive.
Dine inside or out; either way the view is divine, as is the food. The photo above shows the steamed mussels, chowder and lobster burger that I had for lunch.
The Sea Breeze is only open in the summers and is located just off the Cabot Trail.
Posted by Seth on July 29, 2011 under Trip Reports |
There is, without a doubt, a reason that the Skyline Trail in Cape Breton National Park is considered the go to trail when visitors have a limited amount of time to experience the park. Sure, choosing a favorite trail is sortof like choosing your favorite child. They’re all wonderful in their own way and picking just one doesn’t really make a ton of sense. Still, the Skyline Trail generally gets quite high marks and of the trails we hiked it is definitely my favorite.
The Skyline Trail is a rather easy hike across mostly level ground on well groomed gravel trails and boardwalks. The round trip from the parking lot takes 2-3 hours to do the loop, depending on how often you stop to take photos and admire the scenery. Needless to say, our version was a bit on the longer side thanks to my stopping all too often.
At the end of the trail the boardwalk descends out to a point from which the views are simply unbelievable. Full panoramas of the ocean in front and the mountains behind, The boardwalk also serves to protect the area as it is a quite delicate ecosystem that experienced significant erosion prior to the construction of the pathway. And the benches provide great spots to rest, relax and picnic if you’ve remembered to bring food with you (ours was fried chicken and it was delicious!).
There is also an "advanced" version of the trail where part of the loop is less well groomed and less level. No gravel or boardwalks in this area but it is still quite a reasonable track and not particularly strenuous. It also adds a different set of flora and difference vistas to the hike and I highly recommend it.
Oh, and bring your windbreaker. The point juts out into the water in an area where the trade winds meet each other, creating an area where the breeze is more like a gale. You can see this in some of the segments of the video.
Words don’t really do justice to the beauty that is the Skyline Trail. Even the photos and video only show a small chunk of just how beautiful the area is. It certainly isn’t just this one hike that makes the Cabot Trail area a UNESCO World Heritage Site (my 46th visited!) but it doesn’t hurt the cause either.
Posted by Seth on July 28, 2011 under Trip Reports |
Cape Breton is certainly not lacking for incredible beach areas. Both inside the park and out there are many options, all of which are likely to please. Situated at the junction of the old coastal road and the new Cape Breton Trail is the small town of Neil’s Harbor. Just outside the border of the park the beach at Neil’s Harbor offers up some great views, along with a couple dining options and a cute – though small – active harbor and lighthouse worth walking around.
The day we were there the sky happened to have some pretty awesome clouds overhead which made for dramatic photos, though not necessarily sun tanning weather.
A visit to Neil’s Harbor is quite unlikely to be a life-changing experience. Still, it is a pretty place to take a break during a journey through Cape Breton.
Posted by Seth on July 27, 2011 under Trip Reports |
One of the most enjoyable things about Cape Breton National Park in Nova Scotia is that there are a wide variety of hiking options available. Some trails are many miles and hours long while others can be done in a few minutes from the nearest parking lot. Mary Ann Falls certainly fits in the latter category, making it a great place to visit quickly after hitting up some of the other, more significant bits of the park (or other activities in the region). Oh, and you can go cliff jumping there, too.
The falls are accessible via a dirt road that runs several kilometers up into the park off the main Cape Breton Trail. From the parking area it is only a 10-15 minute walk down to the foot of the falls. The pool at the bottom is swimmable, assuming you can get over the chilly water temperatures. And from the edge of the rock formation one can make a leap into the pool. It isn’t quite so elegant as to be considered proper cliff diving, but it is definitely possible.
After our morning spent kayaking out of Dingwall we had a delicious lunch in Neil’s Harbor before making the drive up to the falls. When we got to the pool we saw some other folks making what appeared to be rather ridiculous leaps into the water.
As ridiculous as the jumps may have appeared, the folks making them survived repeatedly, suggesting that it was probably safe. Before I knew what was happening Linnea had climbed up and was leaping off. After watching her survive the jump I set up my camera and headed over to perform my own jump into the water. Needless to say, it is not the most elegant of moves I’ve ever made. Still, I didn’t flop nor did I injure myself, so I’ll take it.
Easy to get to and lots of fun once you’re there. What more can you ask for??
Posted by Seth on July 20, 2011 under Trip Reports |
Perhaps the absolute best way to experience waterfront scenery is from the comfort of a kayak. You cannot beat it for the ability to get up close to things you want to see, so long as you’re willing to invest the energy for paddling. And there is something incredibly peaceful and serene about being so close to nature. The morning of our last full day in Cape Breton was spent out on the water and it was simply phenomenal.
Our tour was arranged with Eagle North Kayaking, based just outside of Dingwall, Nova Scotia. They have several different option available, depending on demand. Unfortunately we were the only pair interested in a full day tour so that wasn’t on offer; we settled for the half day option. Thanks to our previous kayaking experiences in Alaska and Norway we were ready to go when we got to the facility and before long we were on the water and enjoying nature up close and personal.
An hour or so into the trip we took a snack break on the shore of a desolate beach, just south of the end of the island. Looking north we could see where the Cape ends and the Atlantic Ocean begins. It was pretty awesome.
After that was some open water paddling. No longer protected by the cove things got a bit bumpier on the water, but nothing particularly rough. We were paddling through a seat of lobster trap floats, dreaming of the tasty deliciousness below when we happened upon one of the fishermen, out harvesting the daily catch.
The last segment of the trip was also the roughest. We no longer were in the bay and we no longer had the benefit of the cliffs blocking the wind. It got nasty in a hurry. Needless to say, I put the cameras away as we paddled through the white caps. That section definitely required the most effort, but it was also the most fun, with the cool sea spray splashing up into our faces and actually needing to work a bit to make progress through the waves.
Alas, the three hour tour ended much too quickly (and after only about 90 minutes of paddling). We were back on shore and then in the van riding back to the shop. This portion of the adventure ended much too quickly.
Read more of our Maritimes adventures here!
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Posted by Seth on July 17, 2011 under Trip Reports |
There was brief mention of some excellent hiking trails near Mabou, Nova Scotia in our guide book. Given the other benefits of staying there – namely a couple hotel options and some awesome live music options – the hiking was something of an afterthought. But the guidebook said it was there and not really a problem so we took a chance on that.
When I started searching online for more details and was coming up rather empty I should’ve taken that as a bit of a warning that maybe the hiking wasn’t really all the guide book had led me to believe, but I’m foolish like that and I pressed on. After all, with a recommendation like this, one of the few references I could find, why wouldn’t you try?
The community has constructed an excellent trail system throughout the Mabou Highlands (there is a map of the trail network at the trailhead). Several of the trails follow the coastline and up along the highlands, affording spectacular views.
Maybe the directions to the trail head should’ve tipped me off. They involve heading 4-5km down a road until you come across a dirt road on the right and then taking that for several more kilometers until you get to the small parking area that represents the trail head. Really it was the part that they weren’t particularly specific that I found disconcerting, but a good hiking trail should be out of the way, I figured, so these instructions weren’t all that bad, right?
And it turns out that the hiking was mostly all that. The views were phenomenal once the fog lifted, which was pretty much as we were finishing the hike and well after we had made it back down from the look-outs. But what we didn’t realize until we finished our day of hiking is that the trails are all closed.
Whoopsie.
The trail head closest to town where we parked had the maps and the markers on display but not the notice that the trails were closed. Only when we made it to the other end of the trail was there any indication that we probably shouldn’t have been there.
Okay, maybe there was one other indication. The "excellent trail system" was barely maintained, showing no signs of any recent management activity. There were points where it came quite close to petering out and even where the trail was rather obviously marked it was also rather overgrown with underbrush. It was most certainly not easy hiking, though it also wasn’t too strenuous. Just a bit hard to stay on track at times.
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| Yes, that’s the trail in the middle. A machete might’ve been useful. |
The views are, to be certain, spectacular. Even with the limited visibility we got to see some stunning vistas. And, except for the part where I slipped off part of the trail and bruised and scraped myself up pretty good, the paths were passable, though not immaculately groomed. Of course, that makes a bit of sense given that the trails are closed.
We weren’t the only folks who made the mistake of hiking the closed trails. In log books scattered along the paths we noticed a few other folks who had been out there recently, enjoying the Mabou Highlands trail network. A few of them had comments similar to ours, "We didn’t know the trails were closed."
The views definitely made the hike worthwhile. That the trail system is apparently closed makes it a bit hard to recommend it as a destination. Hopefully it’ll be open (officially) again soon.
Read more of our Maritimes adventures here!
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Posted by Seth on July 16, 2011 under Hotel, Review, Trip Reports |
Booking a hotel in a town of only 1,300 residents can be a challenge. Even in Mabou, Nova Scotia, Canada, where the economy is heavily dependent on tourism dollars, the choices are quite limited. There are basically three hotels, two restaurants, a grocery and a gas station, as well as some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll ever see. Still, with limited choices or competition chances of finding a stand-out hotel are pretty low. It turns out we got lucky with our stay at the Mabou River Inn. It was top notch.
The hotel doubles as the local pizza shop (so I guess three restaurants in town, not two) and check-in was handled at the pizza counter. OK, a bit interesting, but I’ve had worse. Like most of the other small properties we stayed at on this trip check-in was a matter of giving my name and being handed a key. No paperwork, credit card imprint or other formalities. I like that relaxed vibe. Certainly helps me stay in vacation mode.
The rooms are newly renovated for 2011 and they’re pretty darn impressive. Ours came with a desk and seating area, along with the king bed. As you can see from the photo below there was quite a bit of space available.
Similarly the bathroom was spacious and reasonably well appointed. No 300 thread count Egyptian cotton towels, to be sure, but good water pressure and sufficient space in there to hang out our stinky hiking clothes to air out. Not bad at all.
A continental breakfast in the morning is included in the room price (we paid ~$135/night), with cereals and fruits along with fresh homemade biscuits and muffins. Additional breakfast choices – eggs, pancakes, etc. – were also available at quite reasonable prices.
Free WiFi is included in the room rate as well. Even better is that the coverage reaches out onto the spacious deck and lawn they have. I love being able to relax outside with a cold beer and still get my blog posts written or research the next location on the travel itinerary. Very nicely done.
The other advantage that the Mabou River Inn has is the location. The "downtown" area of Mabou is not large by any stretch so only being a 10 minute walk to the other end of town might not seem like that amazing a feat. But at least one of the hotel options is much farther afield. After a night of drinking and music at the Red Shoe Inn I was not in much of a condition to be driving on narrow, winding roads with forest or sea on the sides. Definitely much better to be able to easily stumble back to the hotel room for a restful night’s sleep.
Plus, along the walk to and from the other side of town you get great views like this one:
Overall it is quite easy to see why spending a few nights in the Mabou area is a good idea if you’re touring Cape Breton. And if you’re in the area the Mabou River Inn is the best of the hotel properties available, especially with the recent renovations.
Read more of our Maritimes adventures here!
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Posted by Seth on July 12, 2011 under Trip Reports |
I was incredibly excited by the prospect of visiting the Joggins Fossil Cliffs on the edge of Nova Scotia‘s Bay of Fundy. The area has fossils that are 300 million years old, way earlier than the dinosaur era. And it has a pretty cool beach that you can hike on to go search out such fossils while hopefully avoiding the famous Fundy tides leaving you stranded on the each as they rise rapidly on the Bay.
We drove about two hours out of the way that fateful morning just to see the cliffs and the fossils. What me mostly saw was fog.
It was certainly beautiful in many ways, but it was definitely not what I expected from a visit to my 45th UNESCO World Heritage Site. Alas, time was short and our itinerary that day was quite long, so we saw what there was to see and got back on the road.
The visitors center at the park is pretty cool, though if you want to skip it there is another stairwell that provides access just a bit up the road (see this map) though I couldn’t really find the road when we went looking for it. Just pay the few bucks and enjoy the museum they offer, as well as some details about the tide schedules and, if your timing is correct, a guided tour down on the beach, showing you the fossils.
So, yeah, our trip to the Joggins Fossil Cliffs were mostly a bust. But I’m still convinced that it can be cook, assuming you get decent weather and give it more than 30 minutes for the visit.
Read more of our Maritimes adventures here!
Posted by Seth on July 8, 2011 under Trip Reports |
Given my penchant for picking different routes to get between cities it should not come as much of a surprise that I took full advantage of the opportunities presented to us during our Canadian Maritimes adventures. Driving the Confederation Bridge on the way in to Prince Edward Island was a blast. Taking the ferry to get off the island gave us both a different ride and also left us closer to our ultimate destination in Cape Breton. It was a no brainer. So cruise the Northumberland Straits we did, on the mv Confederation, one of the Northumberland Ferries ships sailing between Wood Islands, PEI and Caribou, Nova Scotia.
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We arrived at the terminal to a bit of a surprise: our reservation was apparently canceled. Only a minor bit of panic set in as I was fiddling with my email to find the confirmation details when the agent found a second reservation that was intact. Phew. It was now time to drive down into the belly of the beast.
Like most of the mornings we spent in the region, this one was fogged in pretty badly. Every 3-4 minutes the ships horn let off a long, loud blast warning any other boats in the area. It also startled everyone who was on the deck hoping the fog would clear for some decent views during the crossing.
The crossing was only about a hour long and the fog did clear about 45 minutes into the trip, leaving us with some phenomenal views for the arrival into Nova Scotia.
And then it was back down into the hold. Back into our car and back on the road again. We had another few hundred kilometers to cover, an awesome friend to meet and we needed to get to Mabou in time for dinner and some music. Just the first part of a very full day but a great ride, even with the fog. The views coming into Nova Scotia certainly set us up for what was to be five amazing days of scenery.
Read more of our Maritimes adventures here!
