Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Day 54 & 55 – Visit & Boat trip with Chris Hynes and family, Sydney, Nova Scotia

On day 54 we took our trailer in for repairs on our fridge again: this time to get it working once more on propane, and on our 12volt system which seemed to have given up just days before as well. We took our trailer to the same shop as where we got it and our car serviced earlier on our way headed towards Newfoundland.
While our trailer was in for repair we had a lovely visit in Sydney with Chris Hynes, Kent’s friend, with Richard (Chris’dad) and with Aimee (Chris’ sister). We chatted for quite some time and got lots of suggestions as to what we should see in the Sydney area and on the Cabot Trail.
We were also offered a boat trip on their 28.5 foot cabin cruiser the next day on Little Bras D’Or Lake which was a wonderful opportunity that we would have been foolish to refuse. With this planned for the next day we left to pick up our trailer and set up camp for the next few days.

Day 55 – The boat trip.
Chris called us early in the morning (actually Leo was still in bed) and we arranged for them to pick up us at 9:30 am at ‘gasoline alley’. Once we got to the boat, Richard was waiting for us to jump aboard and show us Bras D’Or Lake.
We fully enjoyed the boat ride and got to see lots of beautiful places along the lake. On the way back we stopped at a small inlet so Chris, Aimee and Gavin (Chris’ son) could have a swim. Gavin was fully outfitted with a life jacket which kept him nicely buoyant, so he showed no fear of the water at all and gamely dove in time after time from the boat, frequently challenging his dad and aunt to join him. The weather was outstanding, with full sunshine the order of the day, which was such a pleasant change from what we had encountered in Newfoundland. After this we went back to the dock, ‘packed-up’ the boat, and headed back to our trailer. Our hosts went on their way home. They had shown us some wonderful Cape Breton hospitality which we will remember long and fondly.

Leo captured some of the events of our boat trip and they can be found here.

Day 53 - August 22, 2008. Ferry trip to Nova Scotia

Our sailing was at 11 o’clock this morning and we left on time, but to our surprise this sailing took longer than our previous one: 7 hours instead of the 5.5 hrs we thought it would take. The ferry we had this time, the Leif Erikson, was different from the Caribou that had brought us to the island: a bit smaller, and thus not as fast either. Another factor was that she had to work against a head wind and oncoming waves. The sailing was fairly smooth but really windy. Thus did our trip to this wonderful island come to an end. But Newfoundland, save us a spot! We will be back!!!
We had no problems finding a campsite once we got to sunny Nova Scotia though, at a tour company from where daily boat trips are made to some bird islands in the Atlantic to view puffins (the so-called “parrots of the Atlantic”), eagles and seals.
Leo did get a chance to take some last pictures of Newfoundland as we left Port Aux Basques and they can be found here.