JULY 3

CAPE BRETON ISLAND- The Cabot Trail. WOW amazing scenery, extremely rugged country, Huge cliffs sensational deep valleys, most of the area we past look almost impenetrable.
The road snakes along the coast rising from sea level to over 1700 feet in a series of twist and turns and switchbacks then down the other side to the sea again and then begin again. Fortunately the road builders included plenty of pull off to enjoy the sights.
We stopped for lunch high on a grassy promenade with the Gulf of St. Lawrence on one side and a two hundred year old cemetery on the other side. This area was settled in the 1700's mostly by the Scottish and many of them are buried here.
We were told we could see whales in the gulf and moose along the road but we saw neither today
The Cape Breton Highlands National Park covers nearly a third of the highlands area and it is a magnet for hikers and cyclists. We past dozens of cyclists, some in groups and some singles, all were having a difficult time in getting up those hills. The interior of the park is accessible only on foot and at all the trail heads there were lots of cars left while the hardy souls have gone inland. At the north end of the park we took a side trip up a very bumpy half paved, half gravel road to the village of Meat Cove, population about 50, It is the end of the road, the most northerly point of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia, here you can see the waves from the Atlantic meet the waters from the Gulf.
Turning and heading south, on the east side of the island we now have the Atlantic ocean on our left side and the hills and valley are just as spectacular. The temperature here is noticeably cooler than the gulf.
We stopped at a spot where John Cabot set foot in June of 1497 and claimed the land for England. Along the coast highway we came to a spot where the highway stopped, you drove onto a ferry and it took you across a river about 500 feet (for $5) then to drove on down the road. We ended the day back in Sydney.