Cape Breton, Novia Scotia

We decided to take a driving tour of the Cape Breton Island and the much heard about Cape Breton Highland Park. Cape Breton Island lies off the northeastern coast of Nova Scotia and can be accessed by a short causeway that was built in 1955. Prior to this, it could only be accessed by ferry. The island is divided into different driving routes but the most famous is the Cabot Trail. This trail (or road) follows the western shore of the island, continues north around the Highland National Park, and goes down the eastern shore of Cape Breton. It took us 6 hours to make the drive. We saw beautiful valleys with apple trees right along side the road, windswept rolling hills and beaches, bogs, and high 1,000 foot cliffs above the ocean. We stopped at a small town that is inhabited by Acadians and had Acadian meat pie (pie crust filled with shredded pork and chicken), mussels, and a lobster salad. We listened to the unique style of Acadian fiddle playing while eating our lunch on the water.

As the photo shows, we had rain off and on, but driving was easy because there were very few cars on the road (and this is the height of the season here). We were told that this is a very popular drive so we were anticipating a lot of traffic. We were not sure if it was the rain or the gas prices that account for the small crowds.

We have been seeing beware of moose signs all throughout the maritime provinces and we finally saw a moose on the side of the road. We were certainly more interested in her, than she was with us.