A few sights ......

Our Location: Waterfront Park, Louisbourg, NS

We’ve had more rain, more cold and of course more wind. The cold was very cold, we ran a heater for a few hours. We were down in the low digits, a temp of 42F/5C was the order of the a couple of days. A nice sunny day here and there but the cold winds no matter how well bundled you are seem to be the culprit. Grandfather called them a lazy wind because they are to lazy to go around you so they go right through you.

 

A house in Sydney.

 

We journeyed into North Sydney for a couple of reasons, one was laundry, we were all in need. We found only two laundromats, and used the second as it the best of the two choices. Vogue Cleaners on Prince Street was the lucky winner. All top loaders with small drums, not meant for large loads, small dryers as well. It cost us $30 to do laundry instead of our regular $16- 20. Not the cleanest place we’ve done laundry but at least we got our clothes washed, dried and folded. Two very small folding tables that wouldn’t take a towel fully laid out didn’t add any ease to doing the laundry. However, we managed and moved on. Our next stop was to find a garbage dumpster, which we didn’t find. We also had some donation clothes to drop in a box which we didn’t find either. A propane tank to be filled was also on the list, which didn’t get accomplished. We did manage to find the NFL ferry terminal and make inquires as to time, luggage, etc for walk on passengers. Friendly fellow behind the desk was helpful and a bit of a joker as well.

 

Some interesting colours.

 

Leaving the ferry terminal we went in search of a Chinese Buffet. Do you know the city/town of Sydney, Nova Scotia has no such thing. Even though they are listed as Buffet there were none to be found. We opted to head home as the two main things on our list was completed. The rain and wind made any other outings a bad idea and so we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out.

 

I was surprised to see the flat top house.

 

Friday dawned over cast with some wind gusts making themselves known. We were all up and mobile by 8 am with sister Jan making sure she had everything she needed for her few days in Newfoundland with her daughter Brittany and son in law Kevin. Around 9 am we headed out to the ferry terminal in North Sydney with a stop to get a couple little things for sister dearest. A few drops of rain greeted us once again as pulled into the Ferry Terminal but soon the sun broke through and the day became quite nice except of course for the cold wind. We dropped sister off at the Walk On Passenger terminal shortly after 10 am, gave hugs and said our goodbyes as she heads off on an adventure without us. The ride should be about 5-6 hours to Porte Aux Basque, NFL where her family will meet her, they apparently live just 2 minutes walking time from the dock. The sailing time was set for 11:45 am, and it left on time. Riley and I set off to see Sydney.

 

One of the many ferries at the Ferry Terminal in North Sydney.

 

We managed to fill the Dog Sled’s bowl with fuel at $1.29 per litre, where we chatted with a nice young fellow from Montreal who moved to Nova Scotia for the weather. Not sure that was a good move but oh well. Next we drove by a number of little parks but they had no parking available so we didn’t stop. We found a clothing donation box and managed to make a deposit. Next we decided we’d had enough of Sydney and headed home toward Louisbourg stopping on the way to get a big tank filled with propane and the nice fellow told us we could drop our garage in their garbage shed. He also gave us some tips on our future travels along the Cabot Trail. How sweet is that?

 

The Atlantic Ferry Terminal.

 

Now with all the errands complete we were home around 2 pm. The sun was out, the fellows were working on the dock and there was of course regular small town noises. We’ve found it very quiet here at nights. Tonight will be our last night and today our day to actually tour here in town. We’ve been too busy to do it before except a drive through on our arrival.

 

A little parkette in North Sydney with no where to park a car.

 

The town of Louisbourg is very quaint, small town fishing village with it’s the typical atmosphere. The houses are close to the street, packed tightly together, lots of churches every where, lobster traps and crab pots line the docks and old lobster traps seem to be the main decorating tool here on the coast. Louisbourg is very clean, very neat, well maintained, inviting. There is a Fort here that we will be touring today, a train station also calls us, and we will be driving out around the point to Lighthouse Point as well. I think after that we will have seen what we wanted to see and be ready to move on. I would definitely stay here again for a short time but I’m not sure there would be much reason to return after this trip. Sydney is a disappointment. I realize we are here during a late spring that is mostly over cast but Sydney is what I would call a pretty rough place. Parts of it I’m sure are lovely but we didn’t see many of those parts. Most of the city/town is grungy, dirty looking, and while not littered with debris it gives the feeling of grime. Plenty of greenery and some flowers but they don’t seem able to cut through the dingy appearance. People are friendly but not overly. There are no public places to put garbage such as a parkette or town centre, we noted very few garbage cans on the streets. Even with all the rain we’ve experienced there is just some grunge that does not wash off. Sydney is more of a run down seaport than a thriving town. If not for the ferry terminal I’m not really sure why one would go to Sydney. No offense to anyone.

 

A residential street in Sydney.

 

These of course are just my own opinions although both Jan and Riley have echoed these thoughts. The views are lovely, the sights are of course very interesting to us, as we’re not used to seeing vast stretches of this kind of coast line. The colourful boats, houses and building are eye catching and remind me of the Caribbean Sea area where bright primary colours are abundant. The thing that catches me the most is the blue of the water. It’s not a colour I can describe but it’s breath taking as it changes hues before your eyes. Inland we are reminded of Ontario a great deal. An interesting trip for certain.

 

All of the fishing boats have gone out, just a sail boat left here in Louisbourg at the docks by the Igloo.

 

Sister will return on Wednesday and we will once again begin travelling with everything depending on the weather.  We will just have to wait and see what comes along. Riley and I will be doing the couple small tours today and pulling out tomorrow heading further north and closer to the Cabot Trail. I’m not convinced we’ll do the whole trail, perhaps just half but again we’ll see how things go when we get started.

 

We are parked just out of the picture on the right.

 

Hope you’ve enjoyed your visit. Thanks for stopping by.

 

A house up the hill from our parking spot.

 

Until next time ….. take care, be safe,


Deb

Reaching Cape Breton Island......

Our Location: Waterfront Park, Louisbourg, NS

 We left Shediac’s Camping Parasol on Tuesday morning around 9 am or so heading out for what we thought would be short distance. As you know things change easily in this lifestyle and so it was to be that our short day turned into a bit longer one.

Some of the views in the past couple of days.

Loved this view off in the distance.

We crossed into Nova Scotia before 10 am and stopped at the Welcome Centre. Leaving New Brunswick behind us for a short time. The welcome centre is on a hill overlooking a vast area of green. A lighthouse and what will be wonderful flowers grace their grounds, which are well manicured and very wind swept. The wind was cold with a bitter bite to it and we had to bundle up to be outside for any length of time. The information centre was extremely well manned and they answered all of our questions including supplying us with a NS map. We headed out once again. The only problem was we followed the GPS directions which had us back on the highway going the wrong way, taking us back to New Brunswick with no where to turn around until we’d already been on the highway for a few miles. Luckily for us we managed to take the first exit and get turned around again and back on the right track. It was right about this time that Jan's daughter Britt asked her mom if she could make it to the ferry by Friday as Britt's hubby Kevin will be off work for a few days. Thus our plans changed from getting to the ferry some time in the early up coming week to the end of this week. Our plans changed.

Water on the sides of the roadway.

 

These types of views just go on and on.

The weather while sunny and cool was indeed warming up and we enjoyed the bright greens and other splashes of colorful houses as we sprinted past. The rolling hills giving us unique and spectacular views at each rise and allowing us to look down into the valleys which were steep and plentiful. The roads are pretty good here, a few pot holes but not bad over all. The sky fills with soft white fluffy clouds and brilliant blue to make a very wonderful day. We stop numerous times when we could find places to pull off and enjoy the breaks as we go. We arrived in New Glasgow at the Walmart there around 3 pm and settled in for the night. We called Dad, had lunch, did some shopping and then wandered across to the mall just across the way. We walked the entire mall, browsing in numerous shops but not buying much of any thing. The night warmed up as it went along but then the wind picked up enough to rattle the TV antenna where it lay on the roof. That’s never happened before. I spent a restless night but the other two slept fine.

First stop in Nova Scotia.

Very scenic but windy, see the flags?

Morning dawned to blue skies once again dotted with fluffy white clouds high over head. The winds had died down quite a bit but we could still feel them as they blew cold enough to make us zipper our sweaters and jackets. We were one of 5 rigs in the parking lot over night. A quick stop and shop at the MacDonald’s netted us our morning drinks, and a quick stop at Walmart for some drinking water which we forgot last night. Then we were once again on the road by about 9 am. The tail wind helped us to roll along at a good clip and what a pleasant surprise to find some fuel to fill the Big Dog’s bowl priced at a wonderfully reasonable $1.22. I filled up the tank for less than $100. I was happy. Onward we rolled, stopping here and there where we could find a place. We crossed over into Cape Breton  via the Canso Causeway and stopped once again at another information centre. We managed to ask a few more questions, get a few more answers and some helpful brochures as well. Once again we were back in the Big Dog and heading north east toward Sydney but turning off on Highway 4 toward the little spot of Louisbourg. We found the town easily enough but couldn’t find the little park we were looking for, a stop at the information booth had us looking out the window and seeing it there behind us. It’s an old RV park that the county has taken over and it’s just sitting here with no one using it. I’ve asked a couple of people and no one has told us no, many have said, others park there so go for it, and so we’re here for a few days. I’ve read that the sewer and electric work in the middle row (which is where we are parked) but I don’t plan on using either of them. We just want to park for a few days until we put Jan on the NFL ferry and then Riley and I will be move elsewhere for a few days until it’s time to pick her up again. After that we’ll be heading out to do the Cabot Trail and other unknown locations. 

Hilly but pretty.

It's very green but in varying shades.

We arrived here in the unnamed park, set up and called Dad by about 3:30 pm. Jan and I walked a number of blocks in town looking for some postcards for her before heading back to the Igloo and finishing up lunch. After that we all did a bit of reading and looking out the door as the trawlers were coming in to dock. About 7:30 pm we all took a walk out along the shore looking at the boats and sights before heading back to Main Street and finding a post box for postcards. From there we headed on down the street to the local Ice Cream shop where we all indulged in cone. We walked back home along the water front and returned to the Igloo by shortly after 8 pm. The wind has died down, the temps are cool but we still enjoyed the walk. Tomorrow we have plans to hit Sydney with laundry, going out for lunch and to find the ferry terminal so we know where we are going on Friday. 

The Canso Causeway.

The causeway ends on the other side of the bridge.

So there you have it, our past couple of days here in Nova Scotia. Hope you enjoy the visit. I'll show the harbour pictures when I do the next post.

Nothing like a nice view.

Until next time… take care, be safe, 

We will be going this way at a later date.

Deb