We stopped in Cheticamp, stopping in at the church both to have a look inside as well as to use the bathrooms.
We also stopped there for lunch, where Calin and Susanne had a lobster each, and I had a giant snow crab, on the first day of the season (see the plate in the foreground).
From there we continued onward, into Cape Breton Highland National Park, and on toward Pleasant Bay.
I had called ahead and reserved us some spots on a whale watching tour out of Pleasant Bay. The weather couldn't have been nicer, as even out on the water it was warm enough to be wearing shorts and short sleeves, and the sun was just brilliant.
We had some pretty good luck with the whales as well, seeing a large Minke whale soon after leaving the harbour, and after that dozens of pilot whales, surrounding the zodiac and frolicking with each other.
Here you can see me enjoying the sunshine (wearing my glasses, for better wildlife-spotting capabilities), and Gilles, our charming Acadian fisherman-turned-tour guide.
Here you can see lots of dorsal fins, right next to us...
And here was a seal, out sunning himself on a rock.
There were also some lovely rock formations along the shore. We went in close to this beach, because the tour before us had seen a bear cub walking along the shore. Alas, we were not so lucky.
We also went into a little cave, where the water was just filled with big purple jellyfish (you can see them here a little)...
There were lots of interesting sea birds as well, particularly the Northern Gannett, which had a really distinctive bright yellow head and bright blue eyes. They'd circle way up above the water and then dive in after fish. Gilles said that they actually dislocate their wings before hitting the water, as otherwise they'd break with the speed of the impact, and that some percentage of young die every year because they hadn't mastered the trick yet. The flocks of birds also made it easy to find the whales, as they were feeding on the same schools of fish, and sometimes on the scraps left behind.
All in all, we were more than satisfied with our tour!
Finally, to give you some idea of how great it was and how happy we all were, here's a short video that Susanne took on the ship. At about 2 minutes in we completely got sprayed by the spray from one of the whales, leaving us all with a fine sheen of whale snot as a souvenir. (No complaints from us!)And then we were back in at the harbour, and ready to continue our drive.
We never did manage to see any moose while on Cape Breton, though we did see lots of signs warning us about them. Jeremi and I did see one moose while driving across the Renous Pass on our way from Vanessa's wedding to New Brunswick at around midnight, before Calin and Susanne arrived, and it was a little scary - it was in the middle of the road of course. While I was hoping Calin and Susanne would get to see a moose, at least we didn't meet one in that most unfortunate of ways.
While we had originally thought of camping along the way, and had all the supplies with us, I was coughing like crazy while suffering from a summer cold (damn you, summer colds!), and we thought it might be best that I sleep somewhere warm and dry, rather than getting pneumonia the week before the wedding. And so we drove onward to Baddeck, where we knew we'd find hotels at least.
We opted to take the ferry across from Jersey Cove to Englishtown, as it saves a bit of driving, but we hadn't counted on the wait for the ferry. Still, it was a lovely evening, and it was quite pleasant to wait on the peninsula with water on either side and sea birds all around as dusk settled.
Finally we made it onto the little ferry, just as the sun was setting.
The guy collecting the tickets was incredibly friendly (okay, normal for Cape Breton), and stopped to play with the dogs in the back of the truck in front of us. Calin and Susanne were also impressed that well over half the vehicles on the ferry were pick-up trucks - as tourists we were definitely in the minority still at this point in the season.
And so we made it to Baddeck, and were able to get a room at the Telegraph Hotel, where I'd stayed with my parents one time that we were there. Here Calin is testing the (very comfortable) beds, before we headed out to find something to eat.
I was worried that we might be too late to get anything as it was after 10:00 by then, but we managed to get some delicious pizza and calzones at the yellow cello, as well as some casual live music.
Here, amidst the threatening morning clouds the next day, you can see the Telegraph Hotel in daylight.
Though the next morning did not bring more beautiful sunny weather, we didn't mind the rain so much as our only plans were to drive back to Halifax, and help get ready for the bachelor/ette party (in my case) or meet up with an old friend from Denmark who is now working at Dalhousie (in Susanne's case).
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