15th
& 16th May 2016
Put to work on a
yacht !
It really was a
very wet night. At one point the puddles
around my car had all joined up and it was almost impossible to get out without
drowning ! I had the roof down (it was
too wet to put my fly-sheet up last night), and everything was in the car, so
it was quite a squash inside. However,
as so often happens in this part of the world, it was dry when I woke up,
although only about 5 deg C, but at least I was able to get my breakfast and
cup of tea and get packed up in the dry.
Even the puddles had drained away, and fortunately I was on gravel, so
it wasn’t too muddy.
I went over to
the Park Information centre to see if I could find anything more about the
honour payment system for camping that is used in many Nat Parks, but could see
nothing. I was just leaving when a guy
rolled up and started unlocking a door to the office, so I went over and asked,
and he said not to worry about it since they weren’t officially open yet. As usual we ended up chatting abut my trip,
and he was very interested to hear about it.
He also gave me a few tips for the Park, and warned me that a black bear
and two cubs were active around the camp site yesterday………
I then drove back
into Cheticamp to see if I could find Gavin, friend of my friend from S America
Robbie, who lives in Newfoundland and who I will be seeing next week. He wasn’t at the Boatyard, so I eventually
tried phoning him – It was a Sunday morning, after all, and he may have been
sleeping in !
Well – He wasn’t
! He was already down at his yacht and
applying hull antifouling paint – Not a fun job. But he said come on down, so I did, and
eventually found him in a different boatyard.
Gavin’s yacht is
a 45 ft Catamaran that he has had for 2 or 3 years now, and in which he is
about to set off around the world on adventures unknown !! IN fact, he leaves in 3 weeks, and is going
via Greenland, Iceland, Scotland and then down to Ireland where he will winter
. After that………??? He is going with his wife and 3 young
children, and they have just sold their house and are in the last stages of
preparation. He is hoping to get the
boat back in the water tomorrow, weather permitting, and from there he will sail
it home to Newfoundland where he lives, load up and take off. Exciting for him – I know just how he feels –
so many things still to do, and not enough time left !! But I am sure it will work out just fine,
Gavin !
After standing
around chatting for a while, it was obvious that Gavin needed to get on with
his jobs, while his dad Fred and friend Nils were busy helping as well. So what else could a man do but help someone
else prepare to follow his dreams ?!! So I rolled up my sleeves (hypothetically
– It was far too cold to roll them up really !), and was given sheets of sand
paper and set to preparing the stripes down the side of the boat for
painting. We chatted as we worked, and
it was most enjoyable – Especially when Gavin said it was time for lunch and we
took off into a nearby restaurant for a quick lunch – Fish, what else in a
seafood town like this ?
It was then back
to work, and, helped by a couple of beers, we finally finished up at about 7 pm
! Hopefully all ready to put Water Dog
in the water tomorrow.
During the day we
had bought some prawns, and also met a local man who promised to bring over
some of the local snow crabs for supper. This chap Ray owns some of the crab
boats that are everywhere here, currently in the middle of their short 3 month
season. Apparently the boats bring in
25,000 lbs (over 11,000 kg) every second day during the season !
Anyway, we went
over to Gavin and Fred’s rented lodge and on the way passed a big old moose
standing in the bushes beside the road – My first moose of the year ! I then provided some of my favourite Chilean
red wine from my cellar, and we waited on the crabs – Which eventually did not
turn up, so we just had the very good prawns superbly cooked by Gavin, and
pigged out while chatting about life and adventures and other such important
things. I then left Gavin and Fred to
their beds, and went to bed in Troopie parked out in the drive way. It was pouring with rain, and very windy –
Not a good omen for putting Gavin’s yacht in the water tomorrow.
As usual in
Troopie, I slept like a log, despite the wind blowing and the rain pouring
down. At about 7 am Gavin sent me a text
telling me they were up and the kettle was on.
I went inside, had a shower, and soon we were ready to hit the
road. Unfortunately Gavin was certain
that it was too windy to put Water Dog in the water this morning, so I decided
to continue my journey north. But first I detoured via the bakery and got some
fresh do-nuts to go with the coffee on a cold morning. And then I said my
farewells and set off. If they can get
the yacht in the water, there is a good chance I will see them again in
Newfoundland.
I drove out past
(yet another) enormous Catholic Church in town, that must be able to seat the
entire population of the town in the first 10 pews, and just on the outskirts
of town I passed on of those amazing signs that put a smile on your face – And
are supposed to, I suggest. “Proud to
be Hookers”, the sign said. Yes,
well……….. And what the 3 men are doing
as they stand against the railing in the sign in front of the shop, I dread to
think !
Right outside
town the Cape Breton Highlands National Park starts, and immediately the road
starts to climb past rocky outcrops, and then straight afterwards you come out
onto the coastline and the road winds along beside the ocean as we drive up the
north west side of Nova Scotia. Crab boats are busy right off the cliffs, and
then we get held up for a while by road works where they are blasting the side
of a mountain away to make the road better. (I was told by the park ranger
yesterday that after many years of spending no money on the roads in the Park,
suddenly funds have been released and now there is road works everywhere ! The
wonder of Government,)
We then climbed
up again onto a plateau as we crossed east across the top of the peninsula –
Only 500 metres high, but very different scenery – Somewhat reminiscent of
British Columbia of Alaska, and there are even frequent moose signs, although I
saw no more today. Some 45 minutes later
I dropped down to the ocean again but this time on the eastern side of the peninsular,
and then turned north up a partly dirt road some 30 kms up to the northern most
community in Nova Scotia, towards Meat Cove, which I had been told was scenic
and worth a look.
Looking at the
map, this northern part of NS is right at the entrance to the St Lawrence
Seaway which then goes all the way back to the Great Lakes. With Newfoundland forming a similar block
across the Seaway entrance to the north, and the ocean traffic has to flow
between the two as it exits to the Atlantic Ocean. As well as ships, a lot of sea life passes
through here, and whales of all types can be found. Whale watching tours are very popular up here
in the summer.
And while I was
driving up this coastline, there are many of the little crab boats all wheeling
around in circles, almost seeming to crash into each other at times, as they
manual retrieve the crab baskets, remove their contents, rebait them, and then
put them back in the water again before rushing off to the next put, and
circling it while the crew repeat the retrieval and baiting process. And they are often so close in to shore that
they almost look as if they will crash on to the rocks. But they only have a
short season, and the licences to fish are very expensive, so they have to work
fast to meet their quota.
I finally arrived
in the little community of Meat Cove, and while it is all very quaint in a kind
of end-of-the-road way, and has what would be a lovely campsite right on the
side of the hill, I did not see a single person there ! There were a couple of cars, but everything
else still closed – The restaurant, the shop, the camp site. So after a quick look around I headed back
south again, which my next destination being just down the road where I was led
to believe they do an excellent clam chowder, to which I was going to treat
myself for lunch. I made a brief detour
out to White Point to see what there was, and then headed onto to Neils Harbour
for my chowder.
Pretty little
fishing port, neat little old lighthouse on the hill, and there, beside the
lighthouse was the chowder restaurant…….Yup, you’ve guessed it – Big sign on
the door “CLOSED FOR THE SEASON”.
Hmmmmmmm.
Almost as soon as
I left Neils Harbour it started to pour, and at one stage it was really
heavy. Then there was another clear
spell (I told you NS weather was fickle), and passed some scenic views up some
of the many ocean inlets along the coast.
And then the weather closed in again and I decided that enough was
enough, and that I would try to catch the ferry across to Newfoundland
tomorrow. So as I dropped down towards
Sydney, there were unfortunately no views of the enormous inland Lake that is
called Bras D’Or, and it then rained for the whole of the rest of the
afternoon.
In North Sydney I
managed to get a confirmed booking to Newfoundland, and then headed slightly
back out of town to a camp site I had seen signposted as “Open” on the way
in. This was also a place where you
could get Puffin tours, which I am still keen to do, but when I eventually got
to the campsite, I was told that their boat was currently undergoing repairs so
there were no tours available currently out to Bird Islands, where the puffins
are. They also suggested that no one
else in the area was currently running any tours either – Hmmmm again !
Maybe the ferry
tomorrow will pass close enough to the islands so we can see some ?
A wet and cold (3
deg C at 7 pm) night in a very wet campsite.
Now looking forward to Newfoundland, and if what Gavin and other people
have told me about it is even half true, it sounds fantastic. I am looking forward to it …..and hoping for
less rain !!
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