Day 3

Drove from Moncton, New Brunswick to Cap-Rouge campground on Cape Breton Island. We had a few spots to visit first.

Our first stop of the day was in Oxford, Nova Scotia the blueberry capitol of Canada.

Once on Cape Breton, we stopped at the Mabou Farmers Market. The place was packed. We picked up some fresh lettuce and chocolate (I know more chocolate).

Last year we stayed here for two nights. We debated returning to this campground because they are not drive up sites, you have to cart your gear to the site. Obviously we thought the inconvenience was worth it and camped for three nights.

The sunsets are beautiful from our site, once you bushwhack your way to a small cliff edge.

Day 4

The stars were on full display at my 2 a.m. walk to the loo.

Sunrise and the coffee with a view photo taken a few meters from our site.

After breakfast it was time to go on a hike. Last year we did the Skyline Trail and wanted to do Blueberry Mountain, but we just didn’t have time. So today we hiked Blueberry Mountain. The views rival Skyline. It was a narrow trail but stunning, saw no one and Mike was picking mini strawberries on our way down. The trail was 4.36 miles, elevation gain of 1300 ft and took us almost 3 hours. We would repeat this one.

Afternoon was spent reading and napping, till dinner and sunset.

Day 5

Here is the 2 a.m. walk to the loo photo:

Our day consisted of small hikes and lookouts.

First hike was to Gypsum Mine Lake. The trail, I thought was a loop, it was an out and back with a sketchy ending at the turn around point. Let’s just say I choose to slide on my butt to get down (sorry no photos were taken of this).

Our next stop was a repeat from last year, The Bog. It is a short board walk around the bog. We find it utterly fascinating.

We continued on to see the whale trail sculpture in Pleasant Bay, a fishing port.

We headed back to camp for the night. We did do a short beach walk at the campground.

We decided to pack up camp, except for the tent. The weather predicted a chance of thunderstorms overnight with some rain in the morning. Best to do it tonight. This was the last night here for a sunset.

Day 6

There is no 2 a.m. view to the loo photo because we had heat lightning starting at 12:30 a.m. till about 2 a.m. and I wasn’t walking to the loo, plus there was cloud cover.

Today was moving day to a cabin on the other side of Cape Breton. We had a little spit of rain as we drove away from the campground.

We had to find a bank to get some loonies so we can go to a laundromat tomorrow. We lunched at the Keltic Lodge, overlooking a golf course. We had hoped to see a few golfers, but the wind starting raging, knocking the balls off the tees. Then a thunderstorm rolled in, all golfers off course and our lunch was over.

We decided to wait out the storm at the nearby beach Ingonish. Once the storm passed we did a short walk around Freshwater beach and then went down to the beach.

On our way to the cabin we spotted a sign for Happiness is Homemade Bakery. You know we stopped. We were there an hour after she opening and some goodies were already sold out.

That was a our last stop before we landed at the cabin. The cabin we have is tiny and cute. We will be here for two nights, then off to Newfoundland.