Nova Scotia & Newfoundland Vacation
The summer of 2008, my husband & I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary by traveling to Nova Scotia & then to Newfoundland on the Harley. In total, we put 4000 miles on during this 2 week vacation.
We left early on a Friday & headed east. Our first night destination was Scranton, PA, 486 miles away.
Day 2 - We travel through western New York, Conneticut, Massachusettes, New Hampshire & then into Portland, Maine where we will be taking the Cat Ferry on Sunday to Nova Scotia.
It's a rainy Sat evening driving around Portland & then a foggy start on Sunday.
Day 3 - The ferry crossing from Portland, ME to Yarmouth, NS takes 6 hrs & we arrive in Yarmouth at 2:00PM
(Nova Scotia is in the Atlantic Time Zone) Our drive from Yarmouth to Peggy's Cove is 200 miles & by evening
it gets very cold. We arrive at our hotel at 9:15PM.
Day 4 - The area is blanketed in fog, but it does make for some interesting photos as we tour the Peggy's Cove area & visit Peggy's Cove Lighthouse. Then we head off for Halifax and lunch, it's stil foggy. Instead of taking the coastal route as originally planned we go inland & the fog lifts, the skies are blue & we are warmed.
We have reservations in Auld's Cove, 216 miles from Peggy's Cove. Our hotel sits along the Canso Causeway. This causeway seperates the two islands of Nova Scotia.
Day 5 - Tues, July 1 - Canada Day. Our journey continues east as we cross over into Cape Breton Island & to the Cabot Trail. The Cabot Trail is a 185 mile loop on the north & western part of Cape Breton Island. It's a beautiful sunny, cloudless day & we stop & explore several locations along our way. We drive to Meat Cove, the very northern tip of Cape Breton. We make our way to our hotel in Pleasant Bay that is situation on the west coast between the Atlantic Ocean & Roberts Mt. We walk to the beach that evening & enjoy local musicians jamming on the beach & the sunset.
Day 6 - Our plan is to go on a whale watching cruise & then hiking. What a day.....seen Pilot Whales, a Humpback, a Bald Eagle,
a coyote while hiking & a Moose & her baby. Back at the hotel, a Black Bear meanders from around the end of our hotel.
Day 7 - On to our next destination - we complete the Cabot Trail loop & head to North Sydney to catch the 5:00 PM ferry to Newfoundland. This is a 6 hr crossing & we land in Port Aux Basques at 11:30PM. (Newfoundland is in its own time zone. And that's an understatement!) It's foggy when we arrive & thankful our hotel is nearby as we have been warned not to ride the motorcycle at night because there are so many Moose.
Day 8 - I awake to sights that are unlike anything I have ever seen. We are only in Newfoundland for 3 days & we head north on the Trans Canadian Highway to Rocky Harbour. The Trans Canadian Highway runs between the western coast of Newfoundland & the Long Range Mts. (These are part of the Appalacian Mts of the Eastern US.) There is still lingering snow in the mountains & it is chilly. We arrive at our cottage at 3:15PM, unpack, relax for a bit & head out to explore the town. And do some lanudry!!!
Day 9 - Sat, July 5 - My whole reason for wanting to go to Newfoundland was to go to Gros Mourne National Park. So on the agenda for today, is hiking at Western Brook Pond & Berry Hill. The day is topped off by meeting some local musicians at a bar & hubby sitting in & playing a few songs.
Day 10 - Unfortunately, we have to leave & head back to Port Aux Basques to catch the ferry back to Nova Scotia on Monday morning. We stop at the Tablelands for a short hike before it starts to rain. The Tablelands is barren landscape that is part of Gros Mourne National Park. It is unbelievably winding here so we turn around & start back on our route to Port Aux Basques.
Day 11 - I was up before daybreak to photograph the sunrise. And with the time zone difference, it is 3:50am in the EST.
We board the ferry & arrive in North Sydney, NS at 1:20PM. After a quick lunch we are back on the road again & instead of taking the Cat Ferry back to Maine, we decide to drive back to Maine via New Brunswick. By the end of this day we are 7 miles from New Brunswick & rode 270 miles.
Day 12 - We are heading home, but we are taking a short detour to see the world's longest covered bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick. We back track to Rt 95 that takes us into Maine. We cross the border at 4:00 PM & continue on to Waterville, ME.
Long day of driving/riding - 446 miles.
Day 13 - Instead of taking the same route out of Maine as we did going to Maine, we are going to go across New Hampshire & Vermont & then down to NY. We have been lucky with the weather for the most part, but not today. It rained almost the entire time thru NH & VT. We stay in Syracuse, NY.
Day 14 - We leave Syracuse on Rt 90, but run into road construction & delays. And it is getting hot. Once into Ohio, we have 2 1/2 hrs to get home. We arrive home at 7:15 PM.
From the time we left North Sydney, NS on Monday we had driven/ridden 1202 miles in 3 1/2 days.
What a great trip.
map of Cape Breton Island, NS & the Cabot Trail
map of SW Newfoundland
