It was a bit hard to leave the Martells. But I got all packed up and began my trek again. The storm lasted all night and into the morning, with the wind waking me up a few times during the night. It was such a blessing not to have a wet tent to deal with! So I went about looking for boat ramps, campgrounds, and churches. When I got to Cape Breton Island (usually just called Cape Breton), the Port Hastings/Port Hawkesbury area was just as confusing as I’d remembered it. So I went back and forth trying to find churches, gas, and a place to buy more minutes for my cell phone. Along the way I ate a picnic lunch overlooking Canso Strait, and was surprised to see a bald eagle swoop down nearby. Besides the Gaelic translations, there were some other queer signs as I got up to Cape Breton. A stop sign in the middle of the water. And “flying stones”. Yeah, I realize that there were some loose rocks from the road constructions, but it still sounds funny for stones to fly.
Going up the west side of Cape Breton, the views were more and more gorgeous. I didn’t expect there to be many beach accesses or wharves, so I wanted to make sure that the ones I did expect were really there. Not only were there wharves at each place where I expected one, but I also discovered that a Ceilidh Coastal Trail had been built as part of the national Canada Trail “rails to trails” program. Some of the trail accesses helped provide access to the shore. When I told Pierre Chiasson that I was heading up to Cape Breton, he suggested that I come visit the worship service tomorrow at the new CNBC church plant in Cheticamp. I figured I could at least get close to there this evening. As it started getting later, I realized that I’d better call ahead for a campground since it was a weekend and the weather had turned out nice. Sure enough, my first choice in the Inverness area was full. I managed to get in to the next campground, but the sites were going fast.
It’s really a change being in a more touristy area in peak season. In the New Brunswick campgrounds I hardly ever saw an out-of-province license plate. Here there are people from all over, even a fancy camper from Germany. At the same time, people seem a lot less friendly. I’ve never exactly claimed to have the “gift of gab”, but I definitely have found it harder to interact with campers over this way. Even when I was at Brule Point (where the staff were extremely friendly), no campers would say more than a few words to me and nobody offered to help me with loading up the kayak.
In spite of clear skies when I arrived, there still ended up being a few sprinkles of rain later in the evening that I didn’t appreciate. And just enough wind to cause some concern for my poor pitiful tent.
Partner church: Grace Community Church
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