That was a week that was!

Monday 18^th May 2015

It’s exactly one week today since I landed at Halifax Airport. A week of trials and tribulations due the ship arriving 5 days late, which cost me dear in terms of having to fork out for 6 nights instead of 1 at the Bluenose Motel. Anyway, that’s all behind me now, as I hit the open road once more! I awoke to a bit of a shock although I guess I shouldn't really have been surprised; there was a light dusting of frost on the ground. The fact that I awoke huddled deep inside my sleeping bag with my fleece hat on should have given me some idea of the outside temperature, but then again it was only about 6am. With sunrise at around 5.30am it didn't take long for the sun to pop his head over the trees and start to put

some warmth into the day. You can call me tight if you like but having had to pay $25 for my camping pitch I thought it a bit steep to then demand another $2 for a shower especially as the water in the sinks was only just above freezing point. I had no way of telling if the solitary shower would produce anything better, so it back to the tent, kettle on and a quick slosh by the tent. I didn't think the other campers would appreciate me stripping off for my normal wild camp shower hanging from a tree… the shower that is, not me!

By the time I finally got on the road at 9am the temperature was climbing nicely and had already surpassed yesterday heady heights of just 12c, and the day just kept getting better. Hitting a high of 27c at one point, although the coastal breeze made sure that didn’t last for too long. My plan for today was to head further north onto Cape Breton Island and to ride the Cabot Trail which I had been told had some stunning scenery.  The early part of the ride along the western fringe on Nova Scotia was something special in itself, with more of the picture book cottages and fisherman’s coves, along a stunning road which once more was carrying little traffic; something of a surprise as today was a public holiday, Victoria Day, so I had expected it to be a bit like a Bank Holiday back home. I stopped to refuel as even though I still had at least another 100km in the tank, I didn't want to get caught out as I got further north by a scarcity of fuel stations. Whilst I was in the station I also grabbed a rather nice Cappuccino and a delicious Cinnamon roll which seems to be very commonly available up here!

Crossing onto Cape Breton Island via the relatively recent causeway brought about a bit of a change in the road as I was now on Highway  105, which whilst not an interstate was certainly a bit busier and wider that I had become used to. It wasn’t too long before I turned left onto the 395, that much more my cup of tea as I was back to a nice twisty little road winding through hills and valleys heading back north east towards the coast. I passed Lake Ainslie on my left, as big a lake as I have ever seen, in fact so big was it that the wind blowing gently across it was cooled to such a degree that the temperature plummeted, dropping about 12c in the course of just a few miles, even though the sun was shining as brightly as ever.I hit the coast at Margaree Harbour, running across the bridge which spanned the wide river, almost a delta in fact in the way it split as it tumbled down to the sea.

I been told Cheticamp was a pretty place and somewhere that the Acadian way of life was in full swing… well sorry to say it didn’t really float my boat. It was a bit like Canvey Island in the early 1950s but without the candy floss and the kiss me quick hats! I pushed on. So far the Cabot Trail which I had turned onto a little before Margaree Harbour had failed to inspire. I had expected a rugged wilderness experience instead of which I was confronted with houses, cottages and trailers of all shapes and sizes strewn higgledy piggledy around the landscape as far as one could see. A few mile further on I spotted a sign which indicated I needed to purchase a pass for the Cape Breton Highlands National

Park of Canada… A rather grand name I though. I also though that I hoped it lived up to it’s grand title. Relieved of my $6.80 for my senior citizen pass I rode on into a magnificent wilderness, just what I had been looking for. Mile after mile the vista just enthralled and delighted. Probably the £3.50 I’ve spent in a long time. In many ways it was like Snowdonia but much, much bigger and without the tourists!!! It took a long time to do relatively few miles because as soon as I got going I’d stop again for yet another photograph.

At one view point a young(ish!) couple pulled up in their convertible and I asked if the guy would mind taking a photo for me with the bike against a stunning backdrop. He was happy to oblige and we also had quite a chat. They were from Ontario and he was here for a couple of weeks with his job. I shot off just before them and they follow me down the road for a few miles when I stopped for yet another photo. They pulled in behind me and the guy came over and handed me his card on the back of which he had written their home address. He apologised for not thinking of it earlier, saying that I would probably pass within a few miles of their house and if I had time to call in either for a drink and to stay the night! Yet another of those random act of kindness which I am always going on about.

Tonight sees me camping within the National Park at Biog Interval, a basic camp site which has just a composting toilet and not even a water supply. It is right on the river from which the water came to cook my dinner and make my tea, although it was a toss up as to whether I should use the river or melt some of the deep snow that is surrounding me. Until about half an hour ago I had the place to myself,… well that is just me the bears and the coyotes! However a car has now pulled in with a young guy in it who is presently putting up his tent, so at least the bears now have a choice of menu!

I think the temperature will be somewhere around zero or below once more tonight as it is already dropping fast. I'm sitting just a couple of feet from a quite fast flowing river with my back to the tent which is keeping some of the cold off of me but my fingers are beginning to stiffen up. Always a sure sign of cold weather so I think I’ll call it a day, light my little wood burner and have a warm before hitting the hay, or more accurately the duck down. I also think it will be the full thermals in bed tonight. One of the issues I have already discovered is that the trade off for having more space in the tent is that it doesn’t get anything like as warm as my little one man tent….