Cheticamp, Cape Breton Island

We did go get some laundry done yesterday in Inverness, and then we sat and waited for the rain to stop. They had been saying 40% chance of rain, but of course they don't have a clue and it rained all morning, eventually stopping around 1:00pm. Maybe they meant it was going to rain for 40% of the day!

Then we carried on. We took the coast road up to the town of Cheticamp, only about 62 kms (37 miles) away. Opposite the town is Cheticamp Island. It's not really an island, since you can drive to it on a narrow bit of land. There is a lighthouse at the far end and from looking at Google Maps it might be a good overnight spot. So we get on to the "island", but half way there is a sign that says visitors are welcome during daylight hours only and that violators would be prosecuted...so we turned around.

We went through town and at the far end turned onto a road where there is a closed up fish processing plant. Opposite the plant is an empty parking area, so this is where we parked up for the night. Not the most scenic, but not bad either and pretty much no traffic as the plant is closed.

Not a bad overnight spot, and very quiet. However the closed up fish processing plant is on the opposite side of the road, so that does take away from the scenery which is otherwise very nice.

 (GPS 46.65277 -60.99161)

We are only a couple of miles from the entrance to Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Zoomed in, you can see the Cabot Trail in the distance. Sherman has been resting up so he will be ready to take on those hills!

Another view of the coastline

We slept fine last night, and wouldn't hesitate to stay here again. Woke up to fog, but now it's breaking up and the sun is actually peaking through. It might actually be a nice day! We're going to go to the Visitor Centre at the entrance to the park, and buy our very expensive Canada Parks annual pass. I think it's around $136 for the family pass, and that allows up to seven people travelling in the same vehicle. That means that if Lindsey, Justin, and Cameron come with us at any time, or my sister and her son who are visiting next month they won't have to pay entrance fees either. We will probably only break even on it's usage over the next two months, but at least having one means we won't have to feel restrained. Without the pass, it is $7.80 for an adult to enter the park for one day. We would have to pay $15.60 for each day we are in the park for the next week or so. No, that doesn't include camping in the park which is quite a bit extra. Maybe we'll get into that with you another day!

Yesterday's drive 62 kms (37 miles)

Oh, by the way, I haven't forgotten about our poll up there on the right hand side. But there are still one or two new responses coming in each day. And some of them are very interesting! When we get a quiet day I'll go over the results with you.