After a boondocking night at the Walmart in Port Hawkesbury, Tom and I headed north to drive the Cabot Trail.
We took AutoRoute 4 to Route 105. That led us to the Cabot Trail at Buckwheat Corner near Bras d’Or Lakes. Tom and I drove clockwise on the Cabot Trail loop through Cape Breton Highlands National Park and back down the east side to Route 312. We unintentionally took Route 312 to Englishtown and down the east side of St Anns Bay to reconnect with Route 105 and the Cabot Trail. We made it as far as Bras d’Or Lakes Campground before heading back along 105 to north Sydney where we caught the ferry to Newfoundland.
Driving from Port Hawkesbury to North Sydney, Nova Scotia
Tom and I enjoyed breathtaking scenery from the moment we drove onto Cape Breton Island near Port Hawkesbury until we floated off the island on a ferry at North Sydney. Our drive was briefly delayed a few times, by road construction. But, for the most part, we felt like we had the highways to ourselves.
Cape Breton Island is surrounded by water with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Gulf of St Lawrence on the other. And, if that wasn't enough, the interior is home to Bras d’Or Lake with the many rivers flowing into it. So, we never drove far without water views!
As we approached the end of our drive along the Cabot Trail, we practiced our ferry riding skills on the much smaller Englishtown Ferry. It was an unplanned ferry ride when our navigator, me, didn’t realize that just because Google leads your vehicle across a body of water doesn’t mean there’s a bridge. But, Google was right about it being the fastest route. We were on and off the ferry in less than 5 minutes. And, the Englishtown Ferry appears to be free.
Our short ferry ride took us across St Anns Bay on an alternate route of the Cabot Trail. We reconnected with the Cabot Trail again at the bottom of St Anns Bay where we continued to the Bras d'Or Lakes Campground and explored that beautiful part of Cape Breton Island.
You can view a few photos of our drive from Port Hawkesbury to North Sydney, Nova Scotia on the Carpe Diem Facebook page by clicking on the image below.
Riding the Ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland
Soon after beginning our scenic drive along the Cabot Trail we called ahead to make ferry reservations to visit Newfoundland. Many people schedule the ferry weeks in advance but Tom and I decided to wait until we were closer and take our chances. We called the ferry service on Thursday and got tickets for Saturday.
Our ferry ride took about 7.5 hours from when we pulled onto the ferry until we pulled off. Vehicles for the ferry are required to line up at least two hours before scheduled departure. Our scheduled departure was 5:30 am. We were in line just after 3am. Fortunately, the ferry terminal was only a 5 minute drive from the Walmart where we boondocked the previous night. Unfortunately, our ferry departure was delayed two hours. After four hours of waiting in the ferry lines, we were happy to finally board!
Pets are allowed to stay in vehicles during the ferry ride. However, passengers are not allowed in the vehicle areas. We could have left Aly alone in our camper the entire time and she probably would been perfectly happy napping all day. That was our fallback option if we couldn’t get a pet-friendly cabin. Fortunately, for all of us, we got one. Tom and I took turns exploring the ship and napping with Aly. We brought her out to the “poop deck” several times but she was too excited to take care of any business... not even with a shiny red fire hydrant strategically placed on artificial turf.
The cost of our ferry adventure was about $420. The cabin fee would have been about twice the cost during a night trip and our vehicle fee would have been almost twice the cost had we towed our Jeep. We knew it was worth the trouble and cost as soon as our ship pulled into the harbor. Beautiful!!
You can view a few photos of our ferry ride from North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland on the Carpe Diem Facebook page by clicking on the image below.
Commentaires