Friday morning at 00: Dark 30, my Sister Alayne arrives from Idaho. Of all the ones who said they'd visit us in Sydney during our mission, she's the only one who actually showed up. It's been a long flight for her and we drive back to the apartment and get some sleep for about 5 hours.
Friday morning is the day we do our weekly service at Loaves and Fishes. Alayne doesn't get a break, we roust her at the same time we get up and head down to get meals ready for about 170 patrons today. Marguerite (the boss lady) assigns her to open boxes of stuffing mix and put them in steamer pans for turkey flavored stuffing. With that done, the 3 of us get assigned to peel and dice 2 cases of carrots for a casserole. In the back room, Sister Johnson, Alayne, and I get to work, we have a system going pretty soon and it looks like 1 peeler (me) can pretty much keep ahead of 2 dicers (Sister Johnson and Alayne). About 2 hours later we have it all done, and with all of the serving and wash stations staffed, we get an early exit from Marguerite and get ready for the day's adventures.
A big cruise ship is in port at Sydney this morning, so we walk down to check it out. Most of the passengers have disembarked by the time we get there, but a few are still hanging around waiting for their tours to start, or just hanging around at the shops.
Sydney Harbour boasts the World's Largest Fiddle - and it probably is. It doesn't really play music on it's strings, but there's a recording that plays from inside. The Cape Bretoners are real big on fiddle music from the Scottish heritage and the Fall Celtic Colors Festival is going on all over the island.
The proprietor of one of the shops in the Pier Pavilion is Robert Silverstein, who owns Albert Bridge Alpacas with his lovely wife Norma. Robert mans his table areas when the cruise ships are in. As usual, Sister Johnson finds some clever and comfy Alpaca products that she can live without, and has curiously left her wallet in the car, cause she knows I always have mine with me. Or at least some cash stashed in strategic locations. Anyway, with our discount from Robert she has a couple nice items. Brother Silverstein is also the Branch President of Sydney Branch, so we see him frequently.
Here's a map of the Cabot Trail Loop we drove (clockwise). An easy, quite spectacular and colorful feast for the eyes. I particularly liked the rugged coast and highlands (well, if 1500 ft above sea level is high).
We get back from Loaves & Fishes and the Pier tour, get cleaned up, and we're ready to leave for our 2-day adventure around the Cabot. John Cabot were the first Italian sponsored by England to land in the new world, about 1497. He landed in Newfoundland, allegedly, and on a later voyage discovered what became known as Cape Breton, and the road/trail that circles most of that section of the island is called the Cabot Trail to this day. Alayne checks out where the end of the Cabot trail comes out, across a little ferry called the Englishtown Ferry.
It's a cable ferry, in that the cable is anchored to either end of the narrow bay, and the ferry pulls itself across using a cable winch. We're doing a clockwise loop of the Cabot Trail, so this is where we'll come out the next day. The little gap where the ferry operates can be seen, it's really not much bigger than this.
The fall leaves are definitely turning colors, but this day is misty and overcast, so it's hard to gauge their brilliance. The promise of more stunning sights and colors is just up the road.
We are making a clockwise loop of the Cabot Trail. About 1/3 of the way around, we stop for the night at a picturesque little town on the coast names Margaree Harbour.
The 2nd morning, we take a back road to another little town on the coast: Inverness. There we have a very nice breakfast for the 3 of us at The Coal Miner's Cafe. And Sister Johnson spies an art shop next door, woe is my pocketbook.
Impressed with my photography?
The 8 photos above are quite spectacular, aren't they? Actually they are snapshots of real art prints in the shop next door. The sign says OK to take photos of his prints for noncommercial use. And with the bill for the print that Sister Johnson selected, I'd say I'm owed a few. The Cabot Trail in the fall. It's worth 2 days.
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