Neil's Harbour, more Cabot Trail, and fun on the beach




When we did the "reveal" of our mission to our family, we showed them a map of eastern Canada and asked them to pick the place farthest away from Dammeron Valley that you could drive to on paved roads.
It's actually Neil's Harbour, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, 4235 miles from home.  And to prove it, Alayne took a photo of us at the entrance to the town.


Unlike a lot of places on the Cabot Trail, Neil's Harbour is a working village, with the economy focused on fishing.  It's getting close to the end of the season, and the harbour only had one boat in the water, and a lot of crab and lobster traps pulled out for the winter.  We couldn't even find a store to sell us a souvenir T-shirt.


The winters are severe, and most of the boats are pulled out of the water in dry dock, til the fishing season starts up again next spring.



And being on the northeast tip of Cape Breton, sticking out into the North Atlantic, it's windy.



Neil's Harbour has its own lighthouse, but it's not operational now.  Modern navigation and GPS has pretty much eliminated the need for them, but they are still preserved as historical sites.



Did I mention that it's windy?  Sister Johnson wanted this photo so you could see just how much.



Back on the trail, the colours are in full display.  We stopped along the Trail for this photo.  Brilliant red, orange, and yellow are everywhere.  And no, it's not my frowny face, just my usual face.


And of course green.  A young spruce tree shows off it's growth that happens in the warm (well, except for the winter), moist climate.



These are flowers you'd expect to see in the spring, but they are in full bloom during the 1st week of October.



We had to pick some of the brightest colours to take back to our apartment as a reminder of the natural beauty of Cape Breton.  They lasted about 4 days in a jar of water, then turned brown just like they do in the wild.



Not a lot of peaceful sandy beaches in this part of Cape Breton.  The coastline is pretty rugged, and when the wind and waves come, it's pretty fierce.  This was a relatively calm day, and the waves still come crashing in over the rocks.



As we exit the trail, there's a cable ferry at Englishtown, which really isn't a town at all.  There's a short distance, maybe 200 yards where the bay extends to the south.  Looks to me like they could easily build a bridge across it, but instead there's a ferry that holds about 15 cars, and runs back and forth on a cable that's anchored on both sides.



Back home after a couple days on the Cabot Trail, we take Alayne for a walk on Dominion beach.  I bring along my Power Kite, the wind is up, and she has a great time flying it.  With 2 lines you have very good control, and can loop and spin it.  The best part is that it's all cloth and line - no rigid structure at all, so when you crash it, just open it up to catch the wind and it's off again.


The day was sunny, but the wind definitely has a fall chill into it.  Luckily Sister Johnson and Alayne are dressed appropriately to enjoy a late afternoon walk with the ocean in full view.


All good things must come to an end, unfortunately, and Alayne boards the plane at 5:00am to fly back to her home in Idaho.  It was great to have her with us for a short time.  I believe she'll tell you that we're doing well, and are among some wonderful people up here.

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