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| Uisge Ban waterfall |
Our trip began on October 14, with a stop at Heidi's Cafe for breakfast and to pick up some treats at the bakery. On our way to the island, near Truro we saw a rainbow during a break in the rain. We were quite excited to see it and surprised at the same time. The next thing we had planned was a walk to Uisge Ban waterfall near Baddeck. I wasn't sure if there was still going to be water flowing in the fall but with all the rain we had in the summer and that day, it was pretty good. Then we drove up to the Englishtown area for Cabotto Chocolates to see what treats they had before we had supper at a very small restaurant named Simply Pizza.
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| Full rainbow we saw |
We continued on the Cabot Trail to where we were spending the night but before we checked in, we saw another rainbow. I think it was the first time I had seen a full rainbow and the colours were very distinct. The first two nights of our trip, we slept in oTENTiks within the national park at Ingonish Beach campground then the Mkwesaqtuk/Cap-Rouge campground. Both were nice but the Cap-Rouge site was beautiful; it was feet away from the water so we could see the sunset through a break in the trees. We enjoyed sleeping in the oTENTiks, they are a wooden tent that is on a platform and have bunkbeds with a thick foam mattress. There is also a light, dinner table, bench and patio with chairs plus a barbecue outside to cook food. Since it was October, the nights were cold but thankfully we had brought lots of blankets and there was also a propane heater in the structure. I taught my mom how to play Cribbage so we played that both nights.
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| View from Cape Smokey |
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| Sandwich at Periwinkle Cafe |
For our third day, we spent some time in Cheticamp getting lost trying to find the trailhead for the Gypsum Mines. We weren't sure if we would this walk as it was raining quite hard but I had seen pictures from the mine and really wanted to do visit plus it was like two kilometres as well not the 5km I thought it was. I decided not to walk up to the look-off because it was very muddy and a bit steep. After our walk, we stopped in at Aucoin Bakery to get some road treats. We got a couple of sandwiches which we ended up not eating until we got home but my mom also got some bread and a coffee while I got caramel squares. For lunch, we went to a place called Le Gabriel which had a lot of sports memorabilia on their walls so I enjoyed it :). I didn't really like what I got (a pasta dish) but mom's steak poutine was good however it was huge so we really should've shared it. We made a few other stops on our way to our hotel in Baddeck. The food they had at their restaurant was pretty good and it is farm-to-table.
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| Gypsum Mines in the rain |
Before we headed home on October 17, we looked around the town and visited the Alexander Graham Bell museum which was very informative. I had no idea he was apart of inventing so much stuff and his wife had an interesting life as well. We saw another rainbow on our way home which was great.
A few of the things we did and places we ate at were not on the original plan but I found them in a book called Explore Like a Tourist Nova Scotia. If you are visiting Nova Scotia in 2024 or are a local and want some new adventures, check out the guide.
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| Sunset from our campsite at Cap-Rouge |
Fall fun list
- Look out at the Gypsum Mines ✓
- Go for a hike on three new trails ✓
- Drive the full Cabot Trail route ✓
- Visit a new waterfall ✓
