In a week through Nova Scotia

I'll be waiting on the Highland
With its wonderful serenity
Where the stars glow and the brooks flow
That's my way of life
On the mountains of the Highland
And the nature is surrounding me
When the wind blows
That's all I need

Blackmore's Night

Finally, finally I arrived on Cape Breton Island and was allowed to drive along the Cabot Trail. I almost didn't think I would make it on this trip (after all, I had started at the other end of Canada...). But since I had seen photos of the Cabot Trail a few years ago, I really wanted to go there and that was probably one of the reasons why I became interested in Canada as a travel destination.

When I arrived at the airport in Halifax, the first thing I did was pick up my rental car. This was my first time renting a car and I had some concerns beforehand about whether everything would go smoothly (yes, I still worry about things, especially when I do something for the first time...). But surprisingly, everything went very smoothly (even the return later) and I got a very new and fancy car :-) What I immediately liked was that I could just throw my luggage into the car and drive off from the airport without the usual hassle of carrying and taking a bus to the first accommodation ;-)

Before heading to Cape Breton, I took a little detour to Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg (lots of tourists everywhere) because it was supposed to be so beautiful there. And it was. I love the colorful houses, the landscape, the coastal vegetation and of course the sea. It had been a while since I left the Pacific and now I had actually arrived at the Atlantic.

After stops in Antigonish and Cape George, two days later I arrived on Cape Breton Island, although I had a real rainy day (which was extremely rare on my whole trip) and therefore hardly saw anything of the Ceilidh Trail, the route before the Cabot Trail.

The Cabot Trail leads for long stretches through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, where I made a few stops to go on smaller hikes. When I drove into the park, a black bear crossed the road in front of me as a greeting. But because there was so much (human) activity on the hiking trails, he was the only bear I met in this park.

The Cabot Trail winds its way along the coast with many curves (with beautiful cliffs) and then through the Highlands. There are viewpoints about every 500 m along long stretches of the trail, and of course I stopped at almost all of them, so I didn't make much progress. And therefore I didn't get to hike as much as I had planned... But I managed to do the Skyline Trail, the most famous and beautiful trail in the national park, and from the cliffs I was even able to spot whales in the sea for the first time!

After the Cabot Trail, I arrived in Sydney, made a stop in Glace Bay, where I visited the Miners Museum, and then made a detour to Fortress Louisbourg. These two places were amazing! The Miners Museum tells the story of the coal mines in Nova Scotia and former miners offer tours of the mine (where you have to walk bent over all the time, which becomes really exhausting after a while...) and tell incredible stories about the working and living conditions of the former miners. Fortress Louisbourg is a huge fortress complex where you can visit countless authentically furnished buildings and be entertained by historically costumed actors who speak a mix of English and French.

On the last day before I had to return the car in Halifax, I went hiking in Taylor Head Provincial Park and even though I thought I had seen all kinds of beautiful landscapes in Nova Scotia, it looked a little different here and I regretted that I couldn't spend more time here. But there was one thing I had to do: since the surf wasn't too strong and the water wasn't too cold, I spontaneously went swimming in the Atlantic - something special for me, because I had never been swimming in the sea before :-)

For exploring the city of Halifax, I only had just under two days, which was enough to see the most important things (harbor promenade, Citadel, downtown), but the city has a special charm and a wonderful atmosphere, so I would have liked to stay longer. In Halifax I finally met up with my two friends from Munich, with whom I then started the last part of my trip through Canada.

For all my loyal readers, who hopefully haven't jumped ship yet, I have to say that even though I will be home soon, I will write at least two more entries. After all, I don't like to leave things unfinished, so I will describe my whole trip here.