Gabh Air D'agaidh

That means "go forward" in Scottish Gaelic.  There is a lot of that around these parts.  And there is a lot of moving forward as well.

We are in North Sydney NS and from the back porch of the Harbourfront B&B, where we are currently staying, you can see the Marine Atlantic ferries.  Less than eleven hours from now we will be queued up for one of those boats which will carry us to Newfoundland.  Judging from the photos on the website, these boats are really, really nice.  Well, at least as far as ferries are concerned.  The boat ride is about seven hours long so we should arrive in Port aux Basques NL in the early evening.  We will be camping at the JT Cheeseman Provincial Park, which is about 30min away from where the ferry disembarks.

We are quite concerned with the weather over the next week or so.  Krissy is more concerned about the cold than I am but even I, as cold-blooded as I am, have a limit.  That limit was pushed when we were in New Hampshire and even a bit on the last day in Maine.  We will be looking at mid-30s at night while we are in Gros Morne, from Mon-Fri of next week.  We did recently acquire a portable space heater for the tent and we have thermals and thick sleeping bags but there is also a chance that we might camp for two nights and bag it all for a room somewhere.  Hopefully we can tough it out.

Today we left Pictou around 10 and started making our way up the coast.  It was still chilly and grey for the majority of the day but we made the most of it.  The landscape here is gorgeous so it surely makes for some memorable scenic drives.  Our first stop was at Arisaig park which led us down to a beach lined with sedimentary cliffs that are full of fossils.  So we braved the cold and dug for fossils for a while.  Our hopes for a trilobite were dashed but I did manage to uncover several sheets of fossilized brachiopods (tiny ancient scallops).  And lots of really cool rocks.

We saw this adorable red squirrel on our hike to the cliffs.

The cliffs and shore at Arisaig.

As if these cliffs hadn't taken enough of a beating, this beautiful little waterfall had to also do its part.  I approve.

Hans likes digging for fossils.

All those bumps are fossilized scallops.  They are not as delicious as non-fossilized scallops but they're still cool.

This is a small natural arch along the edge of the cliffs.  Apparently Krissy climbed in there when I wasn't looking.  I gave her a right bollocking for that.  #1 rule on this trip - we can't die.

From there we started making our way towards Cape Breton, stopping briefly in Cape George because there is a lighthouse there and we all know how us Andersons feel about lighthouses.

Hans at the Cape George lighthouse.

The light of the house.

You know you're getting close to Cape Breton when the second language on street signs changes from French to Gaelic.

From there we pretty much high-tailed it to North Sydney.  I am looking forward to returning to this area in three months and spending a little more time, soaking it in, and in better weather.  This place is stunning.  The pastoral vistas are almost distracting in their beauty on a grey day; I can only imagine how they'd fare in the sun.  Actually, we did get a taste of it for a few minutes as there was a slight blue patch in the sky and we did get some sun for about fifteen minutes or so, after we had crossed into Cape Breton.

Along the road to Cape Breton.  This body of water is the Northumberland Strait.  These mild waters are quite a pleasure to swim in on days that are not like today.

Another vista along the road to Cape Breton, a few miles past Cape George.

The sun comes out on Cape Breton and turns the water blue once again.  This did not last but it sure was pretty.

We made it to North Sydney a little before 6 and got checked in and then went back out to explore and find some dinner.  We wound up heading to (non-north) Sydney, which is about 20min away, and after a few necessary stops, we wound up eating at Swiss Chalet, where I got some delicious poutine with rotisserie chicken added and some wicked chicken & red pepper spring rolls.

Oh yeah, speaking of poutine - McDonald's up here has poutine.  I am not making this up.  They apparently just started making it.  I have yet to try it, and I am sure it is just plain wrong, but at some point on this voyage I think I will have to make a stop and give it a whirl.  Maybe then I will take the plunge and finally sample the equally-wrong McLobster as well.  Maybe.

Anyway, while we were in Sydney we passed by a parking-lot carnival so we stopped.  It was really crowded but it was also cold and as soon as it dawned on me that it would seem even colder once we were on rides that spun us around really fast, we got out of there.  I kinda wish we would have just gone thru with it because carnivals rule but we had not yet eaten and we were hungry so that was that.

As is this.  We have a big day tomorrow and it's already later than it should be.  Oh yeah, not sure if you guys know this but Newfoundland has its very own time zone.  No one else has it.  So currently we are in the Atlantic Time Zone, which is an hour ahead of Eastern Time.  Newfoundland is ahead of Atlantic by a half-hour.  That's right.  A half-hour.  So, for you folks back home, we will be ninety minutes ahead of you guys.  Needless to say, one of the first orders of business will be to sync all of our devices.  Otherwise our heads might explode before too long.

But before all that there will be seven hours on a boat.  And we have to have our cars queued up at least two hours prior to departure.  And it would be wise to be there even earlier.  So yeah, long day.  Like I said, though, the terminal is less than a football field away so there is no worries about being late.  So we will be doing that all day tomorrow.  There is no wifi on the boat but there is an internet lounge with kiosks so there will probably be a few Facebook updates but no blogging, probably until we get to Gros Morne on Monday.  So wish us luck to not turn to popsicles.

Seriously, this is the most Scottish place on earth.  Besides Scotland.
There is also an Angus MacQuarrie Road around here, if this is not Scottish enough for ya.