We tried something different for camping after Lunenberg since we couldn't find any HHosts to stay with, so we tried out Hipcamp for an overnight camping spot. We found a good location and headed over to Clam Bay where they were located, driving up a pretty steep hill, but all good. The highlite was the use of a BBQ, but their rustic outdoor bathroom and shower left a bit to the imagination.
After seeing the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, the poster child of lighthouses, we thought we would check out light houses as we headed up coast towards Cape Breton Island. As it turns out, not all lighthouses are equal, nor are they all photogenic. All in we found two, that were on our list but at least we had a nice coastal drive and some good beach exploring. We finished the drive at Havre Boucher where we were back to staying with a HHost, Below the Salt distillery. As days go, it was a good day, but we didn't really see anything new or interesting for pictures or exploring.
At the distillery, we parked up then I checked in with Vicki, our host. They do gin, rum, and braggot (a Viking drink). I tried out the rums and braggot and all of them were excellent to amazing. I settled on dark rum as my favourite out of the bunch. The distilling process captures flavour in the alcohol which is released by adding a few drops of water, effectively amplifying the flavour. It really is an amazing drink. Vicki is also a photographer so we chatted with her until closing time. Our camping neighbours for the night were Joe and Terri and their two dogs. Had a great time with them as we finished our beverages before supper.
We decided to change our ferry tickets as things seemed pretty routine on the Nova Scotia coast, so we headed up to Cape Breton Island, passing through some of the Vinyl Cafe areas of Little Narrows and other places that "Dave" frequented in his childhood.
We went to Egypt Falls which is on the tail end of the Cabot Trail (we will be doing that after Newfoundland). The trail was very well marked and we headed down a steep trail to the falls. With the moss and leaves the area seemed very lush but we will be returning in about three weeks when we do the Cabot Trail to see the area in fall colours which are just starting to change around here. Pete was excited to play in the creek and was very happy that the water was fresh and not salty. He slept for most of the rest of the drive up to North Sydney where we took a campsite near the ferry.
As is our habit, we worked on our shower count, got laundry done, filled fresh water and dumped the grey water. We are planning to do more boondocking in Newfoundland, so getting refreshed before hand is pretty much a necessity. We catch the ferry on Sept 12, coming back on the 25th. Looking forward to seeing what we find on the Rock!