We woke up early and Ruth prepared a wonderful porridge with strawberry jam and maple syrup. We got the van cleaned up and headed north. Pepsi is 15 now and can’t wait to get her driver’s license.

First stop was a lookout point with pink granite and good waves.

Shortly after that stop came Black Brook Beach. It had a beautiful sandy beach and the water really showed some spirit with waves were a lot of fun.

We aways try to make it to where the road ends and this trip was no different. Meat Cove is the most northern community in Nova Scotia and is at the end of a gravel road. The name comes from the fact that it was more of a hunting than fishing place. Quite a number of cars and tents were at their small and very dusty campground because many hikers come for the trails in the area. We, however, came for a coffee and Sprite and headed back the dusty winding road, not sure whether the effort had been worth it.

We drove towards Cheticamp looking for a suitable place to spend the night. One campground in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park looked interesting but required self registration and lacked the necessary envelopes. In Cheticamp we found a campground but it was full and only had overflow parking available on the lawn for $33.90. We declined and went for dinner instead, figuring we could find a free parking spot somewhere in the town. Dinner was at Le Gabriel where we had an Acadian platter with frigot, fish cake and meat pie accompanied by baked beans, vegetables, a relish of green tomatoes, a beer and live music.

The sun was setting and we took pictures at the small harbour across from the restaurant. While down there we met the owner of the Captain Zodiac whale watching tours and asked him whether we could stay in his parking lot for the night. He was very nice about it and very welcoming.