Day One
25/09/13
This was the travel
day. I divided it into four
phases. Phase one – getting from
home to the bus terminal. Phase
two – bus ride to Heathrow. Phase
three – checking in and waiting at the airport. Phase four – the flight. One and two were fine.
Three was okay but tiresome and boring. Four was as good as could be hoped for with a six hour
flight. The chap next to me was a
helicopter pilot, extremely nice and cute and helpful with lifting bags and
insisting on a glass of wine to get us off to a good start. He flies helicopters out to oil rigs,
six weeks on, six weeks off. He
had arrived at Heathrow that morning after a 13 hour flight from Malaysia. When he told me that, I stopped feeling
sorry for myself.
My PA (Jane) was at
the airport to meet me. It’s a
lovely feeling to come through the arrival gate and have a smiling friendly
face waiting for you. Into the car
and off to Fred’s at West Chezzetcook.
He has been unwell but was feeling much better. The sibs bonded like crazy. I love having a sister and
brother. We spent the night at a
B&B and I promptly fell asleep for 12 hours.
Day Two
26-Sep-13
We spent the morning with Fred and then off
on the road trip. We drove up the
eastern shore and inland to Antigonish.
Jane is an alumna so she sports an X ring. We stayed at a B&B outside town. It was great because we had a two room
suite so I didn’t have to worry about snoring. I still don’t believe I do but others have been known to
disagree. We had dinner at an
excellent restaurant in town. Off
to bed at ten and another good sleep.
We cross over to Cape Breton tomorrow and begin the Cabot Trail.
Day Three
We chose to travel the Cabot Trail in a
clockwise direction. Why? Because then we would be on the inside
of the road with less chance of falling over the edge. After a suitable length of time, we
arrived at The Rusty Anchor in Pleasant Bay at the top end of the island. I had my first lobster roll;
delicious. We spent the afternoon
coming down the other side of the island finishing up at Ingonish. There have been lots of leaves ranging
in colour from yellow to orange to red.
I love it.
Day Four
28-Sep-2013
Continuing on The Trail, we ended up at Ben
Eion (betcha can’t pronounce it).
Most of the signs in Cape Breton are in English and Gaelic. The language had nearly died out but
there is an attempt to resurrect it now.
If the French can have French, the Celts can have Gaelic. We went to Ben Eion because Jane has a
friend from college days who, with her husband, has built a lodge with rooms to
rent. She and Jane were gabbing
away like old “X” girls, playing catch up. I had a nap.
They have a dining room at the lodge so we stayed in for dinner. It was the best meal of the trip. The chef is Danish and he makes
wonderful food. Another good sleep
tonight.
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| This is Rita McNeil a Cape Breton singer. She's dead and her ashes are in the teapot! |
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| Coming off the boat to PEI |
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| My story book heroine |
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| Anne's bedroom |
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| Nine mile bridge to New Brunswick |
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The barn at Ben Eoin
Day Five
29-Sep-2013
We drove from Ben Eoin to Caribou and got
on the ferry to PEI. Then over to
Charlottetown to spend the night with Jane’s friends Aldene and Bob
Corrigan. We went out for a
meal. We had bevies and a good
sleep. The next morning we went up
to Cavendish for Anne of Green Gables.
It was my favourite childhood book so I much enjoyed the visit. Then we were off to Moncton. There is a nine mile bridge from PEI to
NB and then not too far to Moncton.
We arrived at Jane’s at 4pm.
We cleaned up a bit and then went off to Sheila and Kelly McCarthy’s for
dinner.
It was an excursion that was perfect for me. My sister planned everything and did all the driving. She is pure gold.
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When we got on the train in Newcastle, it was full of young men and women dressed to the nines. I asked one of the blokes if they were going to a wedding. "Course not", he said, "we're going to the York races." I think it's their version of Ascot.
