Day 8 - Pleasant Bay to Auld's Cove

We awoke to perfect weather! Beautiful blue skys without a cloud.

After a quick breakfast at the motel, we set off to the harbour at Pleasant Bay to board Captain Mark's boat for a whale watching cruise. Guess what ... WE SAW WHALES!

There was a pod/family of approximately 20 pilot whales within 30-40 feet of the boat. They were very gentle when they rose out of the water and went back down. There were a couple of babies following their mama. Along the shore we saw a few harbour and gray seals resting on the rocks. They were very hard to see because we could not get very close.

After leaving Pleasant Bay we headed west along the Cabot Trail to the Skyline hiking trail. During the hike to the top of the cliff Steve came across a mama moose and her babes and then a big bull moose. He came face to face with the bull moose right in the middle of the trail.  I think they scared / surprised each other; the moose stared Steve down and then started walking towards him. As Steve put it, all of a sudden the trail went dark with the size of the moose and its antlers filled the width of the trail. Steve gave the big guy a wide berth before he realized that the camera was not on and he had to get organized to take the picture and only managed to get a picture of his backside.

Mama

We continued on our way and left Cape Breton today. And yes, I did manage to bring Steve with me. He was not able to find a new house on such short notice :)!

We arrived this evening in Auld's Cove, just outside Mulgrave, the hometown of my grandparents. I spoke with Cousin Gail tonight and she had graciously arranged for a mini reunion tomorrow. I will have the opportunity to meet some MacDonald cousins (Dad's cousins, my first cousins once removed). I am so excited!

So MacDonalds, stay tuned for tomorrows blog to see pics of the 'fam!

From the road, S & S