11/06: Louisbourg Scenic Drive
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
When we visited Nova Scotia about 30 years ago we toured the Fortress of Louisbourg but nothing else in that area. So this time we skipped the fort and toured the area. Here we found the picturesque Nova Scotia we remembered.
On the edge of town is the harbour.
Not far from town is scenic lookout. From here you could see the fort, the lighthouse and the rocky shoreline.
At the lighthouse is a trail that follows the coast for several kilometres. We were advised by a young woman walking a chocolate lab to turn around at the loop at 1.5 kilometres as the black flies were bad beyond that. Sounded like good advise to us. Lots of great views of the rocky coastline on the hike.
Leaving Louisbourg we headed north along the coast to Glace Bay. Along the way we found several picturesque towns.
and lots of lobster traps both in and out of the water. It is lobster season after all.
In Glace Bay we stop at the Marconi National Historic Site, unfortunately the museum was closed (it's only open in July and August). In 1902, the first official wireless message was sent from this site across the Atlantic Ocean to England.
Returning to the trailer we started packing up. Tonight we were leaving on the 11:45 ferry to Newfoundland and needed to be at the ferry docks by 9:00pm. We were told that it takes two hours to load the ferry --- I think there were somewhere between 50 and 100 tractor trailers to be loaded plus all the cars and recreational vehicles.
Boarding the ferry. The ferry's are the size of large cruise ships with three levels for vehicles and three levels for passengers. One level has private cabins, another level has reserved seating reclining chairs and the last level has a restaurant, bar, and open seating with reclining chairs but not as nice as the reserved seating. Dogs can either be put in crate in the kennel room or left in your vehicle --- Zaph opted to stay in the trailer as it is much nicer than a crate. We had opted for open seating but wandered into reserved seating as it wasn't busy. Turned out it was quieter and dimmer and we were able to get several hours of sleep.
On the edge of town is the harbour.
Not far from town is scenic lookout. From here you could see the fort, the lighthouse and the rocky shoreline.
At the lighthouse is a trail that follows the coast for several kilometres. We were advised by a young woman walking a chocolate lab to turn around at the loop at 1.5 kilometres as the black flies were bad beyond that. Sounded like good advise to us. Lots of great views of the rocky coastline on the hike.
Leaving Louisbourg we headed north along the coast to Glace Bay. Along the way we found several picturesque towns.
and lots of lobster traps both in and out of the water. It is lobster season after all.
In Glace Bay we stop at the Marconi National Historic Site, unfortunately the museum was closed (it's only open in July and August). In 1902, the first official wireless message was sent from this site across the Atlantic Ocean to England.
Returning to the trailer we started packing up. Tonight we were leaving on the 11:45 ferry to Newfoundland and needed to be at the ferry docks by 9:00pm. We were told that it takes two hours to load the ferry --- I think there were somewhere between 50 and 100 tractor trailers to be loaded plus all the cars and recreational vehicles.
Boarding the ferry. The ferry's are the size of large cruise ships with three levels for vehicles and three levels for passengers. One level has private cabins, another level has reserved seating reclining chairs and the last level has a restaurant, bar, and open seating with reclining chairs but not as nice as the reserved seating. Dogs can either be put in crate in the kennel room or left in your vehicle --- Zaph opted to stay in the trailer as it is much nicer than a crate. We had opted for open seating but wandered into reserved seating as it wasn't busy. Turned out it was quieter and dimmer and we were able to get several hours of sleep.