Antigonish to Port Hawkesbury

We very gratefully accepted a lift back to Antigonish (with our bikes in an attached trailer), where John and Alison were making a regular visit to the Saturday Farmer’s Market. We all had breakfast at Tall and Small before we headed out. Highway #4 offered a quiet and very enjoyable alternative to the TCH for most of the way to the Canso Causeway. A  cyclist from the UK, who had ridden  from Victoria via Prince Rupert, overtook us and we chatted while on the TCH stretch. The sun came out and we ate our lunch sitting on a beach looking out into Havre Boucher. Just before Cape Breton, we rejoined the TCH and crossed the Causeway. As we were stopped to look at the locks, a  wedding party arrived for photos, the men all in kilts. The mother of the bride stopped traffic in both directions so that they could go to a suitable scenic spot across the road and which enabled us to easily cross back into the lane going east!
We arrived at our bed and breakfast overlooking Port Hawkesbury Harbour and enjoyed the views in the late afternoon sunshine.

In two days, we will be on the ferry to Newfoundland, with only another two days of cycling after that to St. John’s.  This adventure is rapidly coming to an end!

Notes on Port Hawkesbury: The port is the second largest by tonnage in Canada, due to large volumes of crushed rock and gravel and oil trans-shipments. It is also the hometown of Lynn Coady, one of Lois’ favourite authors.

We are on the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq People, specifically the District of Onamag. We passed through the community of Paq’tnkek.