Nova Scotia: The race for the ferry

New Brunswick came and went very quickly. I cycled away from my relatives newly recovered and ready to tackle the leg that would take me through Nova Scotia to the ferry.

Now, I've been using Google maps for my general route throughout this trip. And, in general, it's been alright, far from perfect, but it has given me a fairly decent idea on a route for each day.

But it surpassed itself on a couple of occasions recently, taking me so far off the beaten track that there was practically no track left.

The first of two cases took place on that first day leaving Moncton. At first it took me out of the city and onto some lovely quiet country roads, and I was enjoying a lovely jaunt on a lovely sunny morning, the road quality still pretty good (I've found it becomes questionable very quickly as you leave the main highways). However this road rather suddenly became a dirt track with a sign proclaiming it to be a closed road. At this point, I consulted the map and found that it wasn't a particularly long road, so I thought 'how bad can it be?!' and proceeded anyway.

Well, I can now understand why this was a closed road, what a rollercoaster of pot holes, thick sand and some parts completed flooded, resulting in me having to walk through thick bushes around the edges of the water.

It took me about 45 minutes to cover less than 3 miles... not a great speed, but I did get to see a deer and her baby bound along the track for a good half a minute - I would say that was worth the times I had to drag my bicycle along this, for want of a better word, road!

The other time was much further up the road, after I had pedalled along the Northumberland coast of Nova Scotia, a beautiful part of the world with stunning seascapes, and  'warm beaches' - sadly not confirmed though - and plenty of Scotsburn ice cream. I even passed through a place called Pugwash, a UNESCO site named for it's importance as a meeting place for scientists during the Cold War for discussions on how to end the arms race, and, I'm sure, for being inspiration for a great children's television programme.

I had made it to the causeway that crosses over to Cape Breton, the last chunk of Nova Scotia and 'the mainland' of my trip. And Google maps was waiting to strike once again.

I had a leisurely day of riding ahead, an easy 60 miles with a bit of a hill in the way. So off I went, taking my time, enjoying the views and spending a long lunch break in Baddeck.

The people of Baddeck being terrorised by possibly the worst bagpiper I've ever had the misfortune to hear - zero pitching and no real tune made for painful listening!

After here my route was meant to come off the main highway and follow a slightly shorter way through the hills. So off I turned, once again onto a dirt track...but it didn't seem too bad so I pushed on...I kept looking out for the fork in the road, but when I looked back at the map, I'd missed it. I backtracked, and discovered that my 'road' was now an overgrown trail with a 'no trespassing' sign barring the entrance... great work Google!

Interesting intersection!

Fortunately I had not come more than a couple of miles off the main highway, so I managed to rejoin the highway with little difficulty and no significant loss of time. But I'm glad to say that of I've learnt anything on this trip, it's to take any route for bicycles with a huge pinch of salt!

I made it to the ferry terminal at North Sydney in good time; the title of this post is a little misleading. I guess I wanted to make it sound like exciting, 'down to the wire' cycling - 'will she make it?! - but alas, I actually had a comfortable four days to get to the ferry, my slightly obsessive need to be early for things is vastly exacerbated when it involves  public transport.

Beautiful views on the way to North Sydney

So it's the final push, one last province to go. I'm looking forward to my final days of this trek with great anticipation - everyone has told me what a magnificent place Newfoundland is, I can't wait to experience it for myself!