Indian Point Beach Hike: After two days of driving (1900km) with my friend Mirela, getting to Nova Scotia and spending the night just before Cape Breton, we did our first morning hike to a beach starting at a little cemetery just north of Judique. The trail led to an old pioneer cemetery with unmarked graves and along beautiful boardwalks to a pebble beach. It was wonderful to have this long beach all to ourselves and enjoy our first morning on Cape Breton!

Sutherlands Cove Beach Hike: This hidden beach was high on my list and I'm glad that we found it. It is near West Mabou and an unmarked trail off the gravel road (which was a beautiful drive!) near a house takes you to it. The walk down on a wide grassy path was easy, being downhill, but less so coming back being uphill all the way with the temperatures rising high already early in the day. It was worth it however because the beach is one of the most stunning ones that I have ever visited; beautiful sand, dunes, grass, roses, clear waters. We spent about an hour relaxing and sun tanning here.

West Mabou Beach: On the way back from Sutherlands Cove, we stopped at the West Mabou Beach which is in a Provincial Park. Unlike the previous unmarked beach, there are parking lots here and it was quite busy, but most of the people were concentrated at the foot of the very short path to the beach so it's easy to walk away if you want a quiet spot. This beach has absolutely amazing sand and also has a nice lookout from above with picnic tables. It's a perfect beach for swimming and kids, and close to the main road. We loved walking along it in the water.

Whale Cove: In Dunvegan we took #219, which follows closer to the water than the Cabot Trail, and went on the little side road to the Calvin United Church Whale Cove Cemetery which ends in a little parking lot with some nice short paths around the point overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the beach at Whale Cove. Had a beer here which we just purchased at Route 19 brewery and rested for a bit.

Petit Etang Beach: We stopped at this beach as it was one of the camping spots that I had in mind for the first night. The views here were beautiful and it is located just south of Cape Breton National Park - the mountains visible from here are in the park. The beach has a lake on the other side of the sand/rock bar. The waves, sounds and warmth were amazing, however, since the sun was still a bit high and no shade available, after our long and hot day, we decided to drive with the AC on for another ~40km north to Pleasant Bay, which would give the sun some time to dip lower and we could also enjoy the amazing afternoon light on some of the best views along the Cabot Trail.

Cabot Trail and Camping in Pleasant Bay: The views from the road along this section were stunning, and hard to show with a few pics so we enjoyed them mostly with our eyes. We stopped at one stop and explored a little picnic stop. The road has many turns and impressive gains and drops in elevation! After getting to Pleasant Bay we found St. Andrew's Church which was our destination for the night. Near the church overlooking the beach (and the small town to the left) we set up for the night. Unfortunately the winds were a bit strong and the fly kept flapping around, some local decided to drive around after midnight on an ATV and we had a very poor sleep here after being tired by the sun all day long.

Gampo Abbey: We started our second day very early (since we got little sleep anyhow!) and headed off along the gravel road north of Pleasant Bay to explore the grounds of Gampo Abbey, a Buddhist abbey located on the cliffs of north-western Cape Breton basically at the end of the road. The monks were still sleeping so we walked and sat around enjoying the peaceful setting and amazing views in every direction. After we drove just a bit further north to find the parking where the trail to Pollett's Cove begins.

The Lone Shieling: Back on the main road we stopped for coffee at a little motel/restaurant and then did the short hike to this interesting historical site. This is a Scottish-style sheep crofters hut (also known as a bothan or shieling). Built in 1942, it is one of the earliest structures in the park. It was constructed in the same design or plan as the lone shieling on the Island of Skye in Scotland and it sure did bring back memories of my trips to the region!

Campground and South Harbour Beach: We went to secure a camping spot for the night at the beautiful Hide Away Campground and then proceeded down the road to find the access to the unmarked South Harbour Beach. The road was a bit bumpy and we parked a few hundred meters before the end (near a tiny cemetery across from the parking spot) and walked the last section. It was very hot so we only stayed for a few minutes and decided to come back and spend more time here in the evening.

Dingwall Beach: After eating and cooling off in the shade at our campsite, we drove to Dingwall from where I sent a postcard to my little sister in Calgary and then headed off for the nearby Dingwall Beach. There was a little harbour on the way with ships and a small lighthouse across the bay which we investigated. The beach itself was amazing, very long, super fine sand, lake on the other side, calming waves and we got to see our first jellyfish. There were several dead ones floating around in the clear water. The view to the West was onto Cape North, the northernmost point in Cape Breton and Nova Scotia, making this a very special place (I took a rock to remember it better). It was super hot so we walked along the beach for a bit and headed back to our campground.

Sunset at South Harbour Beach: After again cooling off at our campsite (which has a large skull of some creature, maybe a whale), we headed back down the road, this time driving all the way around the large potholes to this amazing hidden beach to enjoy the sunset. It was a hot day and after splashing around (and not seeing any jellyfish...) I jumped in and did some swimming here. The water was fairly cold,but refreshing. We walked along the beach, relaxed and waited for the sunset.

White Point Hike: Our third morning begun with a drive to the little town of White Point (road sign was missing, so we almost missed the turn off) and a hike which begins at the end of a very short and rough gravel road (you can park at the harbour and walk from there). The trail starts uphill for a while with amazing views to the north, until you reach the top from which you can see the point. From there we hard some very strange and loud noises which turned out to be walrus! They were sitting on rocks in the ocean and at one point started to fight. The trail is great and gives beautiful views all around. I went down to the beach separating the end end of the point. This trail continues south to Burnt Cove along the coast (~1km).

Jack Pine Hike: Next we stopped at the hike which goes to a "squeaker hole". The trail was very different, going through a pine forest and had very nice boardwalks. We got to the ocean in ~15min with some nice view. The waves were not very large but this spot must be exciting when they are!

Tarbotvale Pool: After a beautiful drive along the East side of Cape Breton Highlands, we had an hour before checking in to our place so we stopped to eat and headed for a short drive on a gravel road to a bridge over a river. It was a beautiful spot in a valley. On the way to our room at Rumi Guest House, we stopped at Cabotto Chocolates to get some snacks!

Red Island Trail Hike: After a nice shower and some food outside, we headed to St. Ann's Church where the Red Island trail begins. This was a wonderful trail along MacDonald's Big Pond which eventually takes you to the stony beach from which we enjoyed a beautiful sunet behind the mountain before heading back as it was getting darker. There is a bit of a drop off when the trail hits the beach and rope to help you get back up, but you can walk 10m north in the forest to gain much easier access. This would be a great camping spot that is worth exploring more to the north.

Gooseberry Cove: Waking up early again after an excellent sleep we drove to the south-east corner of Cape Breton to visit a place that was high on my list. The weather was clear, sunny and already warm for most of our drive until we hit the coast, at which point we entered beautiful fog and cooler temperatures. We parked by the side of the road and walked ~300m along the gravel road to the cove. The view was amazing and reminded me of a place I stopped by in Iceland when it was foggy, although there was more "colour" here since the beach and rocks in Iceland were all black! We walked along the beach and played around with the strange things that washed up on the shore.

Louisbourg Lighthouse: Driving west along the coast, the fog continued and we ended up at the beautiful lighthouse at the end of the road just before town. Turns out there is an excellent path along the shore here from the lighthouse parking lot and we walked a bit along it and sat on the bench to enjoy the views of the waves crashing on the rocks. We then went to town and luckily there was no fog there so we got to see the pretty colourful houses and stopped for the best fish & chips at the Red Bus food truck behind the General Store. They were also the cheapest we had on the entire trip (cash only).

Gabarus: What followed Louisbourg was one of the best drives of my life. We headed back north on #22 and then did a shortcut on a road from Albert Bridge through Trout Brook to #327. The road is labeled "Trout Brook" and is right beside a Shell gas station. It's the most fun and twisty road I have ever driven on, and I don't think we have seen a single car on it! After a bit of fun (that is, driving) we arrived at the beautiful little (and very quiet) town of Gabarus. Here we spent a bit of time watching the waves on the empty pebble beach and then visited the little lighthouse.

Belfry Beach: Our final destination in Cape Breton, a short distance to the West from Gabarus, was Belfry Beach. Once again we were in thick fog which made this beach look very cool! We sat here for a while and I explored to the East, going to the first point, beyond which the beach continues. This was a great location with good camping spots. I took some sand home as a souvenir. After this beach we headed off of Cape Breton to stay on the south shore of Nova Scotia and to have a bit shorter drive on the way home. After a fun drive - especially by the coast - we reached our campsite at Murphy's Campground near Pleasant Harbour in the evening.

Martinique Beach: We had a good night of sleep at the campground while it rained a bit overnight. Waking up to another foggy morning we drove a bit West to this beach, which was shrouded in mist! The beach is wide, long and shallow, making the waves crash with a loud noise. We walked along it and sat for a while, listening to the waves and seeing a few people emerge from or vanish into the mist once in a while, as if they were ghosts.

Bull Beach: After getting back to our campsite and having a bit to eat we headed out for our last trip, to Taylor Head Provincial Park. The objective was to investigate the first beach there and it proved fruitful. This smaller beach is usually passed on by people who drive all the way to the end to the larger beach, so we had it all to ourselves and stayed there sun tanning and walking back and forth for about 2h until the late afternoon. The clouds, light, colours and temperature were simply perfect, as well as the sound of the waves. We had a great shady spot at the very south end of the beach as the sun was already somewhat low. An amazing way to end our adventure.