Day 35 - The Cabot Trail

Took two days to do Cape Breton's Cabot Trail, a loop through what has to be one of Canada's top natural wonders. For my Albertan friends, I would compare The Cape to the Rockies with the Atlantic ocean in place of the foothills. It's quite an adventure driving around the island, perched on narrow roads winding through switchbacks that seem like they'll never end; That is until that last switch brings you over the top of the mountain and leaves you looking 300m down a mind-bogglingly steep valley. I don't have any photos from the top... I was too busy screaming in terror. The guardrails did little to dissuade the utterance of certain words that mom would've slapped me for if she had been in the car with me.

Don't get me wrong though, it really was beautiful though. These are some of the shots from around the trail and near the end of the day along the Bras d'Or Lake near Baddeck, home of Alexander Graham Bell (most awesome inventor ever).

Musings

I don’t have many photos from the weekend or my first day here in Nova Scotia. There was no lack of interesting scenes and subjects, simply a lack of will on my part to pull the camera out. With Daniel here, I was both a tourist and a tour guide. As were walking around, it felt right to be snapping photos left, right, and centre to capture what we were seeing. It’s not the same when I’m on my own.

I love sharing experiences with people, and I’m so glad that my photography has opened up opportunities for people to live vicariously through my lens; But there are some things that just cannot be captured. As I stood on the balcony of my B&B in Cheticamp tonight, watching the last remnants of the sun skimming across the bottoms of the flowing and billowing clouds, I didn’t bother to get my camera out. My camera can’t capture colors of that intensity. Nor can it capture the cool wind blowing through the valley, carefully perfumed by the wood-burning stoves of the town, the various blooms in the fields of wild-flowers, the freshly cut grass on the neighbour’s acreage, and the salty ocean spray from the harbor just over the hill. Were I to take that photo, all you would see is a cheap facsimile of but one facet of an otherwise rich, dynamic, and beautiful scene.

When we’ve seen something beautiful, our understanding and appreciation of beauty is expanded. It’s a language that we become more fluent in as we experience those beautiful details of the world. Why was I so passionate about bringing friends along with me on this trip? Because I would then have others who would understand the PEI/maritimes dialect of beauty! I’ll come back and talk about what I experienced, and you’ll try to understand it in the terms of your own experiences, and the story will lose something along the way. The beauty of the island is not better than the caribbean, the rocky mountains, south america, europe, or anywhere else that my friends of been; It’s simply different. Just as I struggle to comprehend the beauty of the places that they have all been to, I know that they will struggle to fully comprehend the beauty of what I’ve seen. I wanted to bring you with me so that we could have that shared language, that common knowledge of a beauty that we can remember, remark upon, and discuss with full confidence that we're actually talking about the same thing.

I honestly wish more people had been able to make the trip with me. I was glad to have Daniel along with me and I hope that he found the experience to be enjoyable and enriching. I’m glad to have another person fluent in the beauty of PEI. Who’s next?

(Details and photos from today's trip through the Cabot Trail will be posted in the next day or two. I'm tired and I'm going to bed.)

Day 34 - Leaving the island

If I told you that I cried, would I be less of a man?

Yes, yes I would, but one can’t run from the truth.

Confronted with the reality of leaving the island, making that final drive through the rolling hills and along the glorious coast, I actually shed a few tears. Not bawling, not crying out, but I totally teared up at sight of all of that beauty in my rear-view mirror.

On my last full day on the island, I went for a long drive to nowhere in particular up along the northeast coast. Finally found a heron that would stand still long enough for one photo (he then flew off); Spent a few minutes wandering the overgrown grounds of an abandoned church; Stopped at every harbor along the way to smell the sea air and watch the boats bobbing gently beside the pier; And, finally, I ended up on a little road that promised a harbor but didn’t lead anywhere... except for here:


Picture a beautiful red-clay country road that gradually turns to sand as it brings you to a narrow gap between two sand-dunes framing the roaring ocean breaking on the seemingly endless beach. I parked my car, called my mom, and told her right out that she was lucky that I missed her so much. I had found my happy place, and the only thing that could possibly tear me away from it is the overwhelming desire to see my family and friends again soon.

That pretty much sums up my time on the island. I had gone out there to both vacation and job hunt. It became evident early on that job hunting just wasn’t going to happen. Even if I did actually make contact with the people that I wanted to, it would have been in vain. I honestly don’t think I could make the move away from my family and friends. If I ever marry, maybe it’ll be to a girl with a similar love for the island and we’ll make the move together. Maybe my friend will give in to my petitions and move his film studio out here, then I’ll have a job and a good starting base of friends. Or maybe my parents will give into the temptation and build their retirement home one a bluff overlooking a harbour. All I know is that I cannot, at this point in my life anyway, bring myself to be away from everyone I know and love. The island will have to remain a regular (yearly?) vacation destination.

Anyway, here are some photos from my last days on the island:

Day 29 - Departures and Sunsets

Today was Daniel's last day on the island.
My initial plan for the trip was for two-months completely on my own. Needless to say, it only took me a few days of planning to realize that this really wasn't feasible (I may not be an extrovert... but I need my people!). When I sent out the initial invitations, Daniel was one of only two people who actually expressed any interest in joining me. In the end, he was the only one to actually make the trip. I'm glad he did. It only took one evening alone on the beach after sunset for me to realize that I appreciate company when in situations where I can easily freak myself out. Beaches, as lovely as they are, can be absolutely creepy when empty and dark. I'm glad that I had a friend to drag along with me for the post-sunset beach walks and photo adventures.

We figured he needed to get back in to the Atlantic before he left. Unfortunately, the thermometer was sitting at about 10-degrees or so, drizzle was falling, a cool north wind was blowing, and there were one to two-foot breakers hitting the shore. Perfect weather for some beach walking, bird chasing, and ocean-wading.







Nothing like wading in the ocean in weather like that. Felt all manly until the first wave hit, at which point our Tim-"The Toolman"-Taylor-grunts turned in to something resembling the screams of tween girls at a concert.






After a last drive along the cliffs of Cavendish out to Rustico, Daniel packed up his stuff and we headed out to the airport. After dropping him off, I rushed out to the end of the runway and caught his plane on take-off.




And it just so happened that his 6:45PM departure aligned perfectly with the sunset. Haven't seen one like this yet on this trip.

Day 28 - Deep Sea Fishing and Ceilidh!

Went deep sea fishing today. If you're ever visiting the island, be sure to check out Aiden's Deep Sea Fishing of North Rustico. Excellent service, knowledgeable crew, and well-maintained vessels.

Oddly enough, I have no photos of actual fishing. Our time on the boat was taken up with either fishing or motoring from spot to spot (with considerable salt-water spray), neither allowed for much changing of lenses. It was only on our way out and the way back to the harbor that I snapped some shots.










If you don't like birds... don't go deep sea fishing. When the first-mate started filleting the fish, the boat was enveloped in a cloud of 40 to 50 seagulls hovering and swooping, sometimes less than a metre away from us. I thought it was cool, but I know that my ornithophobic sister would not have appreciated it. The cloud dispersed somewhat as we went from spot to spot, but our trip back in to the harbor saw about 15 birds flying in formation behind and beside us.


Tonight was the last Brackley Beach ceilidh of the season. Had the opportunity to listen to Cynthia Macleod, Eddie Quinn, Jon Matthews, and Gordon Belsher, four of the island's most talented musicians on stage. It was absolutely amazing.

To top it all off, I got the shot that I've wanted since we first attended this ceilidh last summer.


And it only took me six ceilidhs! haha

Day 27 - Light Painting at Cove Head

30-second exposure
3-million candle-power spotlight ($19 from Princess Auto!)

I like the effect. I definitely look forward to trying this more in the future.
Absolutely no processing done on these photos (first photo shows the ambient light).

Day 24 - New Glasgow Lobster Suppers

I must apologize right from the start for your four untouched senses. If I had a way to share the smells, sounds, textures, and, most importantly, tastes of the New Glasgow Lobster Supper, I assure you that I would. In their absence though, you'll simply have to extrapolate such details from these photos:

Day 21 - Brackley Beach Ceilidh

Just down the street from the hotel is the Brackley Beach Community Hall, home of a Ceilidh hosted by Cynthia MacLeod and a variety of other musical islanders. Always an enjoyable evening.