Destination Cheticamp and the beginning of the Cabot Trail

11th September 2022

Map of Cape Breton Island 

 We continue on in Nova Scotia today heading North towards Cape Breton and the beginning of the Cabot Trail, purportedly one of the great ocean drives.

 

After leaving Halifax at around 8.45 am, the first part of the trip is driving on motorways through heavily forested countryside, with occasional glimpses of the ocean and some of the many lakes that are common here. Eventually we reach the Canso Causeway, which connects Cape Breton Island to the Nova Scotia Peninsula. 

 

On the island side of the Causeway we called in to a tourist information centre and collected some maps an brochures to help us navigate our way along the Cabot Trail for the next few days. The information centre was at Port Hastings, which is the beginning of the Cellidh Trail which is a scenic trail along the Gulf of St Lawrence where the Scottish heritage of the area is very prominent. It is also a region known as the music coast, with Celtic music a major attraction. The lady at the information centre told us that there was live music at Le Gabriel Pub in Cheticamp tonight if we were interested.

Canso Causeway

Tourist Information Centre Port Hawkesbury

 

For the first time since arriving in Nova Scotia we began to see agriculture and livestock. Along this trail, as well as great ocean scenery, we saw many farms and some evidence of a dairy industry. Villages and landmarks all had Celtic names and much of the scenery looked similar to the Scottish and Irish coastlines. 

 

Finding a spot for lunch was a bit of a challenge as we are travelling on a Sunday, and most of the villages are pretty small and not much is open. We decide we will stop at Inverness, which looks like a significant town. Once we are there the options are limited and eventually we stop at a fast food franchise called Robins and bought a sandwich. It was pretty run down and the food was basic, but it filled our stomach and we moved on.

Robins Fast Food Inverness

 

Soon after we left Inverness, the Cellidh Trail joined up to the Cabot Trail, and we continued on to our overnight destination. Cheticamp is a much larger settlement by the sea with a fishing industry and much better set up for tourists. It is a French Arcadian community, with strong Celtic influences. Our overnight accommodation is at a small boutique inn called Maison Fiset House. The rooms are large and very comfortable.

Maison Fiset House

 

Once settled in and after a quick orientation drive around the area, I set out on foot along the waterfront to check it out in more detail.

The beach at Cheticamp

Fishing Fleet

Boardwalk along the waterfront

The Church is the dominant structure in town

 

Dinner has been booked for 7.15pm at L’Abri Restaurant, and along the way we decide to stop in at Le Gabriel bar to check out the local live music. A fiddler and an organ player played some great Celtic music, which we eventually had to leave to meet our dinner booking time.

Le Gabriel Bar and Restaurant

Celtic Musicians at Le Gabriel

The decor of Le Gabriel was interesting with lots of sports memorabilia and a moose's head, decorating the walls of the bar. Whilst we were admiring the moose head, the gentlemen who had shot the moose and mounted the head came to talk to us, obviously in response to John's strong interest. We think he is the owner of Le Gabriel and he was very affable and keen to give us the history of the moose head.

John with a moose head mounted on the wall at Le Gabriel

 

L’Abri was not as flash a restaurant as it looked from the outside, with a menu that was more like that of a diner than a restaurant. They had run out of salmon, which was one of the more appealing menu items. Nevertheless we managed to find something to eat and the serves were generous and food quality not bad.

 

Tomorrow we continue our journey along the Cabot Trail to Ingonish where we will spend 2 nights. We are told that the best parts of the trail are ahead of us.