Rockport ME

 Last day of the trip. A relatively short drive, short hike, short ocean walk and it's a wrap. We stopped near Camden and went on the Mt Battie Trail. Nice steep 2 mile RT hike that gets you up above the ocean with great views of Camden, the wide open ocean, and the surrounding area. 360 views from the stone tower at the top. 

Then a walk around Rockport. The town had a lot of industry in the early 1900's. Lime production and ship building mostly. Today it appears to be mostly tourism. The port is well protected and has a lobster boat fleet and many leisure craft. 

We got very lucky with the weather on this trip. Some rain at night but no weather that caused any changes of plans. Great travels to Digby area, Lunenburg, and Cape Bretton. Great to visit with Susie and Bryan for the first half of the trip.

Mt Battie Trail:

Rockport:

St Andrews, NB

 

Today we drove from Ingonish NS to St Andrews NB. We have stayed in St Andrews a few times. It is a great place to break up a trip to/from Canada. Nice campground, nice oceanfront downtown, walking trails, gardens, and island only accessible by road at low tide. We didn't have much time this trip but did manage to walk around town and have dinner at one of the restaurants. 

A good day even though it was 8 hours of driving.

Driving to St Andrews:

St Andrews:

Algonquin Hotel we wandered around:

Pretty much the same menu as what Holly cooked at the campground last night:

  Deer are everywhere in St Andrews:

  

   Haddock soup:

Ingonish Area Cape Breton

 

This is the Atlantic side of Cape Breton National Park. Lots of ocean trails and also pull offs with sweeping ocean views. The day opened with a dead battery in the van. With the help of a jump from another camper and a great service station we were ready for the day two hours after we discovered the problem. The service person was great. Wish he was located near us! Lots of friendly helpful people to start the day. 

The first hike was Middle Head Trail. Nice ocean views on both sides as the trail went out on a long point. This started at the Keltic Lodge which is a large old hotel. Next was White Point Trail which went out on another point. This one was wide open with short bushes and more of an open field look. Great ocean views the whole way. At the end of the day we went to Black Brook Cove. This has a number of hiking trails and also a large sand beach. We went on the Coastal Trail. Another great trail along the ocean which seemed to be the theme for today. There is a river and waterfall that comes into the side of the beach. After the hike we read books on the beach and watched the waves roll onto the beach. Just before sunset we walked to the beach at the campground. This is the Broad Cove campground right in the park. It has a long nice beach. We could have spent a half day here. Maybe next time!

This is the gas station that got us going this am. Lucky and thankful!