Salsman Prov Park to Harbour Centre NS

Another short travel day today. It felt like we were off the touristy routes, rarely seeing another RV. Rainy and cloudy in the morning, it was still an enjoyable drive.

We were going to head for a smoked fish place we've been to before, St Mary's Smokehouse. Unfortunately a company bought them out in 2017, then closed the St Mary plant and outlet, moving production to Charlottetown PEI. We decided to take that route anyway, a nice mix of coastal and interior roads.

First we headed to a small ferry crossing. It runs every 1/2 hour so not long to wait:

Continuing on, we stopped in to a lighthouse in Port Bickerton. Surprisingly there were at least 10 other cars there, using up all the (limited) parking, so we didn't take a tour. 

We needed a Walmart break and some lunch, and Antigonish was on the way. From there we headed north to Cape George and some nice seaside views:

Love the wild rose hedgerows...

and the variety of plantings on the other side

Great sea views, as usual from a lighthouse

Over in the haze is the West coast of Cape Breton, and the Celtic Coast Trail

Very peaceful here

 

Just south of Cape George is Ballantyne's Cove, a mostly working harbour including tuna fishing in season (late Aug thru November). Apparently the legal tuna season changes each year to match when the tuna are showing up in the area:

Inside the Interpretive Centre

 

They had a nice display with a "3rd order dioptric, or freznel" lens, which would have historically been used in the lighthouse:

The large light in this picture...

... came from a standard household CFL bulb, magnified by the lens

Tonight we're staying at another Boondockers Welcome site, in Harbour Centre NS:

The view from our site tonight

Here is a map of today's route: