Nova Scotia – From Halifax to Cape Breton

I was quite lazy this year when it comes to blogging – even the successful outcomes of the rallies this spring where I defended my titles (Brit Butt Rally, Magic 12 Rally) I did not consider worthy to report. But now I am on a short trip across the pond – something that does not occur every day.

I had to attend a conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada for a few days. Together with two colleagues, I presented our work at the BERM16, a scientific conference on reference materials that is the core business of what we do. It was a good and pleasant meeting with enriching exchanges and luckily, some months ago, I had a cunning idea to make the most out of this trip. I thought it would be a good idea to add a few days, rent a motorbike and discover Nova Scotia, a region somewhat “off the beaten track” in terms of motorbiking holidays. I had biked in Canada on my on XBR during the Iron Butt Rally in 2013, but I only got as far as Ontario and Quebec.

It was not that easy to find a place that rents motorbikes in Nova Scotia and ultimately there is only one place – Brookspeed Motorcycles in a remote location east of Truro. I reserved well in advance and the challenge was rather to organise the transport from downtown Halifax to there which was 70 min away. In found also a solution for this by arranging my first ever Uber ride. I had an entertaining chat with the driver from Ghana who dropped me off at 9:15 in the morning. Nigel the owner was already waiting and the bike, a Honda ST1300, was already waiting for me.

But before I would set off I had almost one hour of petrol talk with Nigel. I had brought my gear in a separate suitcase and packed my little luggage needed for the four days trip. The weather was great and quite warm for this part of the world. The V4 was humming when I headed eastwards towards Cape Breton, the island to the east of Nova Scotia. I spotted a sign of a memorial, parked the bike and walked to the beach where a memorial for the battle of Culloden was placed. The sign had sparked my curiosity. I had passed Culloden (to the east of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands) twice during rallies; it marked the end of Scottish struggle for independence when the Scottish lost this decisive battle against the English in 1746. It may seem strange to find such a memorial here, but it demonstrates the strong Gaelic heritage of this region, both Scottish and Irish, that still marks Nova Scotia (“New Scotland”) to this day. Many Scottish emigrated to the New World and settled here.

I followed Nigel’s advice to make a detour to Cape George. Sea views, bays, forests and small settlements lined my way and I enjoyed the views from the lighthouse at the Cape on the shores of Cape Breton on the opposite side.

In Antigonish I stopped at a Tim Horton’s for a sandwich and something to drink. A short break, the plan of this trip is to have a relaxed ride, to have a break from all these rides under time pressure. I crossed the Canso Strait and entered Cape Breton. I decided to ride on the West Coast. In general, there is a lot of nature, few houses and little infrastructure. In a way it is comparable to rural Scotland or Northern Scandinavia. I made good progress as average is decent, despite the low speed limits: as there are no towns and no traffic, riding speed is constant. In Mabou, I decided to fill up early, as petrol stations are scarce. I went up further north until I turned eastwards, I had plenty of time on my hands today, although I had to arrive before 6 p.m. at my hotel today. I passed Lake Ainslie until I reached Whycocomagh at an arm of the Lake Bras d’Or, a large estuary in the centre of Cape Breton, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The views on the lake are quite nice and when I reached Baddeck, I expected a large touristic town. Well, it is touristic in a way, but much smaller than expected. You see a lot of names in Gaelic on the island, including all the town names. The roads I was riding on today had poetic names – the Sunrise Trail, the Ceilidh Trail…the largest one is reserved for tomorrow/ the Cabot Trail.

I arrived well in time at my hotel, the Chanterelle Inn. I had selected it as it is a small, private-run hotel with exceptional food. A small, but very cozy and friendly place. I had a longer chat with the owner when it turned out he was from Germany! We shared funny expat stories and soon I had to enter my plush room to have a short shower before the dinner would start at 6:30 sharply. There are only few guests and all dishes of the menus are served at the same time. A very familiar atmosphere. Excellent food (I took the degustation menu) with only local wines from Nova Scotia (surprisingly good!). A true gem.

Tomorrow I will ride the Cabot Trail, I don’t know yet if clockwise or counter-clockwise, this depends on the short-term weather forecast tomorrow.