The end of the summer was wonderful. I got to go back to the small town of Pleasant Bay, Nova Scotia for another two weeks of fieldwork after my whirlwind trip out west to see family and sail. There were a few windy days where we visited the east side of the island and went on a few more hikes.
Above is a photo of Pleasant Bay as seen from the Cabot Trail. It is a wonderful little town with lots of history and whales!
As mentioned before, the winds were not always calm enough to go out on the water, so there was time to explore a bit more of the region. Above is a picture of the old gypsum mines near Cheticamp. They are now an amazing swimming hole for warm days. This was one of our stops after a nice hike.
We also visited some of the nice sand beaches on the east side of the island. Above is Neil's Harbour beach, which is a wonderful place to find all sorts of colourful sea glass. The sand is warm and fine, and the freshwater stream coming in gives this place the feel of some tropical island miles away from land. Neil's Harbour is an excellent stop along the Cabot Trial, and its beach is often quiet on weekdays.
The windy days also were the perfect opportunity to visit the local bog up in the Cape Breton Highlands just south of Pleasant Bay. It was the first time that I had ever seen a pitcher plant in the wild! Up above is the sundew plant which is very tiny and hard to spot. It feeds on small insects gnats and is a common sight in many bogs around the world (though the species my vary).
The bog itself was littered with small pools. These had tadpoles, lily pads, and more insect eating plants. It was truly a place where one felt removed from the busyness of everyday life. Best of all, there were places visible where moose had taken a nap in the long grass.
Above is a photo of a pitcher plant flower from the bog. Who knew that such a beautiful plant could also have such a magnificent flower? There are many other beautiful pictures I took at the bog, but alas there is not room on this blog for all of them.
After the last round of fieldwork in Cape Breton, my mom came to pick me up and take me to Halifax. We spent a few days exploring the Cabot Trail. This photo is from a field of sunflowers on the drive from Baddeck to Margaree. The explosion of colours is too much to simply drive past. When the time came to head back to the mainland, we left with heavy hearts.
Thank goodness the summer was not quite over when we got back to Halifax. After a pleasant trip to Peggy's Cove and a trip to see the famed shores of the Bay of Fundy, I finally settled into school and got down to work. So there concludes my summer. Even though the long sunny days are over, my adventures are ongoing. I will try to update the blog shortly on my fall wanderings (of which there have been many).
Fair Winds
