Celebrate Canada 2010 – defining Canada's cultural tapestry in 2010

May 15, 2009

Days 228 of a 365-Day Portrait Of Canada: The Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Cabot trail

Judging by the smashed and scarred guard rails, plenty of people’s lives have been saved from plunging over this 120 foot cliff.

cabot trail road

South Harbour Beach is an untouched natural area. Few beaches in Nova Scotia can come close to the quality of beaches and natural areas as the Cabot Trail.

 

Cabot trail may 15th_15

Cabot trail may 15th_16

cedar shake barn

 

Smelt Brook garbage dump is the ocean!

Cabot trail may 15th_14

Cabot Landing

cabot landing monument

Aspy Bay Beach At Cabot Landing

cabot landing waves crashing

cabots landing looking at money point

Sugar Loaf Mountain from Cabot Landing

Cabot trail may 15th_27

 

 

 

 

Days 227 of a 365-Day Portrait Of Canada: The Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Please Note – The cellphone towers aren’t so frequent in the small fishing villages along the Cabot Trail, so sorry for not being able to update the blog daily. Please check back to see more from the Cabot trail in the next 48 hours. It’s raining cats and spitting dogs, but we’ll be able to find something to photograph, providing the wind hasn’t blown it across the highway or into the sea.

Cabot rail may 14th_1

Fly Fishing Near Ingonish

fly fishing on the cabot trail

View From Little Smokey Mountain

Cabot rail may 14th_4

Cabot rail may 14th_3

Waves breaking on the cabot trail

No one told me the roads were so hilly and curvy on the Cabot Trail, which might have been a good thing, because it would have intimidated me knowing what hazards lay ahead. This is a good stretch of pavement, much of the Cabot Trail is just that…a trail, with potholes and pushed out sections all joining together to make one big suspension-busting experience.

Cabot rail may 14th_2

A Canadian flag greets this family at the entrance way to their home. Cape Bretoner’s fly the Canadian flag everywhere.

Cabot Trail Canadian Flag

Neil’s harbour is a classic Cape Breton fishing village along the Cabot Trail. Lobster season is set to open tomorrow and there is a buzz in the air with everyone getting their boats, fishing gear and minute by minute weather reports  for the 5 AM start. With Lobster being the main economic generator, each of the 60 days that the Lobster season is open is important. Fishermen will check the traps each day for the first couple of weeks and then every other day after that, with the lobster numbers decreasing steadily over the 60 days.

lighthouse road sign neil's harbour

neil's harbour lighthouse

Cabot trail may 15th_2

Young Ben and his father cut up mackerel for bait used in the lobster traps.

Cabot trail may 15th_1

High School is out for the days leading up to the opening of the Lobster season, and everyone has to help out however they can. These boys help bait each of the 275 traps. A smelly job.

cabot trail_5

Baiting the traps which are to be set tomorrow.

Cabot trail may 15th_3

Opening morning of the lobster fishing season, I arrive at the wharf at 5:08 AM to photograph the boats leaving the harbour, but I’m eight whole minutes late and the entire harbour is empty. Out at sea, around Neil’s Harbour I can see the fishing boats bobbing up and down in the four foot swells. It’s a windy morning, making it even more of a pain to set the lobster traps off the side of the boats. Each boat is loaded to capacity with lobster traps which weigh in at 100 pounds.

neil harbour 5 o'clock start to the day

Hazards are around every corner, with the winds reaching 35 km/hr even the most seasoned fisherman must keep a keen eye out for rocks and other boats.

neil harbour fishing by rocks

Sunrise over Neil’s Harbour

sunrise at neil's harbour

Heading out to sea with a second batch of traps. Each fishermen is allowed 275 Lobster traps.

Cabot trail may 15th_12

Tying Down the Lobster Traps

Cabot trail may 15th_9

Everyone gets involved on the first day of Lobster season.

cabot trail_6

High School kids throw a Grad BBQ down at Neil’s Harbour to raise funds for their Grad.

Cabot trail may 15th_13

Flag Of The Day

Cabot trail may 15th_6

 

Blog at WordPress.com.