Thursday, July 6 part 2 - We did Signal Hill on Sunday, then had time to put in, as our ferry from Argentia was scheduled for the next afternoon. So despite the fog, we decided to head down the Irish Loop, which goes down and around the most south-easterly peninsula. We had heard that Ferrytown was a good place to see whales, so we stopped there, only to find that the fog was so thick, nothing could be seen on the sea. So, do we turn around and go back up and around, or carry on down and around. You have to look at a map of Nfld to know what I'm talking about.

Since we had not done the Loop last trip, we decided to carry on. The road was reputed to be pretty bad, but what the heck! On we went, and the road was actually better than expected, even on the other side, where we had been told the road was terrible. Turned out a lot of it had been recently repaved, so although there were stretches where you had to use both sides of the road to avoid serious potholes and road break-up, most of it was okay. One thing about driving two lane roads in the province is you learn to use both sides of the road, and hope the traffic allows it. Fortunately, the traffic was light, as it often is on the two-laners, so you can dodge and swerve to your heart's content.

We stopped at Mistaken Point, which is near Cape Race, location of a critical lighthouse and communications station. This is where the first signal of the Titanic's problems was picked up, and most interesting, Kathy O'Driscoll's grand-father worked at this center at the time, so was in on the first distress signal's receipt. Also of interest is that Mistaken Point is the site of some of the oldest fossils ever found anywhere in the world. Just happens that Queen's University has been heavily involved in doing research here, as it's a very important part of explaining the history of life on the planet.

On to St. Steven's, a small fishing center at the bottom of the peninsula, where we had been told by the lady running the cash at a Bay Bulls grocery store that she and her husband had been the day before to see whales. Listen to the locals. So we parked at the St. Steven's beach, and spent more than an hour, spotting several humpbacks surfacing and blowing, some quite near the beach. Could have free camped there, to continue the watch, but since we still had a fair distance to go to get to the ferry the next day, we went all the way back to the TCH to find a campsite. 'Twas a lovely drive along St. Mary's Bay as we drove north, so despite the odd bad stretch of road, we were glad we'd done the whole thing.

Next day, we continued on to Placentia, where we did a short walk on their boardwalk, remembered that Rex Murphy comes from the town next door, then headed for the ferry. Suffice it to say the ferry passage was smooth, and we had a nice little compartment for the night. We departed at 5 p.m., and disembarked in Sidney Mines at about 10 the next morning. Gail didn't sleep well, so that was the only negative about the crossing.

Despite her being tired, we drove from the ferry to Louisbourg, and spent the afternoon wandering the fortress grounds. If you ever get the chance, you must go. We had been there many years ago, but it has been added to greatly since. There are loads of people in period costume depicting life in the 1740s, the time during which the French controlled the area. Interestingly, the fortress was pretty much in ruins, totally, until the early 1960s, when John Deifenbaker decided it would be a great project for Cape Breton to reconstruct the fortress. A fund of 25 million dollars was assigned, and the work of 25 years was begun. Many locals who had been displaced from the fishing industry, and from coal mining, were employed in various capacities, skilled and unskilled, so it was a great boon to the local economy. Many professionals were also involved: architects, historians, designers, and researchers. It's quite amazing, the workmanship and authentic reconstruction that has been accomplished, when you consider there was really nothing there to speak of until Dief got thins moving.

We thoroughly enjoyed the wander-about, took in the special demonstrations, and talked to all kinds of folks playing their particular roles. One woman in particular, who played the part of a household cook, told us that when first she visited the area, she felt a pull to the place that she couldn't explain. She is from Shediac, NB, where a lot of the personnel come from because of their French backgrounds. It turned out that her grandmother (maybe great-grandmother) had lived in the Louisbourg area, but had left for some reason, moved to New Brunswick,  and is credited with being the founder of Shediac. Full circle, sort of like this writer's father discovering that our roots on his mother's side are in Prince Edward County, which he had not known. Something in the air tells you that there is a pull, unexplainable, that draws you to want to 'come home'. That's what I felt when first visiting the County.

Next day, we drove to Glace Bay, and toured the Miner's Museum. We also did the tour of the mine, which was a major contrast to what we'd seen in Bell Island. Here, we had to crouch down most of the mine tour because the shaft ceilings were only about 4 feet high. Dark, damp, depicting the way things were for the miners in the early 1900s. What a tough way to make a go of life. And to make matters worse, the company controlled everything, so that a miner's pay was pretty much eaten up by the charges the company laid on him. Often a miner with a family would be in debt to the company store, which kept him indentured, almost like being a slave to the master. Heavy duty strikes, bitter and sometimes violent, finally resulted in improvements, but it took many years. Makes the life of a teacher look pretty tame in some respects, as the physical realities, and the danger of working in coal mines, is probably one of the toughest ways anyone could make a living. Much admiration goes to those who did this work.

Now we're camped in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. We've cleaned up the van, gone for a 2.5 hour hike, and await the arrival of the kids. And that brings you up to date. More later? Not much more to tell, but there will be one more short chapter to conclude. Thanks for listening. Stay tuned.