North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador

I drove the four hours to the Halifax airport from North Sydney through yesterday afternoon, back along the route I had cycled over the last few days. I stopped in Antigonish to check in (and shower) at the bed and breakfast we stayed at last night, and again in Truro to do some laundry, but I was at the airport for 18:00 to pick up my wife.

After two more hours of driving we were back in Antigonish in time for a lovely dinner.

It was pouring rain when we woke up, and actually the weather was so atrocious that we had emails from Maritime Atlantic warning us that the ferry was likely to be delayed. Anyway, we drove out of Antigonish and into Cape Breton and lunched at Baddeck on the pier next to a many-millions-of-dollars yacht (and underneath some shelter!).

The rain continued, but Maritime Atlantic indicated we would board on schedule, which meant check in at 15:00. So, we left Baddeck and did a small loop on the Cabot Trail, taking the small Englishtown ferry across this inlet.

Around 14:30 I dropped my wife at the "real" ferry terminal, and then returned the car back at Avis. I cycled the half a kilometre down the hill back to the ferry terminal, managing to get inordinately wet in just three minutes!

It was relatively easy to figure out how to deal with my bike on the MV Atlantic Vision, although there was yet another fee for that (in all, for the two of us, my bike, and the cabin, we are paying $500 for the crossing--and this is without a car, of course!). 

The bike went in the lower vehicle deck, and I was instructed to lash it to a rail for the crossing. 

From there, it was up several decks to the cabins. We had to get a four person cabin because that was all that was available when I booked several months ago. By the way, many passengers do this overnight ferry without a cabin, which sounds quite miserable, and there was no way I was doing that given my intention of cycling straight off the ship!

I love ships, and while the MV Atlantic Vision is nothing especially special, I was excited to explore. Despite the rain, I made sure I got outside to see North Sydney from the deck as we pulled away (on time, at 17:00, as it turned out).

We had an enjoyable evening, playing cards in the bar (with this view)...

... dining at the buffet (where we made some western Canadian friends), and taking in some live entertainment (she goes for 5 straight hours singing mostly Country cover songs!).