Miles Covered so far = 512mls
Episode 10
I travelled south along the route that I scouted yesterday enjoying the views and sunny weather, and thinking to myself that I had chosen well this part of the world to begin my journey. The people were friendly, they spoke my language and although the speeds were kph, distances in kilometres and they drove on the right, I was handling that OK. I was well used to litres for petrol of course. Since my motorcycle had no fuel gauge, just a reserve quantity in the tank, working out distances in mpl or kpl (miles per litre or kilometres per litre) was no problem. I knew that when the 'bike began to stutter through lack of fuel I had about 50 miles worth left in the tank with which to find a petrol station. The big secret was to remember to turn the fuel cock back to 'normal' after filling up, because if you didn't then next time you ran out of petrol you will have already used up the 'reserve'. The extra fuel I carried in bottles would have got me about 20miles, if that.
All sorts of ideas come and go while riding along, what's the next town called, what time is it back home, where will I be this time tomorrow, have I got enough food for tonight, how many miles have I come, shall I stop and take a photo, when do I need more petrol, can I remember all of the Kings and Queens of England since Edward the Confessor? All the important stuff.
The Causeway to the Englishtown Ferry
I left Breton Island via the causeway that leads across the sound to a ferry. The ferry takes you the last 500 yards or so to Englishtown which is a typical Nova Scotian village loosely spread along the shoreline.
Looking back at the ferry with Breton Island in the background
Down alongside the shoreline the road went until after a few miles it joined Highway 105, The Trans-Canadian Highway. Canada is a place of glimpses. A lot of the time you are riding down a green corridor. The evergreens making tall impenetrable walls either side of the road. Then they thin, or you top a crest and glimpse a wide panorama previously hidden to you. Thus it was when I rode the smooth winding tarmac along the 105 until round the bend the trees thinned and the Seal Island Bridge appeared. Only a few miles remained through Bras D'or to North Sydney, which is rather confusingly south of Sydney Mines a larger town, but Sydney itself is further south on the other side of the river. I got a bit lost in North Sydney's dowdy streets and somewhere near the riverfront, past the Salvation Army shop, I found a hotel only a few minutes away from the ferry. Tomorrow I hoped to catch that ferry from here in Nova Scotia to Newfoundland.
The Seal Island Bridge
Miles today =60
Miles Covered so far = 572mls
Tomorrow. Lost in the fog.
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