Day 76 - 22 August, 2011 - Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia to Big Pond, Nova Scotia

Happy Birthday Aunt Eva~! I would have loved to have finished on your birthday.....but it was not meant to be.  I was on the road, by 8:10 a.m., on a beautiful, clear day.  I left Port Hawkesbury and headed to Hwy 104.  This is a controlled access highway; nice pavement and a decent shoulder.  Lots of hills to negotiate.  It was 40 km to St. Peters where Hwy 104 ended and Hwy 4 took over and from there is was downhill....sort of.  It was actually up steep hills on poor pavement with no shoulder.  Drivers were less tolerant of cyclists, too.  (Probably sick of the cross country cyclists by now!)  It was really pretty though, following Bras d'Or Lake.  Sailboats anchored offshore with a hilly, tree covered backdrop.  After 30 km of back breaking hills, I came to 5 km of construction.  Beyond the construction was great pavement where recent cnstruction had tried to take the steepness out of the terrain.  In Big Pond we came upon Rita MacNeil's famous tea room.  We were unable to get a campsite at the local campground, so Rita's son, allowed us to fill up our fresh water tank.  I indulged in tea and fresh, homemade lemon meringue pie.  Brian had a quick cup of tea then headed out to fill up the trailer.  After the break, I couldn't seem to get going.  We pulled off on a vacant lot, for the night.  I was a little disappointed that \i couldn't continue on to Sydney, but as usual, Brian said he was proud of the 92 km I got in.  Tomorrow will be the big day!

Anne in front of St. Peter's Bay