After having lived in Nova Scotia for the past two years, and working with the best conservation team in the province at CPAWS-NS, I am now packing up and moving to Gose Bay, Labrador and will be experiencing a whole different part of Canada's Big Wild.

With that in mind, I manged to rope in Lindsay and our dog Inty for one last farewell wilderness adventure in Nova Scotia's wild land and waters. Gabarus protected Wilderness Area on the south eastern coast of Cape Breton Island; The open Atlantic Ocean on side of us, and coastal bogs, barrens, barrachois' and barrier beaches on the other side combined to make a hell of an August long weekend.

(ps. check it out on Google Maps satellite)

We left halifax around noon on Saturday and drove the 5 hour trip through Cape Bretons back roads bringing us to Belfry beach just when the afternoon heat had subsided. The perfect time to set up the tent and take a stroll along the beach, looking at neat rocks, hunting for beach glass and dipping our feet in the waves. As the sun set we were treated to a multitude of seabirds and raptors out for their evening meal, from all around we saw the Northern Gannets diving, Ospreys swooping overhead and the Bald Eagles perching on trees and even patrolling the beach! With that show we went to bed with the sound of the waves crashing lulling us to sleep.

The next day we awoke, eyed some whimbrels putting on the beach, and put in the canoe at the western edge of Belfry lake. Belfry is a large, shallow freshwater complex behind a 2km long barrier beach. Amidst a few pairs of loons calling and Arctic Terns flying overhead (what a crazy combination and diversity of wildlife!), we stopped along a sandbar off one of the few islands iin Belfry for a swim to cool off.

Back into the canoe we finished crossing the lake, and stashed the boat on the far eastern shore. We put on our boots and started the hike along the rest of the shoreline to Winging point. Across beach, headlands, rocky shore and coastal bogs where we spotted two orchid varieties (ragged fringed, and grass pink) we tramped until we reached the point. From the air it looks like the wings of a gull, giving winging point its name, this meeting of two barrier beaches, also backed by a freshwater lake was completely taken over by cormorants on the eastern side. We stopped for a snack and a break, watched over by more bald eagles on the trees across the lake, we looked up and saw a kingfisher pause, and float in mid-air, then dive head first looking for his lunch.

After the aerial display we turned back to find the canoe and return to the campsite, but along the way we had the company of semipalmated sandpipers and semipalmated plovers showing off their maneouvers, waving us goodbye.

Truly a magical experience, in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Nova Scotia we'll miss you... but will return one day for sure.