CapeBreton-NorvellHimself-SingleMalt: July 2012

What's It All About, eh?

Cape Breton evokes deep memories and strong emotions for me as well as a deep appreciation for the beauty of my adopted island. My hopes are that you too might find the photos evocative - maybe a view you've not enjoyed before, or an 'Oh I've been there', or if from away that you may be encouraged to visit this fair isle so that you might come to love and breathe Cape Breton as I do. One word about place names that I use - some are completely local usage while others are from maps of Cape Breton that I've purchased over the years. I frequently post travel and other photos that are of interest to me - and hopefully you.

On the right hand side bar find my take on Single Malt whiskey - from how to best enjoy this noble drink to reviews (in a most non-professional manner) of ones that I have tried and liked - or not. Also musings, mine and others, on life in general.

Photographs are roughly 98%+ my own and copy-righted. For the occasional photo that is borrowed, credit is given where possible - recently I have started posting unusual net photographs that seem unique. Feel free to borrow any of my photos for non-commercial use, otherwise contact me. Starting late in 2013 I have tried to be consistent in identifying my photographs using ©smck on all out of camera photos I personally captured - (I often do minor computer changes such as 'crop' or 'shadow' etc but usually nothing major), and using ©norvellhimself on all photos that I have played around with in case it might not be obvious. Lately I have dropped the ©smck and have watermarked them with the blog name.

COMMENTS are appreciated as feedback is the driving energy of blogging - And if you like this site please pass it along to a friend. Thanks!

NOTE: TO ENLARGE PHOTO, CLICK ON SAME - If using Firefox also click f11 - photos will fill the screen ...... ----------------------------------- ......TRANSLATION BUTTON AT TOP OF LEFT COLUMN!

Harbour at Fox Island River

On our way for the circular drive around Port aux Port peninsula we took a side trip into the small community of Fox Island River and snapped a few photos of the harbour that led to Port aux Port Bay. The rod fishermen were fishing for sea trout and salmon. I don't think they had any luck on the salmon.

End of A Grey Day

B&B St. Teresa NFL (First Night in NFL) - 2nd Post

Before we turned in for the first night on Newfoundland we walked the 500 meters or so down to the shore and then along the beach. It was different in the scale of shore line edge to the water but otherwise very similar to walking along the beach in Cape Breton - windy, cool, refreshing and with utter solitude from life's usual bustle and intrusion. (and of course as a tourist I had no worries about working on those cold and beautiful waters).

B&B St. Teresa NFL (First Night in NFL)

Great introduction to Newfoundland B&Bs and to NFL hospitality. Will type more here later - all good.

I would recommend this B&B to anyone that is not into upscale motels or destination resorts of a similar nature. To me this is easily a four star location - not because of the swimming pools, room service, golf courses, (non-existent) but because of the cleanliness, homeyness, and removal from the sounds of traffic and bustle of built up areas and with a host - Margo - that was friendly, charming and the sort of person that one could easily become good friends with. We choose the suite which had a full bath, bedroom, and setting room with great furnishings and there was an adjoining room where the other guests and yourself could mingle together if they wished along with a lovely kitchen where tea and coffee were ready to make. An evening home cooked meal was available for a small extra fee - much cheaper than eating out - and the breakfast part of the B&B the following morning was really great. This all - including the evening meal - would come in at less expense than a single room stay in the most modest of motels. Another reviewer that I read before we decided on this location also gave four stars and their only misgiving was that for some people the drive off the main highway was some where in the neighborhood of 18 kilometers of sometimes patchy road. I think that for him, as it were for my wife and I, that it was an interesting drive where the off main route gave one a feeling for the everyday life in this area. Also the drive along the shore to get there was stunning in places. My next posting will show a photo or two of the shore we drove along. (and although in the normal course of blogging I tend to skip about in time and place - for this Newfoundland portion of the blog I will try to give any potential traveler a consistent look at each stopping place).

Picoides articus - Black Backed Three-Toed Woodpecker

Birds The Golden Guide to Field Identification of North America

An uncommon woodpecker even in its preferred habitat - coniferous forests. Note barred sides and black back. In the East no other woodpecker except the much larger Pileated has a solid black back. . . .Only the male has the yellow crown.

The first or second day back at the Grand River Falls house I thought that I might possibly have seen a Black Backed woodpecker atop one of the power poles along the road but the brightness of the early morning sun made identification difficult. Thus this morning when I had had tea I decided to check out the power pole (it also had a visible opening at the very top that just might have been a woodpecker nesting cavity) again but as I started to get up from the steps where I had been looking out across the yard while drinking my tea the very object of my thoughts flew in and started pecking away for breakfast on one of the pines that Buddy had planted many years ago. He continued unconcerned as I went in for my binoculars and my camera and returned hoping to get a decent photograph or two.

These two photos show him much better than the ones I posted in May (Black-Backed Three-Toed Woodpecker ).

Port aux Port Penninsula Drive

Last Night - Caribou B&B - Great


© July '12 photo by smck

This was a great bed and breakfast stay at Port aux Basques - they are booked long in advance and we lucked out from someone's cancellation.

Three Arches

The Arches. These three spectacular arches are the attraction of The Arches Provincial Park of Newfoundland (notice the person in the blue clothing for scale). There used to be more arches but many have collapsed. The park is located between Parson's Pond and Portland Creek, about half way up the west side of the Northern Peninsula. All three arches have a height of 15 feet. The south arch has a span of 55 feet (the south arch also has a 15-foot opening in the side), the middle arch has a span of 29 feet, and the north arch has a span of 38 feet. There are other rock formations - see the right side of photo - that were part of a long section of such arches but wave action and eroding forces over time have reduced them to rubble.

Driftwood Beach

As we passed Inukshuk and walked to the shore we could scarcely believe the enormous amounts of driftwood driven in by the waves.

Norris Point Lookout, NFL

Russian Ship in Bonne Bay, Newfoundland

I believe this is a Russian vessel that I photographed from Woody's Point overlooking Bonne Bay, Newfoundland. If you enlarge the photo you might make out the Cyrillic lettering of her name on the stern. There is also an official looking sign at the bow on top deck.

Inukshuk Newfoundland

This is a modern day Inukshuk I know but it is in a really deserted spot where you can access the beach and I had to photograph him and post him here for the world to see.

Sign of Moose

So far this year in Gros Morne National park there have been four vehicular accidents involving moose - and the moose usually come off winners.

Two Moose On A Ridge

Starting the return trip down the western peninsula from L'Anse aux Meadows, we took the circular route from St. Anthony to Port aux Choix. And lucky for us we did for about a quarter of the way on the loop road Carol spotted these two and she managed to get several nice shots in before they drifted off into the scrub wood.

Lovely B&B at Hay Cove

Mother And Child

I have to apologize for the quality of this photo but it was taken at my camera's optimum zoom and then cropped to digitally enlarge it farther - but it is mother moose and her calf at L'Anse aux Meadows in western Newfoundland and they were a good distance away. I, perhaps, am happy that I was not closer because a mother moose (or any mother mammal) is not to be trifled with around her young. We're here for a few days yet so if I do get closer shots of one (and live to tell the tale) I definitely will post again.

So That's Where All Those Cars Went


© July '12 photo by smck

Now I knew where all those cars in front of me went to - down a ramp to a lower deck - and they all are going down slowly, as if it were scary to drive down the ramp.

Oh my beating heart, that is a steep ramp but I can't back our now - so slow and easy does it. (and it was a bit freaky going down a 45 degree metal ramp all slick with condensation and oil and grease slicks from the countless numbers of cars and trucks before me - but this ship has sailed a multitude of times and all those other drivers made it so down we go!)

Hits Update....

Venezuela gave me a click today 11th July '12 - yeah!!!

Thailand gave me a click today 10th July '12 - yeah!!!

(I know this blog is small time stuff - big blogs get as many hits per minute as I've gotten in 4 months - but this going around the world to other countries still gives me a thrill - each and every new country that I see)

Newfoundland Here We Come

Newfoundland Ferry

I'm on the ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia headed to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland - very calm sea but the almost subliminal vibration of the ship from the huge propellers is making me not quesy but definitely uneasy. My computer battery is dead (with this posting being done on a different computer) so won't be posting any photos today - however if all goes well then I will get a decent picture up tonight. See you later! Himself.

Dundee Marina Restaurant

The day I drove out Dundee way from St. Peters I came across this restaurant sign and thought I would check out the fare. The approach to the small peninsula was lovely and I drove out with hunger on my mind. But alas they were closed for the day so stomach grumbling I snapped a few photos and left to return another day - maybe this summer of 2012 - and if I do I will update this posting with a few comments about the food.

Mointeach - Handful of Peat

I tried to post this photo with the other two photos in 'Mointeach - Peat Field' but the blogging mechanism would not handle it properly. Here you can see a handful of the crumbly black peat.

Hits - Update 11 Jul '12

Venezuela gave me a click today 11th July '12 - yeah!!!

Thailand gave me a click today 10th July '12 - yeah!!!

Mointeach - Peat Field

The shore to the eastward of the mouth of Grand River, part of land originally allotted to the local fisherman for their piers, fishing abodes, and other related activities, has long been called The Mointeach because of the peat underlying the heath above. I have no idea how deep the peat goes but here in these photos you can see it as a layer of blackness.

Shadow Caster

Sundown Shadows

-and Through The Woods

Reflection on the D.T. s

Here's a poem I wrote for fun some years ago about the delirium tremours which I thought that I might post to go along with the Single Malt third of my blog trichotomy - even though in my experience the whiskey sippers - good bourbons, single malts, and such - seldom subject their self to over indulgence.

reflection on the d.t.’s

It isn’t their paws or their awesome claws

as they roll in there insolent ease.

that stands up my hair in a wild drunken scare

and slowly buckles my knees –

It’s the size of their yawn as they swallow my lawn

and half of my dogwood trees.

Though the smell of their breath is as fetid as death

exhaled in hurricane groans

it’s the metronome flail of their godawful tail

that chills me clear to my bones.

While the ichor that runs from the sores on their tongues

to fall hissing in pools at their feet

doesn’t bother me half as that olfactory draft

that issues in gusts from their seat.

To see lunch half digested in their teeth half arrested

writhing and screaming in pain

Gives me the tremors and shakes of anticipated aches

and I vow never to touch whiskey again!

In delirium I cry when a claw spears my eye,

“Oh my God!” and burst into tears.

Never again, I repent as I’m thrust in its’ vent

while it viciously rips at my ears.

Never again! Never Again! will I drunkenly sin

I plead as the delirium tremors hit me.

But my wild drunken half just gives a wild drunken laugh

as he downs some of the Hair-of-the-Dog that bit me.

well it took a while but it was a bit of fun

-writing it i mean

(and no I’ve never had them)