Friday, July 12, 2019 – Hidden Hilltop Family Campground

30 Km, from Truro

It was chilly during the night, left the windows open. Clouds are covering the sky, greying it, promising rain in the afternoon. Mosquitoes are loving it, out in numbers. Even though equipped with screens, doors and windows left open are like neon signs for mosquitoes. ‘Come on in. Smorgasbord of fleshly delights for your quivering probiscii!’ I’ve become used to itchy bumps all over my body. Shannon brings over the coffee pot. We exchange stories of mosquito bites. She may have trumped me with a spider bite. I think of getting home and some of the scars we’ve earned on this journey. The early explorers must’ve had some very challenging times enduring flying bugs of all descriptions.

Sven removes our cool see-through inline fuel filter, drains the water and reinstalls. He seems to enjoy wiggling about under The Ceilidh and checks the fuel line back to its source atop the fuel tank, checking for possible air leaks. He talks about dropping the fuel tank.

The Ceilidh starts a charm and we motor on toward Peggy’s Cove, ‘the’ must see stop in Nova Scotia. We are moving along quite nicely and then she starts struggling for fuel/air once more. Pull over to the side of the road. On with the coveralls, under the RV at the passenger door; a little bit of water and a lot of air. Clear the water, put the filter back inline. Every time we pull the filter it will hold air for a bit until the fuel fills the filter. We drive on for some time and The Ceilidh struggles up hills once more. Checking the filter we find it nearly filled with air. Only one diagnoses remains, there’s a leak somewhere between the fuel tank pickup and the inline filter.  A quick inspection leaves only the rubber hose connecting the fuel tank uptake with the steel gas line.  Guess we’re gonna have to drop the tank.

We stop at Burntcoat Head Park, site of the world’s largest tides at 53.5feet differential and drop down to the beach. The red sandstone cliffs are stunning. The tide is falling and we can walk all around on the ‘flowerpot’ island.

Burntcoat Head Park

The original lighthouse was located on a headland, thus Burntcoat Head. The ‘flowerpot’ island formed when the tide finally broke through a thin connecting isthmus leaving the harder rock of the flowerpot still standing. The current lighthouse was built by the local community as a tourist attraction.

Leaving the park there’s a sign advertising a restaurant 13 km down the road. We decide to have lunch there. Rounding the corner after some 13 km we see the sign next to an old community hall. Into the hall and a lovely lady offers pastries, ice cream and an Italian sausage hot dog. The hot dog is delicious and really hits the spot. The lady tells us the story of rehabilitating the derelict community hall. She and her husband have done a fabulous job both bringing the hall into good repair and in navigating those in the community who feared making changes to the hall.  Sven left a book.

We feathered The Ceilidh all the way to our campsite near Peggy’s Cove, managing to find an auto parts store on the way where we picked up gear to work on our fuel delivery system in the morning.

The Ceilidh Camped Under the Canadian and Nova Scotian Flags.

Burncoat Head ‘flower pot’ island.

The Ceilidh does a trooper’s job and gets us to our campsite near Peggy’s Cove. We spray the fuel tank strap nuts with Loosen'All and think about doing this job in the morning as it’s currently raining.