We are in Sydney on Cape Breton Island, part of the Provence of Nova Scotia. Slobro was rather confused having woken up thinking we would soon be back in Brisbane. He was soon put right.

We had decided against a shore tour here, instead a wander around the town, some people watching and a local lunch somewhere.

The town is well organised for tourists. There is great array of craft and souvenir places right on the dock when you get off. As we later found out you can’t get back on the ship unless you walk through them. Trap to extract that last dollar, Allthego succumbed and got some local cheddar cheese to take back on board for pre dinner snacks.

Nova Scotia was initially a colony of France, part of ‘Arcadia’ or New France, in the 1600s and first half of the 1700s. Following the American War of Independence, British loyalists settled here and ultimately the French were evicted after the previously mentioned wars with the English. Sydney was founded in 1785 and a wave of Scottish immigrants followed. Nova Scotia is Latin for ‘New Scotland’. Apparently there is a big Gaelic speaking population here and there are Scottish shops and memorabilia all around the town.

Sydney was a big coal and steel town for much of the 20th century. Steel is now gone but some coal is still mined and exported away. Because of its proximity to Europe, it is the most easterly point of Canada, the large harbour was used as a staging point for convoys to the UK during Botha WWI and WWII.

Our walk took us up and around some of the prewar housing areas and then down the Main Street. Avoided the museums. Some great murals along the way particularly near the theatre, a repurposed church complex.

The main game in walking around was to find a place for lunch, it was Sunday so a few of the options were closed .

There were a number of French cafes in this closed category, so we ultimately settled for Daniels. It had a Scottish ambience with local craft beers and burgers, wraps etc. Not a bad choice and Allthego was able to secure another glass for the collection back home.

After lunch it was a slow stroll back along the waterfront to the ship, ran the gauntlet of shops with the afore mentioned cheese the only acquisition. Slobro was a little persistent wanting to be photographed with a lobster, settled for an old lobster trap.

Back on board we sailed away down the harbour with great views of the town.

Our next port of call is Halifax, the main city on Nova Scotia. The blog is running a little behind real time. We are now sailing down towards the Caribbean, two sea days out of New York with another two sea days before reaching the Panama Canal. Should be up to date by then!