Taken 2007 June 14 in Mabou Harbour Mouth beside the Mabou Harbour lighthouse
GPS 46°05.15?'N 61°27.92?'W
This was the second photo I took on this trip (the first was at the same spot, but this one turned out better). The gull swimming in the coloured waters and the buoys marking the edge of the Mabou River mouth are the only distinct objects one can make out in this beautiful display of real and reflected colours, considerably brighter in life than the camera captured.
I arrived late in Mabou (too late for the concert at the Strathspey Place I had hoped to catch—not a problem as I caught the Friday concert instead). The first thing I did after checking in and having dinner at the Red Shoe Pub was to drive the Mabou Harbour Road to revisit the many fine views of West Mabou, the Mabou River, and the Cape Mabou Highlands to be had from there. I turned down into Mabou Harbour just after the sun had disappeared below the land and snapped this photo at 21h14—the sun is up late at this time of year!
The Inverness County coast is known for its lovely sunsets and this was a beautiful start to my trip. Other fine places to catch sunsets are Port Hood, Green Point (where Mabou Harbour Road meets the Gulf of St Lawrence), Inverness Beach, and the Broad Cove Marsh road north of Inverness village; I have less experience of sunsets further north, but I’m sure there are several good spots there as well (MacKays Cape near Margaree Harbour and La Pointe at the south end of Chéticamp Island are two that immediately come to mind). I’d be delighted to hear of any favourite spots you might have for watching sunsets (and any photos you’d care to share).
This photo brings this essay on the diversity of beautiful places on Cape Breton Island to a close. As I said in the introduction, this handful of photos doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the myriad beauties of many different kinds this Island offers so freely. Whether you live here or, like me, visit it as often as possible, I hope this essay will encourage you to get out and find your own places of beauty—they are not at all hard to find here—one has only to use one’s eyes!