Day 6 Sydney, Nova Scotia

This morning we awoke to a knock at the door at 6:56 am. My sister delivered the news that my Mom became a Great Grandma as my nephew and his wife had a baby girl!  What wonderful news!

Today we dropped anchor in Sydney - and had to tender into port because the Rotterdam was parked at the pier. We gathered in the lounge to catch a tender by 8:15. Avis and Budget rental cars ran a constant stream of two vans between their rental office and the pier, so we waited for a few minutes for the van to arrive and then Mom, LC and I ferried to the rental office. 

We rented a suburban vehicle for about $75 for the day. The helpful staff at the rental office suggested we make our way towards the Cabot Trail because about 80% of the guests so far we’re heading to Baddeck and stunning views awaited on the Cabot Trail!

We made a quick stop at Wal-Mart to pick up a few essentials. What gorgeous colours today!  Red, orange,yellow and green!!  LC wanted some lovely fall foliage pictures so we probably stopped 20 times alongside the road - each time we saw a view we could  not resist!  Renting our own vehicle was affordable and absolutely the right choice for us!

We drive as far as this point - to Smoky Point Provincial Park about 15 km south of Ingonish. This was our predetermined turnaround point. And we really wanted to take pictures in the sunshine!  By noon we had more cloud cover than sunshine!

We returned to Avis by about 3 pm in the afternoon and back at the dock by 3:30 pm. By that time, I realized I had lost my ship card - the ID necessary to swipe in and out of the ship!  So, I didn’t linger around the shops at the pier with Mom and LC. I approached security outside the tender dock and explained my situation. They asked what cabin I was in. Once I told them, they had a master list of each and every stateroom with the associated names. Of course I presented my driver’s license and that matched the name on my stateroom. 

Because I work in the event industry in registration- I knew the ship would have to have a process for such lost documents!!  So once off the tender, and approaching the staff to scan back in on the ship, I explained my situation again. I showed my driver’s license again and she directed me to head directly up to guest services to replace my card.   Once at guest services they assured me my old card was deactivated and nobody could charge on the card. ( Theoretically nobody else should be able to charge on my card because my picture is associated with the card). 

Once back aboard, I did a little work on my phone while I had access to Caanadian wifi!

Supper in the dining room was a lovely affair followed by ventriloquist Mike Robinson and singer pianist Brett Cave. It wasn’t quite as strong a show as the first time we saw Brett - and as we had befriended two Québécois in the row beside us, I began to appreciate how difficult it is to follow humour in a second language. Consequently I didn’t appreciate the performance of Mike Robinson too much!  But the entertainment is intended to provide something for everyone!

As is my usual ritual, I went up to the Lido to get a cup of tea for the evening - and keep it warm in the thermos mug I have brought from home and wrote the day’s blog!

Tomorrow - Halifax!