We spent today in Québec – specifically, hiking the cliffs of the Îles de la Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The National Geographic Explorer docked during breakfast, and we saw the busy port and the 187 stairs leading up to a scenic lookout.

We met our guides and set out for our hike…which, of course, started with a bus ride.

We had a boxed lunch on the beach at Plage de l’Hôpital and had some time to wander around.

Our tour continued with another lighthouse and even more beaches, this time on Île du Havre aux Maisons.

And then it was time to return to the ship for a performance of Acadian music by Giles Lapierre and Evan Martinet.

The ship arrived in Baddeck, Nova Scotia (Home of Alexander Graham Bell) this morning in beautiful sunny weather. Environment Canada had posted a yellow thunderstorm alert for the afternoon, but there was no sign of inclement weather.

We took the “Heritage Highlights” tour, which brought us to Bailenan Gàidheal Highland Village, a living history museum located in Iona. It tells the story of the Scots who came to Nova Scotia in hopes of a better life (many of them were destitute because of the Highland Clearances in Scotland), and features “animators” (re-enactors) in many of their buildings.

It was about a one-hour drive from Baddeck through some very pretty country along the Bras d’Or, including a ferry ride. I’d borrowed an Olympus OM-1 from the ship’s camera collection and was desperately trying to teach myself how it worked, so I took fewer photos from the bus than I might normally have done.

You tour the village on foot, starting with Scotland (1830) and visiting Nova Scotia at different periods. The walk is very enjoyable, and interacting with the “residents” was educational.

I would have liked more time in the village, but we had a lunch date at the Frolic n’Folk Pub. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the food; I didn’t try any of their beers, which was a missed opportunity!

When we left the restaurant, I began to have more faith in Environment Canada’s forecast.

We retraced our path to Baddeck as the clouds got slowly darker.

It started raining just as the bus let us off, about 200 yards from the ship. By the time we got to the ship, we were seriously wet…and by the time we got to our room, there was thunder and lightning and serious rain and wind. The ship’s satellite Internet even went down!

We had hoped to visit the Alexander Graham Bell museum nearby after our tour, but by the time the weather cleared, it was too late. Instead, we enjoyed a concert of Cape Breton Celtic music from Derrick Cameron, Melody Cameron, and Bryan Doyle.

And we got to see Bell’s estate, Beinn Bhreagh, during dinner.

We were also treated to a lovely moonrise – so lovely that three of us jumped up to go outside and take photos.

It was a beautiful day, even with a bit of rain.