What) Bras d'Or Lake is an inland sea, or large body of partially fresh/partially salt water in the centre of Cape Breton Island. Canadian author and yachtsman Silver Donald Cameron describes Bras d'Or Lake as "A basin ringed by indigo hills laced with marble. Islands within a sea inside an island." The lake is connected to the North Atlantic by natural channels. 

    With an area of approximately 1,099 square kilometres, the extents of Bras d'Or Lake measures roughly 100 km in length and 50 km in width. Surrounded almost entirely by high hills and low mountains, the Washabuck Peninsula and Boisdale Hills divide the lake into northern and southern basins, linked by the 1 km wide Barra Strait. The maximum depth of Bras d'Or Lake is 287 metres.

    There are several competing explanations of the origin of the name "Bras d'Or". The most popular is that the first Europeans to discover and subsequently settle the area were French, naming the lake Bras d'Or meaning "arm of gold"; this likely referring to the sun's rays reflected upon its waters. However, on the maps of 1872 and earlier, the Lake is named "Le Lac de Labrador," (or more simply "Labrador") and this is more likely the true derivation of the present name. The literal meaning of Labrador is "Laborer." In a paper prepared by the late Dr. Patterson for the Nova Scotia Historical Society he says he believed the name Bras d'Or came from the Breton form of Bras 'd'eau arm of water or of the sea. The Mi'kmaq Nation named it Pitu'pok, roughly translated as "long salt water". (1)

    Where) It would be very hard to do much driving on Cape Breton Island without seeing it.

    Why) We decided to spend two days in Sydney so we took a slow drive up and down Highway 4 which runs along the eastern shore of the lake.

There is not much to the town of Irish Cove but it is a beautiful place to stop for a walk.

I really like the way this scenic shot turned out.  If you agree then this makes my choice of the next two pictures more interesting.

I don't see nearly as much beauty in them but there is a certain degree of necessity about them that appeals to me.

 
They are just as much of the lake experience as the beautiful scene and this shot especially is more unique on this day.

Anyway this is a short instructional video I prepared on skipping rocks.  Click the play button above to see what I mean. 

Finally, I'll conclude with a picture of the three items that I ended up with after playing the rock game that I have mentioned before.