This Nova Scotia couple has spent the pandemic exploring Cape Breton - Action News
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Nova Scotia

This Nova Scotia couple has spent the pandemic exploring Cape Breton

Travel bloggers Dave Anderson and Skylar MacDonald have made a living out of travelling in Cape Breton. This year, they helped mainlanders fall in love with the island too.

Travel bloggers Dave Anderson and Skylar MacDonald document their adventures on Instagram

David Anderson and Skylar MacDonald during a hike in the Cape Breton Highlands. (Submitted by Skylar MacDonald)

For many Atlantic Canadians, 2020 was the year of the staycation.

Following the advice to stay close to home during the COVID-19 pandemic was pretty easy for David Anderson and Skylar MacDonald a couple that has made a business out of exploring Cape Breton.

The travel bloggers,also known as Davey and Sky, document their adventures in Cape Breton and beyond on Instagram fortheir company,Davey and Sky Media.

They share images of the Cape Breton Highlands, beaches, quaint cabins in the woods, experiences like sailing in Bras d'OrLakeand of course their two dogswithnearly 20,000 followers on the social media platform.

"We know the healthy benefits from being outdoors and we know the healthy benefits of exploring our own backyard and supporting your local businesses, so everything that we were doing just got amplified," said MacDonald.

MacDonald and Anderson along with one of their dogs hiking this fall. (Submitted by Skylar MacDonald)

When local travel restrictions loosened in July, they started getting messages from people who had never explored the island before.

"There were people from the mainland that had never been [to Cape Breton]that messaged us and were like, 'This is our first time ever, I can't believe we've never done this,'" said MacDonald.

The pandemic hasn't stopped the pair from trying new things and exploring parts of the island even they haverarely visited, like Isle Madame.

"We go to the Highlands so often to hike these big mountains, but little did we know, just right at the bottom of the islandlies this kayaking beach paradise," she said.

Many of the couple's excursions have beenspontaneous weekend trips.By September and October, however, Anderson and MacDonaldrealized they needed to plan ahead because accommodations were quickly being booked which was good news for tourism operators.

Still,many saw a large decrease in bookings, particularly on weekdays. Cape Breton Highlands National Park, which encompasses much of the Cabot Trail, saw just 40,000 visitors this summer. The park normally welcomes 100,000 visitors in the summer months. That drop led to many operators closing up early.

Anderson and MacDonald are encouraging people to embrace the cold weather and try some of their favourite trails in the snow. (Submitted by Skylar MacDonald)

Although many seasonal businesses are closed, MacDonald said people shouldn't be discouraged from getting outside and taking part in winter activities.

"Pretty much any trail that's around Cape Breton you see promoted in the summer months are usually quite accessible in the winter," she said.

MacDonald encouragesvisitors to call businesses ahead of time to see what is open. She and Anderson keep a lot of their gear, like snowshoes, in their carsothey can get out and explore any time.

She also suggests travellers keep emergency supplies in their vehicles and check 511 for road conditions. The Highlands can be a challenge and one part of the Cabot Trail near Big Intervale, sometimes closesduring inclement weather.