Having studied the brochures on the surrounding attractions we decided that today we would go and see the Highland Village at Iona. This town is situated on the edge of Bras d'Or Lake and the access road leading to it is serviced by a cable ferry that traverses the 100 metre distance between one side and the other. It spends all day just going back and forth non stop, sometimes with only one car on. The village dates back to the stone houses, or black houses as they were known, built by the first settlers from the Scottish Highlands in the early 1800s. Measuring about 30 x 12ft they housed the family as well as the cattle all under one roof. As these families prospered the stone houses were replaced with a log cabin and later by a wooden house with 4 - 5 rooms. A number of the buildings in the village were originals that had been transported to the site by barge. The church, complete with steeple, fell into this category. The staff all wear period costume (along the lines of Ferrymead) and give small demonstrations. We witnessed a ceilidh, where they sung in Gaelic, and played the fiddle and bagpipes while the girls did step-dancing. The whole village is quite well done but didn't seem to be inundated with visitors. We have a camp site in Baddeck for the next two nights as there are a number of attractions worth seeing in this area. The weather today was about as hot as the NZ dollar appears to be - had to use the air- con for the first time tonight!
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