Maritimes & New England - 2015
New Brunswick to
Prince Edward Island
Day 10 - September 27
That’s a big red barn right there…
This cow has two heads - can you find them?
The Confederation Bridge, linking Prince Edward Island to the rest of Canada. The bridge was finished in 1997 - prior to that, access to the island was via air or sea
Although you see red cliffs everywhere on Prince Edward Island, you only find red sand along the southern shore
Little house at Red Sand Beach, near Victoria, PEI. The very definition of “weather-beaten"
Hay bales, ready for winter
French River. This river is maybe 1 mile long - this is its end. The colorful structures are boat houses. Many of the boats will be placed inside these boat houses soon for the winter
Cavendish Beach, part of Prince Edward Island National Park - Floyd & Jean Butler, Kathy & Ric Lebrecht, Sheila & Andy Osbrink. Best buds
Cavendish Beach, Prince Edward Island National Park, along the north shore. Red rock cliffs, white sand
Orby Head, Prince Edward Island National Park. Not sure what kind of birds those are. They all poop the same
At one of the viewpoints in Prince Edward National Park, this fine gentleman serenaded us with the pipes
North Rustico, which neighbors Prince Edward National Park. So many of these quaint fishing villages
Lighthouse at North Rustico. Many lighthouses on PEI, and most look very much like this
Box house in North Rustico - kinda skimpy on the windows…
Kathy and Sheila at a lighthouse in the Brackley-Davlay portion of Prince Edward Island National Park
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. This is the only town of consequence on the island. This building was constructed in 1892
St. Dunstan’s Basilica in Charlottetown
Kathy, Sheila, Andy, Jean, Floyd at Olde Dublin Pub in Charlottetown. Floyd (pastor) and Jean (school teacher) are recently retired and on the road with their fancy travel trailer
And to finish off the day, a partially eclisped blood moon. Didn’t stay up for the full deal
Day 10 - September 27
Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick - Cavendish, Prince Edward Island
We left Hopewell Rocks early this morning, to meet with Andy & Sheila and Floyd & Jean. They are all staying in the Moncton, New Brunswick area, and are meeting us at 10 am in Prince Edward Island for a “getting lost in Prince Edward Island” tour. At the end of the day, they will return to Moncton and Kathy and I will stay for 3 days. So the agenda for the day belongs to them.
If you look at a map of the island, you will see that there are 3 sections of it - west, central and east. The Welcome Center suggested we circumnavigate the central section. The southern shore has red sand beaches, the northern white sand.
We had a little difficulty finding a red sand beach, but persevered and found a small one near the village of Victoria. We then headed toward the second largest town on the island, Summerside, in search of lunch. Slim pickins - as we would find, much of the island closes down for the season at the end of August! And Summerside doesn’t have much to choose from in the first place. We ate lunch at a Wendy’s.
After lunch it was a drive-around PEI. What a lovely little island!! It is not like New Brunswick at all - most of it is gently rolling hills covered by cattle pastures and corn crops. We stuck to the coast, and found tiny fishing village after village; typically a dozen or less small fishing boats in the harbor.
The northern shore, where Kathy and I are staying, is much more scenic. Prince Edward Island National Park is made up of 3 very narrow strips of coastland, full of beautiful white sand beaches and red cliffs.You can see why the Scots and Irish desired to emigrate here - so much like home.
We visited beaches and lighthouses, mostly stopping for quick picture shoots, because the rest of our group was only here for the day. Kathy and I will explore more slowly in the next two days.
The six of us ended up in Charlottetown, the island’s capital and only real city of consequence, for a little window shopping and dinner at a pub. After dinner, we split up - Kathy and I are now on our own for the next two weeks!
We returned to our cottage in Cavendish just in time to see some of the earth’s eclispe of the blood moon. I say “some” because we went to bed before the eclispe was full - it’s late here in the Atlantic Time Zone!
Prince Edward Island
Day 11 - September 28
No, Kathy did not bale this hay
Walkin’ on a country road
A hidden beach near French River
Who dem?
Freshly mown
You see a lot of this in Prince Edward Island
A dilapidated lighthouse near Darnley. We think it was moved. Why? It’s nowhere near the shore…
Darnley Driving Range. Even I might be able to drive one into the water from here
Notice the change in color - you see this everywhere along the island shore
This sandspit is in the national park. Very skinny, and it is probably 3 miles long
Entering Prince Edward Island National Park
Finally, my own island!
Cavendish Beach
Cavendish Beach
The dunes at Cavendish Beach
This is the backside of the dunes at Cavendish Beach, along the Dunelands Trail
Kathy on the Dunelands Trail
Doyle Cove
Dinner at the Blue Mussel Cafe in North Rustico
North Rustico. tide is low - see the sand bar. No boats going out right now!
Day 11 - September 28
The North Shore of Prince Edward Island
Kathy and I retraced some of our steps from yesterday, and took our time exploring hidden gems of the island’s north shore. It really is a fabulous place for “getting lost.”
In the morning, we took off on a few side (and even private!) roads traveling west from our motel in Cavendish to the most northwestern point of the Prince Edward Island “Central.”
We spent the afternoon at the Cavendish portion of PEI National Park, walking Cavendish Beach and Dunelands Trail. The park is open, but there are no park staff here. They “close” on August 31 each year. We did see one tour bus, which we adeptly avoided, so it was very quiet.
Dinner that night was surf & turf (Kathy) and Atlantic salmon (Ric) at the Blue Mussel Cafe in the tiny fishing village of North Rustico. Delightful!
Prince Edward Island
Day 12 - September 29
Our little cottage at Cavendish, Prince Edward Island
This little place - it’s called Sundance Cottages - is the best. Pictured is the living room - that gas fireplace really heats things up! Behind this is a full kitchen with breakfast table. There are two bedrooms - one with two queen beds, the other with one queen
Fisherman
This is the backside of the sand dunes that run the length of the PEI National Park beaches. Amazing how this grass can grow in a soil of pure sand
At Prince Edward Island, Brackley-Dalvay
Kathy walking the Robinson Island Trail on the sandspit of PEI National Park, Brackley-Dalvay. It’s a little over 2 miles of country lane walking - beautiful!
Robinson Island Trail
Robinson Island Trail. The Fall colors still haven’t arrived in big numbers, so when you see one tree with some yellows and oranges and reds, you walk up to within feet of it and take a picture that makes it appear the hills are awash in them
Robinson Island Trail
In the Adirondack chairs, Robinson Island Trail
Someone enjoying the view - Ross Lane Beach, PEI National Park, Brackley-Dalvay
Dunes at Ross Lane Beach
Sunset outside our cottage
Day 12 - September 29
The North Shore of Prince Edward Island
Our final day in Prince Edward Island! The weather has been great here all three days - but very windy! And we are leaving just in time - rain is supposed to hit hard tomorrow. But - it is likely to follow us to Nova Scotia!
We had a leisurely morning at the cottage, then spent a few hours exploring the Brackely-Davlay section of Prince Edward Island National Park.
A narrow sandspit sits at the western end of this part of the Park, and a 2-mile trail loops at its end. A pretty, country lane walk, through a thick forest of deciduous and conifer trees, with occasional views of the bay formed by the spit.
From there, we visited a couple of other beaches along the length of the Park, and returned to our cottage mid-afternoon.
For dinner, we went to one of the very few restaurants still open in these parts - most are closed for the season. Rachel’s Ristorante was superb - Kathy and I both had personal pizzas, but the real hits were the lobster bisque and the rosemary/garlic bread!
Off early in the morning for Nova Scotia!