Ton In Canada 2009

Today I went downtown, once again. There was a MicMac PowWow. This time there were more natives than on August 8, 2009. It was a colourful spectacle. 

      Later on I noticed a ship of the Holland America Line  in the harbour of which I took a picture. I also saw this school of fish. I saw a grasshopper on my way downtown, who did not jump away. He had lost one of his legs which gave me the opportunity to take its picture.

Today Teresa and I went to Dromore Woodland Trail , which is about 5.7 km long. It is about 45 minutes by car from Charlottetown via Highways 1, 5 and 216.  

      After I had put suntan lotion on, we started our walk at 11.00 am. First we went the wrong way, but as soon as Teresa noticed we went back. And yes, close to the car was the  entrance to the park. The trail was marked with purple ribbons, to prevent walkers from getting lost.  

      Now and then we had to cross planks, because the soil was too soft. You had to watch out for fallen trees and tree stumps on our way. There was also a simple bridge to cross a little river. Once we lost our way but after searching we saw two planks in the brush with a purple ribbon further on.  

      It was very quiet in the woods and we did not encounter any special animals. However I saw some very nice mushrooms. To take a good picture I had to go on my knees, so I traveled with dirt on my pants during the rest of the trip. I had never seen this type of mushrooms before. They resembled icicles in a tree trunk.

      Because I kept taking pictures, the trip took much longer than anticipated. We had not taken any food with us so we went to the community of St. Teresa, P.E.I. for lunch. But the village was too small for a restaurant so we went to the local golf club for lunch. The waitress was dressed in hot pants and slippers. On the menu was turkey with a dessert, but I noticed a roast beef sandwich. When I ordered the latter the waitress kept asking me questions about my order. Luckily Teresa was there to help me out and finally I received my sandwich with hot roast beef. 

      After lunch we wanted to do another trail, but we could not find the entrance. We saw sideroads which were covered with water and we did not want to risk getting stuck in the mud. So we decided to go home again.  

      After arrival at 4:00 pm Teresa made a cup of coffee with home baked gingerbread. Boris had made dinner and we ate around 5:00 pm. The pictures I had taken that day turned out alright. Tomorrow is it my turn to cook so probably no travel log entry. But we will once more return to Dromore, P.E.I. Anyway, this was another fantastic day on P.E.I.

Continued from Day 27.  

      I awoke suddenly at 6 o’clock withy the sunrise. Carefully I placed a chair in front of the window and got my camera. I took some shots of neighbourhood. It was busy in the grassy fields with plovers, who were running around like if someone was trying to catch them. They were looking for food and later on they were joined by some  seagulls. I watched this scene for half an hour and then decided to go back to bed.   

      The clock alarm sounded at 8:00 am. I took a shower and wore the bathrobe that I found hanging in the closet. I had forgotten my shampoo, so I washed my hair with soap. When I was still working as an amanuensis, I had learned that all hand soaps were made from petroleum and they only differed in smell and colour. In the B & B there were little bars of soap, which I used to wash myself.    

      I went to the diningroom where my breakfast stood ready. I had to go back to my room to fetch my camera to take a picture of the view, which was breathtaking. My breakfast included an omelet with mushrooms and peppers, grapes, toast and a blueberry muffin. The coffee was very good..   

      In my broken English I told my hostess about this travel log about my five-week vacation. My host and hostess were very friendly and hospitable. Finally I said goodbye to them and biked away around 9 o’clock. I told myself that I wanted to return one day to the quiet, hospitable environment of this very special B & B Sea Song.   

      When I left the driveway I saw on the shoulder of the road yellow flowers, which made me feel good. I turned left towards the coast to take some pictures at the beach. I had plenty of time since Montague was only a 22 km bike ride away.  After a while I slowly biked up the hill, which was a lot easier today than it was yesterday when I was very tired.  

      Yesterday I had seen a roadsign for Georgetown and Montague, so I knew what road to take. The scenery was again very beautiful and I found quite a few different flowers. I crossed a bike bridge over the Brudenell River, which saved me a few kilometers biking.    

      At noon I was in Montague looking for the Tim Horton. After I entered I took a seat, put all my belongings on the table, including my camera, and went to the washroom to change my t-shirt. When I returned I found everything untouched and in its place. This is only possible on Prince Edward Island. DO NOT TRY THIS ELSEWHERE! I ordered a ham sandwich with coffee and a doughnut. In the meantime I waited for Teresa and Boris, who would come to fetch me to take me home.   

At night we went to a performance of classical music, the Indian River Festival, which is held every year at St. Mary’s Church in Indian River, P.E.I. This wooden church is well-known for its beautiful acoustic quality and is often used as a broadcast location for the CBC. This night the Bouey family played and sung well-known and not-so-well-known music. It was a great evening and I enjoyed it very much. Boris was kind enough to drive us, a trip of almost 110 km. This was the official end of my three-day bike trip from Mount Stewart to Montague, P.E.I.

Photos day 28

Continued from Day 26.  

      At 8 o’clock rang my alarm. I was already earlier awake, because of the traffic that drove past my window. I took a quick shower and got dressed. To get my breakfast I had to take the outside stairs to the rear of cafe, past the second door to a sidedoor that stood open. There appeared to be nobody else in the B & B so I had to help myself.  

      There was a large table with cups, plates and a teapot. The kettle was already filled with water, probably from yesterday afternoon. Since I did not see a tap, I decided to use that water to make tea. There was  a refrigerator with milk, orange juice, bread etc. I took cornflakes with milk followed by tea and a muffin. Since the water did not taste very good I decided to fill my water bottle with orange juice for later.  

      At 9:30 am I collected my things and, since I could neither lock the room nor the house, I just left on my merry way. There was a cold wind but luckily it was in my back and blew in the same direction that I was traveling. The cycle path seemed to have been resurfaced recently because there were no weeds growing. The only thing I noticed were little openings in the sand. My curiosity got the better of me and I dismounted my bike to have a closer look. It turned out to be ant nests in the road deck.  

      The first fifteen kilometres were heavy going. My legs were still hurting from yesterday. This path was steeper but not as steep as this road, which seemed to go straight up. But the scenery was beautiful with many dragonflies that flew alongside me. At some points there were information signs indicating the presence of beavers, different kinds of dragonflies, red-winged blackbirds and many types of bees.

      In the afternoon I encountered a snake taking a sunbath on the cycling path. Suddenly it disappeared into the wooded underbrush. I also saw a butterfly and something that resembled eggs, but turned out to be mushrooms. Further on I came upon an area that seemed to be covered with snow. These were moss-like plants covering the ground. On close-up they looked like this. 

      All that watching and picture-taking made me forget about time. It was already 14:30 hrs when I arrived in Georgetown, P.E.I. Since I had not eaten since breakfast I felt kind of peckish . So I entered the first restaurant I encountered. I felt a bit embarrassed at first, since I was not dressed for the occasion, but Canadians do not take notice of such things. On the menu was a dish called “Ocean Fresh Chowder”, with different sorts of fish, potatoes and vegetables. It sounded delicious. What I got was a big bowl of soup, which was very tasty indeed. Of course, I finished the meal with dessert and tea. And all that food including the tip for $24.00. 

Now I started the search for the next B & B, named Sea Song.Despite the fact that I had a map indicating the location of the B & B, I biked the wrong way. About 500 meters from the highway there was a long driveway with a beautiful house at the end. There was a note on the door indicating where the key was. Once inside I could not believe the view from the livingroom window. I found my room in no time flat and after unpacking I took a shower. For the next hour or so I relaxed on the bed, while listening to the music I had loaded on my MP3 player.  

      Around18:00 hrs I became hungry again. Since my bike was locked in the garage I decided to walk to the beach, but again I went the wrong way. I had missed the side street. I had to decide between the bistro or the restaurant where I had lunched earlier. The latter choice won and this time I was determined to study the menu before I ordered. This time I ordered a snowcrab platter with vegetables and potatoes together with a glass of white wine. Can you imagine my consternation when this arrived? But the fresh crab was delicious. This time it cost me $50.00 including dessert, tea and a tip. But it was worth it.  

Photos Day 27 

This morning Teresa drove me and my bike to the beginning of the trail near Charlottetown Airport. Here started my three-day adventure with destination Mount Stewart, P.E.I.   

It was cloudy and there was rain in the forecast, but I started biking, anyway. During the 26 km trip I only met four other bikers. It was very easy and safe here to suddenly stop and admire an insect or flower on the road without getting in trouble. The cycling path was in good shape and every 5 kms there was a resting place. Along the way tere were apple trees and blackberry bushes and the path was lined with tall trees on both sides. You could take a picnic in some of the natural clearings and used the occasion more for picture-taking than for rests. 

      I arrived in Mount Stewart, P.E.I. around 12:30 pm and it had taken me two-and-a-half hours to bike 26 km. I thought that my room was only ready at 15:00 hrs so I biked around the neighbourhood for a while to see where tomorrow’s path would bring me.

      Suddenly I saw wild park sign, Just what I wanted to see. The first kilometre went well with the bike, then it became a walking path along a lake. There were quite a few dragonflies. I tried to photograph a blue and a red dragonfly, but I could not get close enough. After a while the area became soggy and a boardwalk continued. I saw an interesting flower and, although it was windy, I managed to take a good shot. Finally I reached a dead end and I had to go back to where I had left the bike. It took me two hours to get back to the Trailside Inn. 

      You had to go up the outside stairs to get to my room. It was an old building, but everything was clean. I had to pay in advance, because the lady would not be there the next day. I was allowed to store my bike inside, although the side door remained unlocked. I also noticed later that my door had no lock.   

      Since it was still early, I decided to ride a bit longer. I took Highway 217 but after five kilometres it became a hilly dirt road with fields of blueberries. I turned left onto Highway 218 and after one hour biking I saw the Northumberland Strait. I returned via Highway 218 towards Tracadie, P.E.I., a scenic road alongside a lake. This trip took ONLY 32 km.  

      Back in my B & B I took a bath, got dressed and went for a bite-to-eat in the local restaurant. After watching a little TV I went to bed but could not fall asleep. My room was along Highway 214 and only after 1:00 am was there no traffic to keep me awake.

As you can see nothing serious has happened. Hurricane Bill merely touched P.E.I., but the brunt was borne by Nova Scotia. 

      For breakfast Boris surprised us with his famous waffles. He explained all the items you could use as filling. One of the choices is maple syrup, which is a kind of runny syrup. It takes a bit of care to pour it over your waffle. By the second waffle I had already forgotten about the potential mess, but luckily each waffle contains tiny squares, which quickly filled with the sweetness.

      Around 11 o’clock it started to rain. It did not stop until 17.5 mm had fallen, which was lucky since they had predicted up to 100 mm of rain. I spent all this time by working on my travel log until 20:00 hrs.

Not too much happened today. I woke up with a headache, probably a leftover from the day before, when I spent all day in the sun. I can show the sunburn as proof!  After I had taken two Tylenol I recovered enough to be able to clean the bathroom. Most of today’s time was spent behind the computer selecting pictures to be kept and which to discard.  

      Tomorrow we expect a visit from Bill. Bill is the second hurricane of the season and is supposed to land near Nova Scotia. At this point we do not know yet what the impact will be on the island. Heavy rain? Strong winds? We’ll have to wait and see. It is possible that a blackout occurs and then I cannot work on my travel log (I feel sorry for my audience!). All electrical wires are above ground on poles and during a storm these can be blown down.

      Boris and Teresa took many precautions such as taking everything that was not nailed down inside; filling the bathtub with water; have emergency lights on hand.

Today I went to watch the Gold Cup and Saucer Parade at the conclusion of Old Home Week. There were many colourful floats including a flatbed truck with young and old gymnasts doing gymnastics to the beat of music.

      In the afternoon I lunched downtown, while I listened to local musicians who perform here daily. Later on I decided to take a boat tour in the harbour. At night Teresa and I went to another ceilidh. This time it was Cynthia Macleod, who entertained us. She played the fiddle brilliantly. What an energy this young performer displayed! We could not sit still on our chairs!

I only awoke at 9:30 am this morning. We were planning a five-hour trip today. So I took a quick shower and had breakfast. Usually we drink tea until 10:00 am, but today we had to suspend that ritual.  

      As usual, we drank coffee along the road at Tim Horton’s in Summerside, P.E.I.. This time the coffee was served in ‘real’ mugs and guess what I took with the coffee? When we left we drove on Highway 11, a scenic route along the coast, named the North Cape Coastal Drive. It remains exciting for me to see the ocean across the flowing fields. 

      Near Cape Egmont we visited a private park with buildings made entirely from glass bottles and mortar. The so-called Bottle Houses  were designed and built by Edouard Arsenault. He had seen a glass castle on a postcard his daughter had sent him from British Columbia and that gave him the inspiration to build something of his own. That same summer Edouard started to collect bottles mostly from a local restaurant, friends, relatives and neighbours. He spent the winter in his basement cleaning the bottles and removing all stickers. In the spring of 1980, at the age of 66 years, he started the construction of his first bottle house. 

      Near West Point, P.E.I. we lunched at the Lighthouse. Besides being a restaurant, the lighthouse also serves as an inn as well as a museum. After lunch I visited the museum and climbed the stairs for a beautiful view from the top.

      After lunch we went straight for North Cape, P.E.I. the most northern point of the island, where the currents from the Northumberland Straight and the Bay of St. Lawrence meet (see picture). After a half hour visit we drove back home. Near Kensington, P.E.I. we became stranded in a traffic jam.

      Around 19:15 hrs we arrived at home. Teresa quickly managed to cook dinner and we ate at 20:00 hrs. It had been another glorious day of my Canadian vacation with Teresa and Boris.  

Photos day 20