PEI

We had a foggy climb up Mt. Kelly as we made our way off the island of Cape Breton and through Pictou county to catch the ferry to Woods Island, PEI. Unfortunately due to road construction near Antigonish we missed the 1:00pm boat and had to wait until 2:45 for the 75 minute passage. These ferries reminded us of some of the older BC Ferry vessels on the shorter runs, like the one between Comox and Powell River or to the Gulf Islands. There was not enough seating inside for all the passengers but that was OK because by this time the weather had cleared and we had mixed clouds and sun so many people spent the crossing outside listening to the fiddle music on the deck.

We even got an escort by small whales (Minke?) into the harbour.

I decided to take the scenic Points East Coast Drive to our campsite at Red Point Provincial Park near the northeast corner of the Island. The route jigged and jogged and although it afforded many views of small villages, harbours, and seashores, it was very slow; made even slower by the condition of the roads. We were to discover that PEI has the worst roads we have encounter anywhere so far, the side roads especially but even the Trans Canada was awful in sections. So after Montague, as the rain began to fall, we decided to forgo the scenic route and take the more direct. However, given the roads, even this was slow so it was close to 7:00pm and teaming with rain with the wind blowing when we pulled into our campground and got soaked setting up. Our site for the night was right on the bank overlooking the red cliffs and the sea. Our first impression of PEI was brought to you by the letter R: Rain, Red dirt, and Rotten Roads.

Although it rained sporadically during the night, we had the sound of the pounding surf to lull us to sleep (just like Maui) and in the morning we woke to improving skies and a walk on the white sand beach.

We had to change sites ended up in the predominantly tenting area a bit further from the bank but still with a front row view of the sea and with some trees for privacy and clotheslines.

In the afternoon we drove the rest of the way around the Points East Coast Route and then over to the Central Coast route. Again the roads ranged from fair to awful but at least we weren`t pulling the trailer over them. The province is known as ``the gentle island`` or ``the green province``. Considering the condition of the roads, I think the latter is more appropriate.

There are farms and lush green hillsides (not very high hillsides, mind you) everywhere you look and then there is the sea. You are never very far from the ocean anywhere in PEI. Every few kilometres you come to a signpost announcing another town or village (which may be no more than a handful of homes/farms) a white church with a steeple and a graveyard. We toured through the PEI National Park but as dogs are not allowed on the beaches in the park we just had a brief walk down to see the dunes and walk in the sand as we could only leave Mazy in the van momentarily as the temperature had climbed to 27C. This area is one of the most touristy with signs advertising cottage rentals all along the route. Cavendish is the centre of this area with the Anne of Green Gables site and Lucy Maud Montgomery's home.

When we returned to the campsite for dinner, we managed to enjoy a campfire until the thunder and lightening forewarned us and we retreated from a short rain shower.

After two nights at Red Point we left the north east and drove down to the village of Belfast so I could visit the Belfast Mini-Mill and Fibre Store. I was able take a tour of the mill which walked through the various processes from washing the fibre, picking it with an automated picking machine that then blew the picked fibre into an adjacent room, to de-hairing (the employee explained this using qivuit), carding, spinning, plying and setting the twist. They also have a felting machine and offer classes in felting that can produce large felt "pictures" as a souvenir of PEI. I didn't manage to leave the store without some mixed batts that included some qivuit. While I was inside, Pete and Mazy explored the farmyard that included sheep, alpaca, chickens, guinea hens, dogs, etc.

From Belfast we joined up with the Trans Canada and had a quick view of Charlottetown and then on to Summerside (in the middle of a power outages- forget about filling up here) to our campsite for the night at Linkletter Provincial Park.

Again this park was right on the ocean with a distant view of the Confederation Bridge and when the tide came in far enough Mazy and I got our PEI swim in some of the warmest water I have experienced. Here even the sand is red. We were surprised to find that our neighbouring campers in a big fifth wheel were from Vancouver and on our evening walk we also met a woman room Victoria.