Prince Edward Island

June 26th, 2007

I took the ferry  from Nova Scotia to PEI yesterday.  It turned out to be a great day and the crossing was relaxing — it takes just a little over an hour; of which i spent most of the time on the forward deck with my face in the wind (a lot like riding without all the bugs smacking into my face).  The ride OVER is free – but they hit you on the way back for about 40 or 50 bucks.  If you take the Confederation bridge to get off PEI, you get hit with a similar fee…. no one gets off the island for free!

This is my first visit to PEI so i didn’t know what to expect.  I almost blew it off entirely assuming that it would be the same as Nova Scotia…. I was wrong.

The first thing that I noticed when i left the ferry is that i felt more relaxed.  Nova Scotia is a pretty laid back place but pei felt absolutely tranquil.  The island is only 175 miles from end-to-end, so if you have 2 or 3 days you can do a good job seeing everything (3 hours if you’re my wife).  The landscape consists of rolling green pastures with splashes of wooded areas — you have a panoramic view at every hill top.  These pink, purple and white flowers (sorry, don’t know the name) dot the roadside where ever you travel.  It really does feel like a paradise and the perfect blend between land and sea.

I stayed right downtown in Charlottetown at the Island Motor Lodge — I wanted to be able to walk to all the points around town.  I really like Charlottetown.  Trying to describe it is a bit tough… but to me, it’s kinda like a small Montreal and a big Portsmouth (NH) put together.  A lot of culture, art, museums, outdoor dining and an historic waterfront. (sorry, no pictures yet)

It poured again this morning (surprise!) but i didn’t mind.  I got an early start and did my laundry.  Surprisingly, the count of dirty underware match what it should have been for a guy on the road for a week — 2 (I kid… it was 7).  Doing my laundry was an important milestone for me on this trip — it marked the distinction between LIVING on the road and BEING on the road.  I have become a nomad.

The skies cleared as promised and i headed out to see a few sights.  Heading into Kensington, I ran into Jim and Romey (I saw them on the ferry coming over but didn’t have a chance to talk).  Jim flew his bike (BMW R1150RT) from Alberta to Newfoundland and he and Romey have been riding for the last week or so.  She’s flying back home from Moncton, NB – to get back to the radio show that she hosts –  and he’s going to continue westward like me… we may run into eachother again.

 

PEI has a lot of quirky (borderline cheesy) attractions.  This is one that I visited today… some guy started building miniature replica castles/building from England when he got back from WWI.  The hobby turned into a business by the 50s.  Here are some photos of a castle — you can see the full size and scale in the first photo — then i took some close-ups at angles that (i think) make it look full scale.

 

Here’s a flower close-up for Eric : ) — note the bee in the middle gathering pollen… ART

 

Heading off the island tomorrow… I’ll be checking back in a couple days — cheers