It was interesting watching the ferry operation and the lobster fishermen maneuvering their boats as we pulled out of the ferry slip. Seas were smooth for the crossing, with only the barest hint of swells to gently rock the ship.
Our docking point on the PEI side was Wood Islands, some forty minutes east of Charlottetown. That's the capital and our main destination for the day.
One is immediately impressed with the rural agrarian scenery on PEI, with neat farms, planted fields and some dairy cows. It's a very clean place which clearly reflects the pride of farmers and residents of all kinds. One unusual sight was that of plastic wrapped hay rolls in the fields, like gigantic sausages. Some were wrapped in white, others in black. Those rolls are about a meter in diameters and perhaps half again that long. We'd never seen farmers protect their hay that way before. And like Cape Breton Island, lupine flowers are everywhere, so beautiful along the roadsides and in people's yards.
We stopped first at the Charlottetown visitors' information center. It's near the water and barely ten blocks from downtown. The young man at the counter was most helpful, providing us with maps, activity informations sheets and hints on how to get to places we wanted to see. Jean talked to him whilst I telephoned a bed and breakfast (B&B). The first one I called had a vacancy so I told the lady we'd be right over.
With excellent driving directions from the visitor center guide we found the B&B at 11 Johnson Street quite easily. It's a single family home in a quiet residential area. Mrs. Rita Allix, a widow, rents out two or three rooms in her home. It's a very nice place, clean and very homey. We quickly said we'd take the room for the night. The rate is $45 (Canadian) plus GST taxes.
Within minutes we were off to see Charlottetown, a city of 35,000 on PEI's south central shores. Parking was free at the waterfront park, just four blocks from the center of town and specifically the capital building called Province House. Many of the buidlings in the city are 1880's vintage, a few date earlier some 50 years. The capital was our main interest.
Canada's nationhood began here in 1867 when provincial representatives gathered to make a nation out of the old English and French colonial parts. The second floor of the restored capital building is furnished as it was on that historic day. And it was just by chance that we were visiting the place on the occasion of Canada Day weekend. Festivities were planned to celebrate Canada's equivalent to our 4th of July.
We were treated to a 15 minute film explaining the
Confederation history and the special significance of
Charlottetown. It's an interesting side note that PEI
didn't actually join the new confederation until 1873. And
the last province to come aboard was Newfoundland in 1949.
The chambers of the legislature are quite small. There are but 32 members representing the island's population of about 135,000. And the building is quite modest compared to those of other provinces, both in size and furnishings. Jean and I have now visited and toured four provincial capitals and the national one in Ottawa. We've been in two other capital cities but not done their governmental areas yet.
We lunched at the "Piece of Cake" restaurant, a charming second floor eatery in downtown. I had a quiche with salad and Jean enjoyed a big salad plate. It was quite nice. Then we resumed our walking tour of town and the waterfront areas. Charlottetown is a neat place to visit. Continued great weather made it even better.
Festivities for the Canada Day celebrations included a carnival on the waterfront. It was a typical affair with rides and a midway, the sort of thing we associate with small midwestern towns. But it is enough for a city of Charlottetown's size and it was very festive.
By mid-afternoon we decided to see more of the surrounding countryside. We headed west along the main road to the other ferry terminal, 35 minutes west of the Capital. Two ferries link PEI with Canada's mainland, but that's about to change. At Borden they are building the bridge, known as the Strait Crossing. We stopped to look at the construction site and take in the guided tour offered by the government management group overseeing the work by several contractors.
We were, in a word, impressed by the magnitude of the project. It's about 40 percent complete and is an engineering marvel. The nine-mile long bridge will be completed in 1997 at a cost of over 850 million dollars. It will be a two-lane structure built on pylons designed to withstand the icebergs that plague navigation in the Northumberland Straits of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Lots of concrete is being poured to make the steel-reinforced bridge members. Those enormous parts are then barged into position. It's an amazing engineering and planning exercise. We are so glad that we included this site on our PEI visit. Wow. Oh yes, after the bridge is opened the eastern ferry, Pictou to Wood Islands, will continue to run. But the bridge will take only 20 minutes to cross, compared to 75 on the ferry. And the bridge will be ten dollars cheaper.
After a pleasant night at our B&B, we breakfasted with our hostess before heading off for more PEI touring. We really enjoyed getting to know Rita, a delightful lady with a varied background. She grew up in Newfoundland, lived in the Northwest Territories and later in Ottawa before settling in PEI in 1980. She's a delight to listen to and quite an outspoken individual with definite and strong feelings about Canada, Quebec and people on both sides of the US-Canadian border. She's a sharp lady, intelligent, well-traveled and very savvy.
The last day for us on PEI we spent touring the island's northeastern third. Much of that part of the island is sparsely populated. Coastal fishing villages and inland farmland are separated by low evergreen forests. The houses are well-maintained, with few exceptions, but roads are something else. The shore route is a pot-holed mess that's been patched many times. What it really needs is a complete re-surfacing. Speeds over 45 mph are too much in most places. It's a good thing we were not in any hurry and simply out to see the countryside.
We stopped at the Provincial park at Campbell Cove, way out on the far eastern end of the island, so I could put my kayak into new waters. Now I have paddled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence too. It was great and my first introduction to kayaking in a light surf. I'm not sure I am ready to take on rougher surf, especially when beaching. Oh yes, there was a fine beach and campground at the park. I took advantage of the shower facilities to wash off the salt water and clean up a bit before putting my street clothes back on. I used shorts and a long-sleeved shirt while paddling.
On the way back south to catch the Wood Island to Pictou ferry, we stopped at a great restaurant in Montague. It was but one of two towns worth of the name on our eastern PEI tour. The Lobster Shanty is a first-class place that we saw just by chance. It's up on a bluff overlooking a coastal inlet. We had pepper steaks (the luncheon special) and enjoyed it very much. And we were lucky to have stopped and been served just before a busload of tourists came in. They were part of a group that had advanced reservations, taking up over half of the tables.
Famous folks have stopped there, we learned from a brochure. The British royals have all been there at one time or another too. Boy, do we ever know where to dine. Or what?
We arrived at the ferry dock just in time. Ten minutes later we were aboard and pulling out for the Nova Scotia shores. A smooth and clear crossing brought us home. Home, that is to our little tin house on wheels.