Prince Edward Island

We were both excited to cross the Confederation Bridge but to be honest it was quite anticlimactic.

It`s just a big bridge, with big concrete walls and ocean on either side.

We decided to check out Charlottetetown but after a couple of hours we felt we had seen all we really wanted to see so we headed out of town and headed for the north shore.

It was soon clear that the best part of biking PEI was the fact that if you wanted to go across half the island within a few hours you could.

Cavendish, home of Lucy Maud Montgomery and Prince Edward Island National Park was our home for the night.

We were quick to get mobile in the morning and as one of the big highlights for Joanna`s Canada Tour we went direct to Green Gables.

Not sure but I think it was all she had hoped it would be, for myself having never read the books or seen any of the movies the most interesting part was while touring the original location of her house we entered a book store run by her decendants where her niece gave a moving description of the family and town history.

Anyhow, after four fabulous hours we moved on to the park, we followed the parkway along what seemed like endless red clay cliffs capped by soft red sand beaches.

We found a back way into our campsite, broke down camp and started along the north shore of PEI.

That night we started looking for a place to crash around 7pm only to find that everything seemed to be booked.

B&B`s, hotels, even campgrounds, we finally decided to make haste for the large campground in the National Park.

They had 138 sites, we got the last one...no services, no fire ring, no problem we`ll take it.

The next day we woke to relentless rain but still toured the sweet beach where we did a little shell collecting and even found some local wildlife(crab.)

We continued along the north shore for a bit winding in and out of coves and following the beach line before heading for the eastern shore.

As we rode along, we had sent a text to Charlotte, our friend and former boss who used to live in PEI. Joanna stopped at a driveway to get out of the traffic while she checked her phone and I pulled in just ahead of her to see a man standing in his doorway saying something I couldn`t hear over the traffic.

As Joanna read the text we realised that it was an offer to stay with Charlottes dad for the night, and after a bit of confusion we realised what the man was saying `Hi, Im Charlottes dad, are you two from BC?`. We had coincidentally pulled over in her dad`s driveway, so we went on in for a solid night indoors.

In less than perfect weather we rolled out in the morning headed for the Wood Island Ferry to N.S.

We got off the ferry rode 8km and grabbed a campsite for the night.

To Halifax and Back Again

Leaving Moncton we travelled 70km to Amherst, stopping along the way at Fort Beausejour, near Sackville. Just as we pulled into the site the rain came pouring down, so we took the opportunity to check out the indoor museum, which explained the battles between the French and the English in the area. Fort Beausejour became Fort Cumberland when it was taken over by British Forces, and remnants from each part of the forts history can be seen. During a rain-free break we walked the grounds and explored the old barracks and casements. We waited a while in a picnic shelter while the rain came down again, then made a bolt for a campground.

The next night we camped just outside of Truro, after 100km of riding. We were lucky that a fellow camper in Amherst had suggested we take the scenic highway over the main road. The scenic route turned out to be the old highway, and still had large shoulders and was fairly smooth, with very little traffic. Roads in Nova Scotia tend to be less than ideal for cycling.

Another 100km brought us to Halifax, where we met up with John, a connection through warmshowers. It was a late night (no surprise there) so we ate, and went straight to bed. The next day was rainy and cloudy so we grabbed some breakfast, and went to the Halifax Citadel.

The citadel was built to be as intimidating as possible, to ward off attacks on the coastline. Apparently it worked, because after construction, it never was attacked. It is now restored, and staffed to show what life for a soldier was like, including the noontime canon which is fired everyday except for Christmas.

After the Citadel we took a walk by the harbour, and I was very excited to run into Theodore, and I naturally had to stop to take a photo.

We stopped by the old Keiths brewery for a late lunch, and sampled the Keiths Family of beers. A very nice way to spend the afternoon!

Since we were in the area, we also decided to check out Pier 21, the pier where around 1 000 000 people first came in their process for immigration to Canada. Families came with promises of a new future, some returned to their home countries with disappointment, many troops left to go to war, and some came home (some with brides and babies). It was really interesting to hear stories and see photos of the many years the pier operated, and there was a great movie presentation that is definitely worth checking out.

After putting it off for quite some time, we knew it was time to deal with our tent issues (the broken pole from back in Percé). Going into the Atmosphere store, we discovered that they didn`t have any of the same tent to replace the part, so we went back to Johns, grabbed our tent, and went back to do an exchange. We ended up with a new North Face Minibus tent, which actually worked out well for us.

With some sunshine coming our way the next day, we took the opportunity to check out Peggy`s Cove. Leaving some of our heavier belongings at John`s house, we took the scenic

50km route, walked through the Flight 111 memorial site, took some classic Peggy`s Cove photos of the lighthouse, and travelled another 20km to Shad Bay, where we stayed with Greg and Kourtney (friends of John).

Greg and Kourtney have a beautiful house on the water, where they teach yoga and kayaking lessons. When Greg offered to let us borrow a canoe the next morning we were very excited to get out onto the water. We have seen a lot of great things from the bikes, but it was definitely a nice break to paddle for a few hours instead of pedaling.

We paddled along the shoreline and checked out some cool rocks and shells beneath the water. We also found some clusters of rock islands covered in birds.

Making our way back to Halifax (about 25km) didn`t take long that afternoon, and we rode through Point Pleasant Park, watched boats coming in for the night, and saw more of the strategic lookouts for the city.

In what is becoming all too classic style we rolled into Moncton around 8:30pm quickly set up the tent, stuffed our stuff inside it and headed out on the town looking for some food. We struggled to find anything open after 10pm but we could hear the concerts of the multicultural festival and we figured where there is noise and people there must be food, so we headed that direction. It was a super cool vibe with the multicultural festival combined with all the athletes cruising the downtown streets. There were multiple stages with live music and booths set up everywhere. Being a little tired and awfully hungry we just decided to grab some pizza by the slice and head back for the tent. The following morning Vince and Elaine we headed to saturday market for some fresh food so Joanna and I tagged along. They got fresh veggies and bread and stuff while we had the most heavily iced cinnamon buns I`ve ever seen never mind eaten, kinda wrong but also right at the same time. By the time we got back from the market Joanna and I had to head straight for the track. It was the second last day of competition and there were many finals including the mens 800 and a bunch of others. We baked in the hot sun sucking popsicles and drinking gatorade.

The following morning Vince and Elaine made us a scrumptious omelette breakfast that set us up for another day wa

tchin

g the world class competit

ion. After ou

r overload of sun the day before the cloud cover was welcomed at least by us. It was the final day of competition and was all finals. The day was fast and furious with multiple events going at all times at all areas of the stadium. We left after the closing ceremonies knowing that we`re both in the best shape we`ve been in in years all the while feeling extreamly out of shape watching these athlete`s. It was an exciting couple of days combined with a reality check all at the same time. Also after being completely out of T&F for almost ten years now some things still haven`t changed, the Kenyans still dominate the distance events and the USA still dominates the relays. The Kenyans were actually spectacular winning the overall medal count. That evening Elaine convinced us to have some Thai Wheat beers, we were suckered into it and chlaked it up to carboloading for the trip towards Halifax.