PEI: August 18

Day 11: August 18

We avoided another bad weather forecast and enjoyed sun all day after 10:00. Beautiful.

The morning was spent drinking coffee and chatting with neighbours (Judy and David, the ones with the dog who peed on my chair who eventually came to like me and licked my face goodbye, were leaving).

Decided to head for the Scottish Heritage Day in Eastern Kings. It was their first and featured vendors:

Sheepdog herding demonstrations:

the Belfast Pipe and Drum Band:

Mussels (David's first plate ever-I had four):

AND Chef Michael Smith who judged the Potato Salad and Raspberry Jam contest. He's very handsome, but Carol told me that he is no longer with Rachel (mother of Gabe) who was featured on the Chef at Home show on the Food Network, but is with another woman and has a new baby. Not happy with him:

We headed back for another beach walk. Lots of people have shown up and it's noisy tonight. But it's been a great stay.

I forgot to take a view from my chair (the glorious view hasn't changed) and there was no time for a view from the bike! More tomorrow.

PEI: August 17

Day 10: August 17

I'm calling this a B and B (bike and beach) day. Though they were calling for thundershowers today, it was beautiful the entire day!

We headed south to the Bay Fortune area. This side of the island has more seaside views. We went down a few roads and found Sally's Point Provincial Park (a Day Use Park) and had lunch:

Though the ride was fun, the beach called, so we headed back. For the first time in all the years we've been travelling to the ocean, we finally swam It was beautiful. The beach is soft, there are few rocks, and it is shallow for many yards with sandbars everywhere. Here's a pic to prove it (don't know what I was praying for!):

Back to the campsite for good conversation with Carol and Peter (New Brunswick), Ed and Jean (Bancroft) and Judy and David (Connecticut). You make good friends with this lifestyle.

The Gannets were dive bombing fish (like reverse fireworks), and we saw seals then whales! Small ones for sure, but whales!

We walked to the beach and chatted with a guy who happened to have studied Geology at Frost! He's now a Treasure Hunter for a company called Odyssey. Interesting.

It was a great day.

Here are the views from my chair (big boat, little boat):

And the view from the bike:

PEI: August 16

Day 9: August 16

Love this spot. Very quiet. We awoke early to a nice view and confirmed it was a great day for a bike tour. So off we went!

First stop was the East Point Lighthouse (and Internet access for blog catch-up!). 

While I was tucked inside, David was viewing several seals just off shore:

and a Cormorant "tree":

We headed west and rode through North Harbour, the home of the biggest tuna fishery:

We stopped in Hermanville at a potato vodka distillery (thought best not to have a tasting) and went to Shipwreck Point (this one was for sale!):

It's strange since the road is a far distance from the shore, except in a few places, so not as picturesque as we had hoped.

Cable Head East had THIS mansion (not for sale):

We went to Rick's Fish and Chips in St. Peter's (thanks to Joyce for the tip) and headed back east. We got back, had a beer and I walked the beach and saw these lovely things:

It was another great day here on the rugged, less populated part of PEI.

Here's the view from my chair (of David in his chair):

And the (best) views from the bike (in keeping with the Wooden Churches tour):

PEI: August 15

Day 8: August 15

Up early to another beautiful sunrise. We got packed up and prepared for the drive to the eastern end of the island (our tip to tip tour!).

It was a beautiful day and an easy drive and we ended up at Red Point Provincial Park near Souris. It's beautiful. In contrast to Jacques Cartier, which was a very tired park, this one is pristine and the staff was so welcoming. Though we could have had a site near the water, it was very crowded, so we took their recommendation and are in site 108, at the top of a hill overlooking the ocean:

We met neighbours Carol and Peter who welcomed us and gave us some advice about where to go, what to do, and where we can get Internet access. They're very nice.

We walked the beach, one striking in its relatively white sand in contrast to the red sand of the days before. And there were loads of people. We said we may go swimming this trip yet!

Back at the site, neighbours pulled in, parked right in my view and then their dog peed on my chair! Not a great start. But the woman apologized profusely and offered to clean my chair AND moved the car. So we chatted and all is well.

Some iffy weather is predicted, but we plan to ride the bike tomorrow and hopefully get in some beach weather for the next few days.

Here's the view from my chair:

PEI: August 14

Day 6: August 14

Another spectacular day!

We were awakened by a cacophony of sound at 6:30 and looked out to see hundreds and hundreds of cormorants flying just above the water. We're guessing that some kind of fish, maybe mackerel or herring, was schooling nearby. Too early to find a camera!

The day started sunny, so we decided on a bike tour of the entire North Cape Coastal Drive. I was able to sit back, relax and just enjoy the beautiful sights.

Biker Chick:

At Jude's Point, we saw scores of Great Blue Heron feeding:

We passed through large and small fisheries:

And saw many, many beautiful wooden churches (and we think the province should provide a “Wooden Church Tour” of the island):

Lunch was ice cream at Scooters (is that wrong?):

Three hundred kilometers later, we completed the tour, and I have to say that I love our bike.

It was another wonderful day, finished with another campfire. We're moving east tomorrow.

Here's a view from my chair:

and my favourite view from the bike (most pictures today were from the bike):

PEI August 13

Day 6: August 13

Today was a great day.

We woke to sunshine, but the threat of thunder storms. So we decided to move to another campsite for two more nights, unhitch the trailer, and head out for some exploring.

First, we got a site right on the beach, so we're thrilled. Then we headed out for some touristy things.

First stop was The Canadian Potato Museum in O'Leary (perfect, huh?).

It had a lot of info on potatoes, including all the potato diseases known to man, depicted in little potato coffins. Irresistible:

There was also a community museum with the complete office and all the equipment form a local doctor's estate. This included an Iron Lung. So sad to imagine people living inside these:

Next stop was Milligan's Wharf for a Fish and Chips lunch. What a find. It's right on a working and very busy harbour. After lunch here

we chatted with some fishermen and learned about Bar Clams

and the Herring season that begins Sunday. People are lovely and answer the stupidest questions, mine, of course.

Groceries and return to the beautiful campsite:

I walked the beach again and then we sat and enjoyed the water (so calm tonight):

There were so many people around since it was hot and calm.

We even had a fire, a rarity for us. Then it was an evening of celestial phenomena including many airplanes, several satellites, lightning over the water, three shooting stars, the clearest Milky Way, and even a swooping owl. Amazing.

Here's the evening view from my chair:

PEI: August 12

Day 5: August 12

Well, bad singing (Me and Bobby McGee) kept us awake later than usual. But the weekend is over, so...fingers crossed.

The skies were very overcast, so we hung around and decided to wait for noon before deciding on a bike tour. Olympics (we get one channel, badly) and lunch were followed by rain and darker skies, so we took a long walk on the beach (have found a few pieces of beach glass and some rocks, of course):

We met a lovely woman from Toronto who, with her husband, spends six months a year here. She said we were very fortunate to have seen the Irish Mossing yesterday since few Islanders even get to see it any more.

Back for more Olympics and reading. THEN, we decided to use the wind for something fun and went to fly our kite (we bought a $5 plastic Spiderman kite to see if we'd like to get a better one some day; I'd say the answer is YES!):

Rain started up again (this IS typical PEI weather and they NEED the rain because they've had the dry heat like in Ontario, but I want to tour with the bike!), so we came in, ate dinner and watched the Closing Ceremonies.

No new view from my chair (just add rain to the last one) or view from the bike. Tomorrow will be better. Promise! But we still love it here.