Leaving THIS Island

Waterfront View

Not much water at low tide at Linkletter:


Day 22: July 17

Okay, so a little late, but I DID get the sunrise this morning:



We had another leisurely departure then followed the rest of this part of the coast to Cedar Point Provincial Park. The 3-way sites were crowded and dirty, the worst we think we’ve ever seen. We settled for a 2-way (Site 57, $31.81) in a quiet section. No ocean view, but a mere 300 steps from our site was this:



After lunch we rode our bikes to West Point and its harbour, lighthouse and gift shop!




Our beach walk garnered the most beautiful glass: small in most cases but well polished. We found some shards, two blue pieces (a real treat) then my first EVER red piece! Great score:



We chatted with PEI neighbours (they have a site for the season, no services, but only $1,500. Wow).
It then started to rain and did for hours (guess you needed this in Ontario). It was a nice, quiet day here (and by the way, the brush behind the MoHo and all over the place was filled with Poison Ivy; apparently, they won’t use Roundup and are going to start DIGGING it up this year):



Day 23: July 18

We’re heading back to the centre of the island and traced the coast back to Summerside for groceries and to Linkletter. We got Site 68 again ($27) for two nights and thought we’d check out the Annual Lobster Festival tomorrow.

The beach is completely different again. The seaweed (we call it sea schmutz) is very thick and prevented my usual walk:



I did get a few pieces of glass:



Here are the evening views from my chair:

…west:


…east:



…south:



Day 24: July 19

The seas schmutz is mostly gone this morning in the high tide!

We rode into town (12 km), caught the Sidewalk Sale, had a coffee and wondered why the Midway was closed until 3:00 on a beautiful summer day!



It was a great day to sit out in the sun. I beachcombed and got my biggest piece of glass ever:



The view from my chair is of David walking to New Brunswick:



…then safely home again:



Day 25: July 20

It was another windy, wavey morning, and it was time to leave PEI. Part of our trip was to look for a summer home. We didn’t really see anything we fell in love with, but now we have a great idea of all the areas that we liked, so we can check things out better over the winter, online.

We thought we’d head to Nova Scotia’s Northumberland Shore and got to Amherst Shore Provincial Park (Site #30, $24.35, No services) for lunch.

I rode to the beach (a tough trail for me over the roots), but it yielded no treasures:



We rode back together later.

We have decided to try another island before we head home. We’ll head back to Grand Manan (we were there before I retired), and I am so excited.

Here’s a view of our site, with my two sweeties snoozing:

Beach Hopping

Waterfront View

Wind + ocean = FUN!

Day 17: July 12

It was a gorgeous morning! We headed out early for more coast exploration then stocked up in Summerside. We got to Linkletter Provincial Park early and checked the serviced sites and decided to avoid the congestion and stay in an Unserviced Site (#68, $27) for three nights.

It’s a huge site, just steps from the beach. We waded:

…and walked and beachcombed:

After dinner, I strolled again and met a woman who was singing and sketching on the beach! She showed me her sketch, and it included ME!. Let’s all check out the artwork of Lucie Bellemare  and look for a woman in a yellow ballcap!

Here’s the view of my chair:

Day 18: July 13

Another sunny and warm morning, so we decided to ride into Summerside. The ride included some time on the Confederation Trail, another fox:

…a ride along the boardwalk, a visit to the Yacht Club:

…some shops, and a ride along the rest of the boardwalk to “the end”:

We stopped at St. Eleanor’s, the Patron Saint of Ice Cream and Bicycles:

…then relaxed after our 22.5 KM ride. I walked the beach for more (Mandy-approved) glass:

…then we visited with John and Arianna, BC neighbours who picked our minds for Newfoundland ideas. It was a great day.

Here’s another view of Site 68:

Day 19: July 14

It was sunny, warm and crazy windy! So we walked the beach:

…hung out:

…and we watched those wind surfers:

And that was about it!:

Day 20: July 15

Time to move on towards the North Cape and some more coast.

We saw:

• a Seniors’ Living facility next to a skateboard park and Catholic Church and cemetery
• St. Patrick’s beautiful church:

• ANOTHER Lucy Maud Montgomery residence in Bideford
• Foodland and Donut Shop in Bloomfield (THE Mall!)
• fishing harbour in Northport (complete with lobster fisherman chat and mackerel catch!):

• a beautiful lighthouse in the distance:

At Jacques Cartier Provincial Park, we avoided the very crowded serviced sites and chose 66 (Unserviced, $27) right next to the water. There was only one other camper, a couple from nearby. Through chatting, we discovered he was our THIRD lighthouse connection in PEI: the guy at Panmure whose wife’s family had been lighthouse keepers for generations, Shauna, from home, whose Mom was raised in the lighthouse in Souris, and now this guy, whose great-grandfather was the lighthouse keeper in West Point. AND I have just finished an amazing book called Perdita about a lighthouse on the Bruce Penninsula (and ghosts, etc.). Perfect!

We walked the beach (poor showing for glass!):

After dinner, within less than five minutes (and no camera), we saw the following:

• an Osprey dive and catch a fish and fly right over our heads
• another Osprey chasing a Bald Eagle
• another Bald Eagle

Wow. Here’s a view from my chair:

Day 21: July 16

Yep, another gorgeous morning on the ocean. I DID see the sunrise from my pillows. No, really.

We headed around the coast to explore some. At North Cape, we saw those huge and noisy Wind Turbines:

…Grey Seals:

…Common Eiders:

…a Pesarchuk among the Inukshuks:

…a Bald Eagle:

Back at the park, I walked and rejoiced that we chose this:

…over this:

My long beachwalk, complete with two occasions for shoe-removal, yielded only this:

 

 

…but our ocean-side observations included a lobster boat pulling some water toys, a power boat, two jet skis, some ATVs and an ultralight plane!

A nice day!

More PE Island Hopping

Waterfront View

Sunset over the Malpeque Bay from Cabot Beach Provincial Park:

Day 13: July 8

We were up early for the ferry, but still too early for a sunset picture! Time to say goodbye to the Iles de la Madeleine:

It was a great crossing. the sun was shining, and many of us sat outside for most of the time. We felt it was like a Riviera Cruise in the winter: a little chilly and windy, but everyone was catching some rays on deck.

We got into Souris EXACTLY on time (and sailed by the Souris Lighthouse where, apparently my friend Shauna’s Mom was raised):

After stocking up, we hit Red Point PP (Site 16, $31.85 E/W, PEI has Seniors Rate for everyone over 60 at 10% off) and walked the beach:

I found the best piece of beachglass EVER:

…love the “spaceship” design and will look this up when we’re home)

We enjoyed this view from my chair, complete with a seal sighting, accompanied by the radio broadcast of the Antigonish Highland Games Opening Concert! Perfect:

Day 14: July 9

We woke to an ocean view again! Just what we needed. But it was a dull, chilly morning, perfect for more coastal exploration. There are many long, red mud roads that may or may not lead to oceanfront properties.

Crowbush Cove has a beautiful beach next to the golf course we played years ago. They were setting up for a windy wedding on the sand:

Next stop was Savage Harbour, a small lobster-fishing wharf where we had another good chat with a fisherman who was putting the season to bed. He reminded us that they were getting $7.75 a pound for lobster this year, but that the north shore season was really difficult, so the record high prices wouldn’t be AS profitable for him! Oh, and the trees were filled with Great Blue Herons in this apparent nesting area:

We stopped for Fish and Chips at Rick’s in St. Peter’s:

Though famous and a second stop for us. it’s popularity made for a long wait for only a pretty good lunch.

Back at the park, I took my one-hour beachwalk and almost took this as a souvenir (my birthday is January 17) until I saw the tattered men’s briefs nearby. Eeks.

There was no one on the beach, except for the jogging lifeguard, then Finally, some shorebirds:

After dinner, we spent some time talking with the family next door who are here from Switzerland (they lived in Ontario and come back for camper trips).

Here’s another view of our site:

Day 15: July 10

We were up an away early for a bit of a nostalgic drive from our trip 30 years ago. There was Tracadie Harbour, Stanhope (and this little cutie):

…Rustico, and then, after two weeks of relative quiet and few crowds, the chaos of Cavendish Beach. It’s busy anyway, but this was the final day of the Cavendish Beach Music Festival (Blake Shelton! Kenny Chesney!). Wow.

Since we were on the Green Gables Trail, we saw crowds at the National site (she was fictional, people, and this place is not real) but not at the Lucy Maud Montgomery Birthplace (SHE was real and so is this place). There’s even an Anne of Green Gables Museum (fictiional aritfacts?). We don’t get it.

The bays continue to be filled with mussel and oyster farming, and we think this is a blight on the waterfront. Oh, well.

We decided to stay at the Cabot Beach Provincial Park (Site 114, $27, Unserviced), and I rode my bike, walked the beach, then came back and enjoyed the view from my chair:

Day 16: July 11

It’s another chilly, overcast morning. But we rode our bikes (potatoes and ocean!):

and walked the beach:

No glass, but we found this driftwood Inuit Kayaker complete with Greenland Paddle:

We hung out and enjoyed our waterfront view. Later, I rode to Malpeque Wharf:

The late afternoon was beautiful, sunny and warm and led to THIS view from my chair (along with all the other sunset watchers):