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Aug 25th - Today was a washout.Buckets of rain overnight continuing 'till mid afternoon.Good chance to update the blog, you think.Pahhh!Computer thinks differently!Pat said if there was a baseball bat in the van, the 'puter would have lost --- PETE!While doing this, a whole load of VW campervans went by and didn't even see us.There must have been at least ten of them all in a convoy.Wish we could have found out what they were up to, probably some sort of club outing.Eventually the rain cleared, so we continued up the coast.Called in at a tourist info centre housed in a lighthouse hoping to find out what sort of sea mammals we had seen the other night.The woman thought it could have been seals, or small whales, but she didn't seem to know, and Jenny thought she was having a bad day.The investigation continues.Don't touch that dial!
Aug 26th. - The mystery has been solved - they were Pilot Whales.Next up was Charlottetown, the capital of P.E.I.Parking was very difficult, which spoilt this otherwise nice, small city.It is a wealth of history, where Canada became a nation and also where the constitution was signed.The library wasn't very good, nothing warm or welcoming about it and the computers were so slow that after several attempts to update the blog, we gave up.A quick walk around down town and then a drive showed a good cross section of the place.Upon leaving, another VW van was seen driving with the roof up in the air, so a pursuit was made to warn them.They thanked us, but said they were moving a couch!
"Offexploring" emailed Jenny asking for her permission to use one of her photos on their advertising.She is so pleased with herself, Pat and I have a hard time just getting a word in.The picture was called "Tranquility" - votes please to "Message Board" on the blog.
The day ended in Stanley Bridge, camped opposite an oyster shack on the Hope River.It has been very entertaining watching the fishermen come and go from their oyster beds.There are also lots of different water birds.A large flock of gulls didn't like it though when a bald headed eagle showed up.They noisily swirled around before flying off.That night, we attended a Ceilidh in the local Women's Institute Hall, which was great fun.It was a 5 member band playing maritime folk and fiddle music, with the audience clapping along.Funny stories were told, a draw was held, and we won a book because we were the farthest away from home, even though half the audience were tourists.
Aug 27th. - Today was Anne of Green Gables day!Drove into Cavendish, and Pat and I stayed in the van!Jenny wandered from pillar to post exploring shops and soaking up the atmosphere of the area where Lucy Maud Montgomerylived and wrote the 'Anne' books. There is the Anne of Green Gables village, which is really a recreation of Anne's fictionalhome. This is well done and quite believable . Further up the road there is a book-store which is on private property and is owned by a descendant of L.M. Montgomery. This is the area where the original house stood. Little is left of it now but it was very interesting to have first hand knowledge from a member of the family. Surrounding this are a lot of tourist traps, which is unfortunate. The countryside is really beautiful, rolling farmland and close by the wild beaches with the Atlantic waves crashing in. More shopping and Pat and I stayed in the van!
Aug 28th - P.E I. is split up into three counties, Kings in the east, Queens in the middle and Prince in the west. Today it was the 'Prince's turn'. Poor old Prince didn't measure up to Mum and Dad in scenic beauty, but we have been spoilt. The Provincial Parks here are great offering free hot showers etc. which is wonderful for us. One has to put up with the mozzies at times. Pat used a toilet where men's and ladies were adjoining. At the same time a Japanese lady went. All Pat could hear were these strange slapping noises and wondered what on earth the Japanese 'do in the loo'. It turned out Jenny had slipped in right after and she was battling the mozzies!
At the northern tip of Prince county is an experimental wind turbine farm, they ranged in size from tiny little spinners right up to giants. They worked very well as Jenny complains constantly about her wind swept hair. Joking aside, being a small island the winds here are severe and the garbage man purposely lays the square bins down after emptying them. This island prides itself on being neat and tidy and you do rarely see any litter. There are no large animals here, we saw a mouse and some squirrels and that's it so far. Apparently there are some fenced in deer and buffalo. Probably the biggest wild animal here would be a coyote.
By the way we've found how to cook Irish Cobblers - chips! They are awful for boiling but the chips Pat cooked were delicious. While shopping yesterday we noticed clothing dyed with the local red soil, or plain with a bag of soil to go with it.
Aug 29th - Tonight may be the last on P.E.I. and Jenny is feeling somewhat 'blue'. It's because the soft rolling countryside reminds her of Somerset, England, where she grew up. The leaves have not started to change here yet but the wheat fields are being harvested and the hay is in the roly-poly's. In 'untouched' fields the native flowers have taken over. There was a sign to say you could not export bees to the island and when seeing all the golden rod I thought there might be that kind of honey but I didn't see bees on those flowers. Arriving at Summerside this afternoon completed the Lighthouse Coastal Trail. Many of the lighthouses now house gift shops, restaurants, museums etc. however the lights are still working. We were told that at Seacow Head there was an excellent view of the Confederation Bridge. On arriving though the mozzies were so bad we had to run away after taking only one picture. This was strange as they are not usually by the sea. We've been lucky with the weather on the whole, but today was a bit misty.
Aug 30th. - Today was the day to cross over to New Brunswick via the Confederation Bridge, one of the worlds longest at 12.9km.It took about 12 minutes to cross at 80km/hour.If only we'd waited another half hour before crossing, it would have been in sunshine, instead of mist.Before leaving P.E.I., we stopped at a roadside stall to buy some different potatoes, but the girl serving said the only kind she had left went soggy very quickly when boiled/steamed, just like the Irish Cobblers, so we didn't buy any.We can only assume that P.E.I.'s famous spuds are used for French fries, chips and crisps.Returning through N.B. up the eastern side will return us to northern Quebec and the Gaspe' Peninsula.
Aug 31st. - As it turned out this was the last day in N.B.The coast roads were not as interesting as expected, so we cut inland to Bathhurst where Pat changed the oil again at Walmart, as they take the used oil back for recycling.That means 16,000km have been done so far.Passing an Acadian fair at Nigadoo we stopped to watch the tap dancing.There were various stalls catering to kids and adults.Quebec must be getting very near as French is being spoken by everyone but us.Crossed over to Quebec at Campbellton late afternoon and are spending the night in a bird viewing area, limited to 2hr. parking.Hope we don't get a ticket.
Summing up the Maritimes - in all four provinces the people were so friendly and helpful.Everybody had a smile for us.For scenery, P.E.I. and Nova Scotia were superb and in certain areas, Nfld. was a close runner up with its dramatic views.P.E.I. had the best beaches by far. Again, I was hoping to find lots of different kinds of shells but there was little variety.We must have been spoilt by our finds in New Zealand.
Sept 1st. - This is the "Last Gaspe"!From now on it'll be westward ho with a few wanderings here and there.Didn't get a parking ticket last night!There was a little bit of confusion over the time in Quebec.Pat thought it should be the same as N.B., and Jenny said it should be set back an hour.Jenny was correct, but it doesn't seem right - it gets dark around 7pm - far too early.It will correct itself as we head into western Quebec.
This peninsula didn't start to be scenic until after reaching Perce' on the southern coastal tip.The wind was terrible today.Jenny thinks this is where the sound effects for movies are recorded!Even a hanky needs three pins to hold it on the line!Each town has done a great job of building picnic sites with toilets and water all along this coast.Today was Labour Day, so things were pretty quiet.We were walking along the beach this evening and almost trod on an immature speckled gull having a snooze.At the last moment he got up and walked away, so we thought there might be something wrong with him, but after checking on him several times, he ended up taking off.
Sept 2nd. - Oh bliss.The little brats are back in school now!It's a pleasure to have to stop for the school buses again.This means quieter roads and stores as tourist traffic is less.Jenny has been under the weather for the last few days trying to lose a persistent cough, and now she is on the mend.The north side of this peninsula is far more interesting with hills, bays and villages dotted all along.Stopping for the day, we got talking to some hikers who told us they were walking from Gaspe' to Quebec City - 750 kms.There were 15 of them and they plan to take 30 days to do it.Their average age was 68, and the oldest woman was 75.They shower and sleep in schools and all looked hale and hearty.
Au revoirfrom Monsieur Ted and the Gaspe' ers.
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