Labrador to Prince Edward Islands

A-Red Bay, Labrador; B-St. Anthony, NF; C-Rocky Harbour, NF; D-Louisbourg; NS;
E-Pictou, NS; F-Charlottetown, PEI

We took the 3:45PM ferry back from Labrador to Newfoundland – we were supposed to spend a night in Labrador, but with hurricane Earl threatening, our Wagon Master decided that it would be best to be back at a somewhat protected campground in St. Anthony’s. So we had the next day to do whatever we wanted. It was actually quite a nice day and we got some odd jobs done, grocery shopped, and relaxed. But by evening the wind picked up and overnight it rained really hard and blew like mad.

The next morning we were up for a meeting at 7:30AM and took to the road before 8AM. It was SOOOOOOO windy – just awful. We spent 4 hours in the wind and felt quite relieved when we reached Rocky Harbour in one piece. A couple of the caravan RVs had some problems, but nothing really major. Apparently we were at the edge of the storm.

Western Brook Tours fjord explorer

We spent the next day in Rocky Harbour and most of us went on a 2-hour Fjord boat-ride. The interesting thing was that we had to walk about 1.5 miles in to the boat dock and 1.5 miles back out. They call the water Western Brook Pond. This pond is over 17 kilometers long (about 12 miles).  We found out that here in Newfoundland there are so many lakes that all but the very biggest are called ponds. In the states we would definitely call the body of water a lake – a BIG lake. Before going back to the park we visited The Arches Provincial Park. In the evening we had dinner in Rocky Harbour, then returned to the RVs and played cards.

Arches Provincial Park

Tuesday, August 7 – And we are off again – this time to Grand Codroy, NL. This is our last overnight stop in Newfoundland. It was a very rainy day with some wind, but we drove the 184 miles without incident. We did take time to return to Gros Morne Nat’l Park visitor center to view a half hour film on the park. It was excellent with wonderful overhead views of the lakes, trees, shore, and the rocky cliffs. We also had to make a stop in Corner Brook – one of the larger cities on the island – to do some grocery shopping and car fuses. We didn’t get much in the way of groceries, as we will be returning through customs to the US in a few days, and we don’t want to lose any of the big three – poultry (including eggs), pork, and produce. Though it was raining, it was mild (low 60s).

This evening was a pot luck and game night.

The next day we lined our RVs up in our number order to drive to the Newfoundland-Nova Scotia ferry from Port aux Basque (pronounced Port O Boss). This trip is only 6 ½ hours long, unlike the 15 hour trip to Argentia, NL a week ago. We are fortunate to have a smooth day for the crossing. (And YEA – we can turn our time pieces back half an hour). Though when we arrive in Nova Scotia, we drive through rain as we cover 38 miles to our RV park in Louisbourg. The rain lets up as we all get situated, then starts again.

Sept 8 – It’s raining and cold. But we load a bus in the morning for a trip to the Louisbourg, NS Fortress. (Interesting fact: A fort consists of soldiers only; A fortress consists of soldiers and their families) The fortress was originally built by the French because it was near a port that never froze over, so cod fish fishing and shipping could be done throughout the year. But when the people in the fortress got too prosperous, the English sent an overwhelming number of troops over, they attacked from the rear and overtook the fort, thereby sending the French home. The French returned again for a few years and were once again over-run by the English – the French never returned. Unfortunately, Hurricane Earl had caused power outages and we were able to see only a few of the many reconstructed fortress buildings.

Our afternoon was free to do as we wished (we did laundry!!). Then at 5:30 we attended a Beggar’s Feast held in a tent at the RV park. They put white head covers on the women and tri-corner hats on the men – normally they dress guests in full costume, but we were leaving early to attend an event, so they just did the hats. Dinner included salad, rolls, veggies, beans, cod, and a gingerbread. As with most of the meals in Eastern Canada, all the food is quite bland – no seasonings. It’s good – but not exciting.

This evening we were treated to ‘An evening in a Nova Scotia Kitchen’. We didn’t know what to expect, but we were delighted to be entertained by five excellent musicians who also performed skits. They played the local music – two guitarists, a percussionist (who was also a terrific actress), a keyboardist, and a great violinist/dancer. We hated to see the evening end.

Sept 9, Friday we headed out about 8:30AM and drove the almost 200 miles to Pictou, NS. The RV park got us close to the ferry that we will take to Prince Edward Island in the morning. The four of us get set up and then drive into town where we find a very nice knife shop and one of the better gift shops we’ve seen – and we’ve seen a LOT of them.

Sept 10 and we were up at 5:00AM for the 6:00AM drive to the ferry which was to head to Prince Edward Island (PEI) at 8AM. This is a small ferry that is ‘first come, first served’ – it is the size of the Washington ferries (not large) and 5 of us were left behind. So we had to sit and wait until 11:15AM for the ferry to return. It was cold and rainy and dreary and we were all tired, but eventually the ferry showed up and we made it to PEI and Charlottetown without further incident. We were treated to a Pizza and salad dinner that night at the campground.

Sept 11, Sunday, we had a full day bus trip on another cool and somewhat damp day. We toured the northwest area of PEI. It is so very different than all the other provinces we have visited on this trip. The island has a great deal of farming – not the heavily tree covered and desolate areas of the other Atlantic Canada provinces. There are no moose on PEI. The biggest animal is the red fox or coyote.

Anne of Green Gables house

The first place we visit is the Anne of Green Gables National Park. There is the house, barn, lover’s trail, and haunted woods that were so important in the books. And of course, an extensive gift shop!!!

From there we visited the north coast, but with the poor weather, it wasn’t very spectacular. Then it was on to New Rustico – a cute little village with yet another lighthouse and gift shop. Then it was time to tour some of the countryside, then head to Glasgow Hills Golf Club for lunch. Here we DID have a wonderful meal of fresh green salad, nicely prepared cod, and a yummy cake with strawberries.

North Rustico lighthouse

We then visited the Prince Edward Island Preserve Co – the owner, a Scotsman dressed in a kilt, greeted us and told us of developing the jams and jellies in his ‘gift shop’. Many are made with wonderful liquors. They also sell things made only in Scotland, England or PEI. He said that so many authentic industries are closing  because much cheaper products are made in China, Taiwan, etc.- too bad.

Province House

Our last stop was at Province House in Charlottetown. Here is where the idea of creating a Confederation (which eventually became Canada) was planned. 23 delegates from the British colonies of PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec didn’t wish to separate from England, as they were VERY loyal to Queen Victoria. But they felt that by joining together, they would be stronger against the largely successful country to their south – the USA. We then toured downtown Charlottetown before being dropped off at our RV park.

Victoria sand  castle

Sept 13, Monday, is our last day as a caravan. We are left to entertain ourselves as we wish until 4pm. The four of us spent the day exploring more of PEI. We drove west along the southwest coast thru the small village of Victoria. There had apparently been a beach celebration over the weekend and there was a relatively intact sand castle near the beach. There was evidence of serious erosion from hurricane Earl along the shore.

Confederation bridge - 8 miles long, between
PEI & New Brunswick

We then drove on west to view Confederation Bridge – an 8-mile long bridge that connects PEI to New Brunswick. Before the bridge was finished, the only way onto the island was by ferry. We took pictures of the bridge and the lighthouse nearby, then discovered some good deals at stores near the bridge. We drove on to Summerside, the only city on the island other than Charlottetown. We then returned to Charlottetown where we went to the Gahan Brewery where we sampled eight of their Microbrews. We found them to be like the food – relatively bland. But we had an order of nachos with them, so it wasn’t all bad.

This was the night of our farewell dinner. We were picked up from the RV park and taken to a dinner of Lobster, fish chowder, salad, and dessert – a really good dinner. Following dinner we were treated to a wonderful play – a comedy, drama, murder mystery. The play was excellent –  double meanings, English humor – WOW. There was a hotel clerk named Frieda Heights, and a police detective named Inspector Closley. What a way to end the 33-day trip of a lifetime!!!

We continue our journey down the east coast – next time.