So the story goes, King Edward was none too pleased with his youngest son, gallivanting all over the English Shires like a dandy, rather than knuckling down to a career on the family farm known as Duchy. So he gave him a newly discovered island with a great climate and fertile soil, named it after him and sent him packing with a bag of potato seedings…. Many years later, Prince Edward Island is known for it’s potatoes, in fact there’s even a museum to that effect here (see visit bit later). It’s also well known for being stunningly beautiful with a more temperate climate, as it is nestled in the nook of Nova Scotia. They are pretty good at growing blueberries and wheat too! It didn’t however fair well under the tirade of ‘Fiona’, that part is true!
We took the Confederation Bridge across to Prince Edward Island, PEI. An incredible construction, it’s 12.9km long and one of the longest in North America. The Northumberland Straight itself, freezes in winter (and we get upset by a sliver of ice on the windscreen!) Stopping to admire the bridge from terra firma, and the birds nesting on the old lighthouse, we then headed to Charlottetown, the main hub of the Island.
So the opposite of Europe, we were able to drive into the old downtown and street park. After all, we are no longer than the average pickup truck. Charlotte town has a gorgeous mix of older buildings from its mercantile days, it’s origins being from mid 1700’s. Province House, undergoing refurbishment was built in 1847 and is famous for holding the first of two key meetings which led to the formation of the Confederation of Canada, in 1867, the union of the colonies. The second meeting was in Québec. I’m sure it would have been fantastic to view but we could but snatch glimpses. Wandering through the old town buildings, some with colourful feather boarded facades, down to the waterfront, we could see across to Fort Amherst National Historic Site, traditional Mi’kmaq territory and where the first French settlers from Europe established themselves in 1720. At odds with the lovely buildings surrounding it, the enormous Basilica St Dunstans is pretty ugly, thankfully the inside was better. We didn’t gate crash the wedding service preparations this time, contrary to Alfonso and Maria’s wedding in Ecija, Spain… been there, T shirt etc! https://thetravellingcat.blog/2022/03/21/the-wrong-trousers/
Following the example of William and Kate, having been to ‘Charlotte’town, we then headed, from our lakeside boondocker location with ex ‘Marine Mike’ and his ‘big rig’, to ‘George’town (we’ve yet to find a ‘Louis’town!) Yes, we’re seeing a lot of English and Scottish place names on PEI. Georgetown is a tiny hamlet full of properties with space around them to die for and all kinds of architecture. We are seeing a lot of ancestral themes in the buildings all over, Dutch Barns, Nordic red roofs and sides and French fancifulness. (Is that a word?!) Named after George III it’s a grid system of property and even though the area is dominated by fish farming, there’s lots of arts and craft shops and cake shops!
Heading to Greenwich, yeah we seriously wondered if we’d taken a wrong turn and were back in England (bad dream time!), there’s PEI’s National Park where we walked through the cooling forest, bird watching as we went, to arrive at Bowley Pond with its floating boardwalk across to the sand dunes and the beach. Aside from the negativity, AI has actually changed our lives! Our Merlin Birding App has meant we can listen to the birds and using the AI, identify them by their sound…. it’s then just a case of spotting them…. takes practice! We have actually now seen so many new birds we’ve given up trying to keep a list, we’ll just enjoy the pastime!
Boondocking with ‘Big John and Little Jean’ MacDonald, was one of those experiences we’ll never forget. Genuinely known as Big John, of Isle of Skye descent, he’s quite the character on PEI. He has 63 cousins for a start off! We arrived at their place in the middle of nowhere and after chatting for an age, he asked us if we ‘wanted to go out for a drive’. We were either going to be kidnapped or learn something new so we opted for the latter. Turns out Big John is known as ‘The Amish Uber’. Out with him for two hours we were shown parts of the island only locals venture to, Back Country was his term and we went to several Amish properties as he chatted with them about their needs. He’ll drive them to the towns and fetch and carry where they can’t as they don’t have vehicles. There are over 50 Amish families in the East of PEI. Having seen documentaries, seeing Amish in their communities, with their houses and buggies on the roads was special. They are the most incredibly skilled builders and tradesfolk and how they do this with no electric is incredible. Self sufficiency is evident in every regard. There’s a lot the world could learn from Amish culture and the way they all live and support each other. (we didn’t take photo’s obviously)
As we headed East on the island, passing through for example, New London, New Glasgow, Kensington and Margate the temperatures went from 29 to 9 and it started raining…. persistently for days! We didn’t bother checking out Anne of Green Gables’ home turf as a decent amount of ‘resortification’ has gone on, not our thing! The red sands of the island evident everywhere, especially the immaculately ploughed fields, it’s no wonder there’s so much agriculture here. A PEI campsite, Linkletter, on the North Shore of the Island would have been lovely, if we’d have been able to distinguish the sea from the land… the local coffee shop was a treat out of the rain, at Summerside (without the Summer!).
Anyhow, we can’t finish this blog without reference to The Canadian Potato Museum, fittingly in a town called O’Leary. Showcasing all things potato, in the ‘Potato Interpretive Centre’ visitors learn about it’s humble origins and in the museum, we saw the industry and antique farming equipment. The largest potato sculpture in the world was hard to miss! The potato themed kitchen, with its potato apron clad ladies serves up yes, you’ve guessed it, potato bread… and potato fudge…. Surprisingly however, the dish everyone goes for is the Seaweed Pie, not made with the humble spud! Irish moss, grown on the island, is boiled down and it gives carrageenan, a thickening agent, used in the pie. We asked for caramel sauce on ours, just in case!
Anyhow, that’s it for the wonderful Prince Edward Island. Talk about making memories, wow!
The Curious Adventures of the Cat in the Camper Van 