Sleeping at a truck stop next to a busy highway and intersection was probably not the best idea we’ve ever had, but we made it through the night albeit with less deep sleep than we probably needed.
We start by having an egg breakfast with coffee at the Denny’s on-site. This is a healthy (hmm?) dose of protein that will ensure we don’t feel hungry in an hour or so.
Barb drives us out of the Flying-J shortly before 8:00am and we take the bypass around Winnipeg, MB heading towards Ontario. Soon the trees return and we’re no longer on the prairie. We stop at Falcon Lake, MB for fuel which we get at 20 cents / liter cheaper than we pay later in the day in Ontario. I take over driving duty for the next hour or so.
After passing Kenora, ON we turn South onto Hwy-71 towards Fort Frances, ON where we stop to have a picnic lunch by the river looking across toward Minnesota, USA.
Continuing East from Fort Frances on Hwy-11/17 Barb drives for a couple of hours toward Thunder Bay, ON. I take over driving again and pass back into the Eastern time zone.
We stop for the night at Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park just North of Thunder Bay. We shower and have Buttered Chicken for dinner. A little TV and it’s time for bed.
Well, no aurora viewing last night, oh well. We slept really well and got off to a great start for the day before 8:00am.
The drive starts with what we thought was an early morning haze. Later in the day we’d discover that it is actually smoke from a wild fire in Northern BC.
Early morning viewLonely roadHazy(?) dayGoogle wildfire smoke map
Barb started driving the day until we got to Moosejaw where we changed drivers and had a bite to eat & fueled up.
Modern grain elevatorCP train heading West‘Mac the moose, Moosejaw, SKSnowbird, Moosejaw, SK
Later in the afternoon we crossed into Manitoba and made our way to Brandon, MB where we again fueled up before driving our last leg into Winnipeg, MB.
Tonight we are parked at a Flying-J. Tomorrow we head into Ontario.
We awake at 6:00am and find that we were joined last night by two other campers in our secluded ‘wild camping’ spot behind the Independent grocery store in Fernie, BC. A few townies kept Barb awake for a while, but in general terms this was a wonderfully quiet place to spend the night. Also close to Starbucks, McDonald’s, etc. if you need/want breakfast take away in the morning before heading out. We had our usual coffee, banana & yogurt before heading out at 7:00am.
Wild camping in Fernie, BCEarly startBig truck in Sparwood, BCTrain pulling uphill in Crowsnest canyonA viewMajestic mountains
We had decided to stop at the top of Crowsnest Pass for a cooked breakfast and take the time to really start our day. The road up the pass was not as steep or arduous as some of the passes we had driven yesterday, which surprised us and as such we arrived at the top fairly quickly. Time for quiche. Yummy!
Crowsnest Pass, BC/AB
Once fed and ready for the day we headed further into the mountains and arrived at Frank, BC the site of Canada’s most deadly rock slide. In 1904 the side of Turtle mountain collapsed and slid into the valley below. 100 lives were lost in the town of Frank and the valley was changed for ever. The debris pile is huge and from the interpretation center you can imagine the noise and dust that would have been produced that day.
Frank slide, Frank, AB
We traveled on to Fort Macleod in the Alberta foothills where we visited the “Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump” museum. This is a World Heritage Site and goes into amazing detail of how the Blackfoot people used the cliffs as a killing ground for herds of buffalo (bison) for thousands of years until the 1800’s. Built into the cliff, the museum building is worth the visit by itself; however, the stories of the people are the real captivating reason to visit. Highly Recommended.
Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
Continuing East on Hwy-3 we head to Lethbridge, AB where we stop under the railway viaduct in a park for a picnic lunch in the van. No trains passed over the viaduct while we were there unfortunately.
Railway viaduct, Lethbridge, AB
The day was heating up into the low 20’s as we headed further away from the mountains. Shortly before Medicine Hat we stopped in Seven Persons, AB for ice cream! Yummy, again.
Ice cream break!
We drove around Medicine Hat and headed toward the Saskatchewan border on Hwy-1, the Trans-Canada Highway. Shortly after crossing into Saskatchewan we stopped at the “Cypress Hills Winery” in Maple Creek, SK. This is another Harvest Host destination and we enjoyed a fruit wine tasting and had a glass of Rhubarb Wine with pizza for dinner. A couple of bottles might also have found their way back to the van as well.
Cypress Hills Winery, Maple Creek, SK
Tonight we are hoping to see the Aurora Borealis that so many saw last evening but we missed due to cloud cover. Fingers crossed!
Another early start to the day. I blame it on the early rising of the sun. Away from our wonderfully quiet campsite in the vineyard by 7:30am. Today we will spend the day traveling along Hwy-3, also known as “The Crowsnest Highway” towards Fernie, BC.
Leaving Osoyoos you immediately begin to gain elevation and the views across the valley are stunning.
Overlooking Lake Osoyoos, BC
Of course, what goes up must come down and sure enough it not long until we are descending at a rapid pace into another valley in Southern BC. This is repeated several times today with the climbs being just long enough to allow the brakes to cool from the last descent before being called on again. Utilizing the lower gears in the gearbox helps on these descents, as does having an eight-speed gearbox.
One of today’s descentsA variety of views from today
We stopped for a quick break in Grand Forks, BC and then again in Cranbrook, BC. Between Cranbrook and Fernie we crossed into the Mountain time zone and as such are now just two hours behind Ontario. Our final destination is the town of Fernie, BC where we are ‘wild camping’ for the night.
Further variety of views
Tomorrow we enter Alberta and will leave the Rocky Mountains behind us.
5:30am rise & shine to get ready to depart Galiano Island. The ferry leaves at 8:30am but we have no reservation and so need to arrive at the dock early to have the best chance of boarding.
After a very nice and relaxing six days visiting my parents we say our goodbyes and head toward the ferry at 7:00am. 7:25am and we’re first in-line. A coffee, yogurt & banana while we wait. Turns out that that there was no issue of space and we could have probably slept in for an extra hour or so. Oh well, better safe than sorry.
As we cross the Strait of Georgia towards Vancouver, we think back on where we have been so far on this adventure and the varied weather that we have seen. This morning it was around 10°C when we woke, it will be 27°C when we stop later this afternoon!
Looking towards the Southern Gulf Islands, BCLooking towards Vancouver, BCBridge 1Bridge 2Bridge 3Heading towards the mountainsPassing a waterfall
Our drive across the Fraser River valley is uneventful and after a couple of hours we pull into Hope, BC for fuel & to dump our tanks at a municipal Sani-dump ($free).
For those that don’t know, Hope, BC was the filming location for “Rambo: First Blood”. The town has embraced this notoriety and there are several landmarks about the town that you can visit from the movie. The bridge, across which Rambo walks at the beginning of the movie is gone (2011) but a new bridge has replaced it and there are still signs, but it’s not quite the same knowing that it’s not the same bridge.
Not the ‘Rambo’ bridge in the same location as the original ‘Rambo’ bridge
Everyone’s favorite stop is downtown near where the Police station was in the movie. In the park there are a number of chainsaw carvings of the characters from the movie. We snapped a picture of Rambo (below).
Rambo chainsaw sculpture
We head East on Hwy-3 towards the Okanagon valley. The road, although windy and hilly as it passes through the mountains, is really very good and well maintained. There are lots of passing lanes on the hills (including one that is 38km long!).
Random scenery shots
Eventually we notice the trees thinning and the flora around us changing to be more desert-like as we approach Osoyoos, BC. It reminds us of the Southern California desert in some ways with the slope of the hills and the sagebrush. It’s also now quite warm and the A/C in the van is very welcome.
Approaching & arriving in Osoyoos, BC
Pulling into Osoyoos, we stopped at a roadside produce stand which happened to have a Mexican food truck next door. Lunch time!
Lunch was delicious and we both highly recommend “Sofia’s Mexican Food”. I enjoyed a chimichanga and Barb had 3 chicken tacos. Barb also picked up a few treats for another time from the roadside produce stand.
Our stay tonight is at a vineyard just north of Osoyoos called Mythology vineyard. The wine is very good and our camping spot is amongst the grapevines behind the tasting room. Our view is West towards the mountains and we look forward to enjoying a glass of wine as the sun sets.
Oooof…. 5:30am. We’re up & heading for a shower (which gets 4/10 because of very small size & clingy shower curtain). Why so early you ask? We have an early reservation for the Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, BC ferry. Yep, we are leaving the U.S. after almost a month of travel, it’s time to head back into Canada.
Showered we get the van ready for the day and are driving off site by 6:45am. Traffic is fairly light and this makes our drive back into town to the wharf easy and quick. Black Ball Ferries require us to check-in a minimum of one hour before the ferry “Coho” departs at 8:20am, we make it with a few minutes to spare.
A cup of coffee and a banana are enjoyed while we wait to board which begins shortly before 8:00am. We make our way up to the top deck in order to have the best views back across town to the Olympic mountains.
“Coho” ferryDeparting the U.S. & away we goView aftAnother view aftOlympic mountainsContainer shipCalm waters of Salish Sea
The ferry is relatively full with most passengers having walked-on. The Salish Sea is mill pond calm and we see a few seabirds fishing for breakfast but no whales or seals today while crossing. Arriving in the Victoria inner harbour, our departure and clearance through Canada Customs takes about 30min. We head towards Langford, BC where we enjoy breakfast at a White Spot restaurant before getting groceries for the week.
Arriving in Victoria harbourDeparting the “Coho” ferryCanada customsFlowering trees in VictoriaTotemHorses and carriagesBC ParliamentEmpress Hotel
The weather for today is predicted to go from sunny this morning to rain later in the afternoon. As such we have changed our plans to try to avoid the heaviest rains and are now heading to my parents home a day ahead of schedule for a few days of rest and relaxation.
Arriving – Galiano, BC
We’ll catch-up with you again when we resume our journey next week. All the best and thanks for following our adventures.
We’re off again. This time the plan is to get to California and then head North into the Sierra Nevada mountains before turning West to the Pacific coast and continuing North into Canada. The final leg will bring us back across the continent through the Northern states before again returning to Canada at Sault-Ste-Marie.
The van is packed and we’re on the road shortly after 10am. The weather forecast was for rain turning into snow later in the day, we are hoping to arrive in Southern Ontario before the temperature gets cold enough for snow to form.
The drive along Highway 401 started dry but before long the rain began and intensified significantly. By the time we arrived in Toronto, it was difficult to see more than a few vehicles ahead. Road spray did not help with visibility and driving slowed to a crawl.
We arrived at our destination by 5:00pm and settled in for the night. We are visiting family for the next few days and our plan is to cross into the US on Saturday, this will be our next post.
Looking forward to having everyone follow us again on our adventures via this blog.
It’s been a while since my last post in June. Since that time we enjoyed Summer at home while taking a couple of shorter trips with the van to local camping spots along the St. Lawrence River and Provincial Parks. We also headed to Southern Ontario on a roadtrip in September that included a week in Prince Edward County enjoying the beach and the local wineries and restaurants the county has to offer. We also visited the Kawartha region before heading to Georgian bay to visit family. Our three weeks ended with some driveway camping visiting family before we came home.
As you can see from the picture above, the van is now nicely tucked away for the impending Winter having had a service and all waterlines drained & winterized. This shelter has kept the van safe for the past two Winters and I hope that it will get us through another as the roof is starting to become quite worn from exposure to the sun. Fingers-crossed!
It’s been a great year of camping that started early in March and ran until late September. We are already making plans for 2024 so stop by again to see what we have planned and to catch-up with our travels.
It wasn’t supposed to be a long day but it turned out to be the longest of this trip. Here’s how it all came to be.
The day started with us enjoying a slow start to the day. We had a light breakfast and then went to the beach expecting to see the tide in but it was out again exposing a long stretch of beautiful beach sand. The pictures below are taken 15min apart and show the influx of elementary school children on the beach enjoying what we assume was an end-of-school outing.
New River Beach Provincial Park, NB
We left the campground at 10:30am and headed West towards St. Stephen where we turned North towards Fredericton. The pictures below show some of the backwoods beauty of this province.
After joining Hwy 2 and driving North for a few minutes, we decided to leave the highway and drive along the side of the Saint John River on the old highway. This led us to seeing a black bear cub as he climbed over the guardrail towards the road in front of us. Yikes! 😳 Brake hard, he sees us & returns to the safety of the trees. Phew. No pictures as it was all over in a second. We stopped in Meductic and ate lunch in the van overlooking the river.
Saint John River
Shortly after lunch we stopped in Hartland to look at the worlds longest covered wooden bridge. It was closed for construction and as no traffic was able to cross it gave me an excellent chance to view the inside of the bridge by standing in the roadway.
Hartland Covered Bridge, Hartland, NB
Just North of Hartland we passed a more modern crossing of the river and then we rejoined Hwy 2 towards Edmundston, NB.
Saint John River crossing, Perth-Andover, NB
We pulled into the Grey Rock Casino in Edmundston at about 3:30pm. We were supposed to end our day here and camp out in the parking lot for the night but decided that it was too early to stop and so just picked up a cup of coffee and rejoined the highway.
Our initial thought was to return to the campground in Rivière-du-Loup; however, as it was only 90min North and we were going to cross back into Eastern time, we would arrive at 4:00pm EDT so we looked towards Levis and found a Craft brewery near St. Pascal that welcomes campers. New destination entered into the GPS.
It was a short while later that I realized that rather than stop just to sleep and then continue, why not simply continue? Home was only 7hrs away. We stopped in Levis for fuel and then continued to Drummondville where we stopped at a rest stop and had a quick meal in the van. Still feeling awake and energetic, we continued onwards towards Montreal where we left autoroute 20 and joined autoroute 30 which would take us around the south shore of Montreal. Below are a few picture of the sunset that we saw shortly before Montreal.
By the time we get around Montreal and cross the St. Lawrence River we were just 90min from home. We turned West onto autoroute 20 towards Cornwall, ON. After Cornwall we continued to Hwy31 where we turned North towards Winchester. At this point we were almost home and would arrive by 11:30pm. It turned out to be a 12 hour day with time taken out for stops and eating. In all I figured we drove for about 10 hours in which time we left the Bay of Fundy and returned to Eastern Ontario. A distance of about 1100km.
This concludes our East Coast Tour for this year. We have places we want to go back to as well as places yet to visit, as such we will make the drive again, when? We’re not sure yet, maybe a year or so.
Today I celebrate the completion of 60 trips around the sun. I get to spend it near and on the ocean. This day will be epic.
We complete our morning routines and prepare the campervan for a day of travel and head out shortly after 10:00am. Our first stop is at the local fish market where Barb picks up a bag of frozen Digby scallops and haddock to take home. Then a short drive along Water St to the Admiral Digby Museum which is across the street from the Digby Baptist Church.
The baptist church sits on the site of a home once owned by one of Barb’s ancestors, William McDormand Jr. After his death in 1806, his 2nd wife opened their home to host baptist congregations. Eventually the hose was replaced by the church.
Digby Baptist Church
A guide within the museum showed us about their collection and then took to their genealogy archive where we spoke for a time with the archivist about the McDormand’s as they arrived in this area in 1761. There are now descendants across North America. We need to complete more research in Ontario in order to definitively link Barb’s ancestor, John Dorman to one of the McDormand family’s in Nova Scotia. Another reason to return to this area.
After getting a few groceries and filling the vans fuel tank we had time to take a short drive to Gulliver’s Bay (Hole). A small bay just a few miles West of Digby, it was here that the McDormand families first settled in Nova Scotia after coming North from New England.
Gulliver’s Bay, NS
After enjoying a quiet lunch in the van and doing a little reading, it was time to head toward our ferry. However, first a quick detour to Prim’s Point lighthouse that guards the entrance to the Annapolis Basin from the Bay of Fundy.
Prim’s Point, Digby, NS
After walking about Prim’s Point it was now time to head to the ferry that would take us across the Bay of Fundy to Saint John, NB.
Digby Ferry Terminal
We arrived at the terminal about 1 1/2hrs before departure (they asked for 1 hr) and boarding began at 3:00pm. The ferry departed at 3:55pm, 5min ahead of schedule. In just a few minutes the ferry had turned to face across the Bay of Fundy and we were out of the Annapolis Basin and on our way.
Views astern and of Prim’s Point lighthouse
We began by enjoying a little time on deck in the sunshine and took a few pictures (above and below).
As the ferry crossing would take about 2 1/2hrs, we decided to grab a light dinner onboard. Barb ordered fish & chips and I had a burger & fries. Whilst ordering I happened to mention to the staff serving us that it was my 60th birthday. This resulted in them singing “Happy Birthday” to me and then adding a piece of free mud pie dessert to my tray when they delivered it to our table!!!
After enjoying our meals we settled into one of the very comfortable lounges onboard and did some reading to wile away the time. Shortly after 6:00pm we pulled into Saint John harbour and drove ashore.
Saint John, NB
We headed West out of Saint John to our overnight destination, New River Beach Provincial Park. It was only about a 30min drive from the ferry and appears to be very quiet amongst the trees a short distance from the waters edge.
New River Beach Provincial Park
After setting up for the night, Barb wandered off to the beach while I wrote this post in the van. Here are the pictures Barb took before being chased from the beach by black flies.
Tomorrow we head North in New Brunswick, come back to see what we discover.
We’ve spent that past two days (3 nights) in Digby, NS at the Digby Campground. This is a wonderful place to camp as you can easily walk the trail into town in a matter of a few minutes.
On our first full day (Sunday) we wandered into town to look about the harbour and to get some lunch. It was overcast and cool, but not raining. Being Sunday it was quiet about town (also probably due to it being Fathers Day) and most shops were closed.
Digby harbourPublic art
We enjoyed a seafood lunch at The Crow’s Nest restaurant. Being Father’s Day we were lucky to get a table without a reservation but someone hadn’t shown up and so the table was ours. Barb enjoyed a half-lobster roll and seafood chowder while I had the seafood platter with haddock, scallops and clams. Need I tell you that we really enjoyed them both? Fresh seafood is amazing.
Sights about town
After lunch we wandered along the waterfront and past the Digby lighthouse. It was originally installed out at the end of the wharf but was sold to Saint John, NB when it was no longer needed. It sat in Saint John for many years rotting away until a few years ago the town of Digby asked for it back. Saint John agreed and it’s now returned and restored and standing on the waterfront.
Digby lighthouse
Monday was a rainy day and we spent most of it in the van reading and relaxing. The rain stopped and the clouds began to breakup just as we headed back into town to have dinner at The Fundy Restaurant. Tonight we both enjoyed a surf and turf (steak, scallops & shrimp with roasted potatoes and fresh veggies) along with a glass of Nova Scotia red wine which we followed up by sharing a homemade strawberry shortcake. Mmm.
The Fundy Restaurant
The picture below on the left is a communal patio in the campground where the hosts will have a bonfire and campers can gather around chatting the evening away. The picture on the right is a view across the Annapolis basin from near the campground on the road to the nearest fish market.
We’ve really enjoyed Digby and have both agreed that we need to return as part of a future trip. Tomorrow is a big day!
The brewery was a nice quiet place to spend the night and we awoke refreshed and ready for the day. Our first stop of the day would be Annapolis Royal, but before that, how’s this for a view?
Views such as this are commonplace in the Annapolis valley, it’s hard to express how tranquil and beautiful this part of Nova Scotia is.
As we pulled into Annapolis Royal the mature maple trees that lined the narrow streets and plentiful flowering shrubs next to historic old houses told us that this is a special town.
We maneuvered the van downtown and noticed that it was very busy with many parking spaces filled along the roads. I was about to start casting doubt as to whether we would find a space into which we would fit when out of the corner of my eye I spotted an opening in a small public parking lot, I turned hard left and entered via the exit turned about and parked facing the exit of the lot. Voila, parking done. And it’s free!
Below are a few pictures from downtown showing some of the wonderful old buildings.
We walked back toward Fort Anne that we passed on the way in. It is a Parks Canada property that you can wander around for free paying an entry fee only if you wanted to tour the officers building on-site. The fort was established in 1629 on mik’maq land. Over the years it was occupied by both the French and the English as they fought over control of the land in the area. It is a four-bastion fort that has a clear view down the Annapolis River toward Digby making it easily defendable from waterborne attack.
We enjoyed walking about the grassy defenses and took a quick look in the semi buried powder magazine where gunpowder was stored. The building is the oldest that Parks Canada owns anywhere in Canada having been built in 1708. The officers building is from the late 1700’s.
Below is an example of one Rhododendron that we spotted in town, there were others equally as beautiful. We can only wish to grow such a plant in Ontario.
From the fort we wandered back along the Main Street and stumbled upon the cause of the traffic, Saturday morning market! It was nice to see the local producers and artisans setup and the townspeople out enjoying what was a welcomed spot of sunshine and nice weather. We purchased a couple of savory pies and enjoyed them waterside.
After lunch we returned to the van and headed out of town heading towards Digby, NS. Digby is a fishing port world renowned for the size and quality of the scallops caught. Yumm!
We will be spending three nights at the Digby campground which is on the edge of town next to a walking trail along the abandoned railway line that we can follow into the downtown therefore avoiding the worst of the hills. Here we are shortly after arriving, relaxing and enjoying what would be the last of the sunshine we’d see for a couple of days.
Barb took a short walk down to the waters edge and wandered along the tidal flats looking for shells and took a few photos that I’ve shared below.
Our next post will be in a couple of days in which we will summarize our two days about town.
Although predicted, the overnight rain did not materialize and we had a peaceful sleep. We slept in as our first stop of the day was to watch the tidal bore arrive in Truro, NS. It was scheduled for 11:58am. This gave us time for a shower and relaxing drive to a restaurant for a cooked breakfast.
We knew to arrive early at the viewing point as the published times are at best guesses based upon past arrivals of the tide. The tidal bore today arrived at 11:37am. Although not the largest I’m sure, the power of the water was quite evident when watching it hit the soft sandy banks of the river.
Tidal Bore at Truro, NS
We were headed toward Windsor, NS and the GPS app proposed a route through Halifax and then back to the North shore. We chose not to drive across the province twice and instead took Hwy236 from Truro to Windsor. It is a wonderfully twisty and hilly drive through some marvelous farmland that took about the same length of time as the initially proposed route but was so much more interesting and fun to drive, I wish I was in my MINI instead of the van. 😜
Leaving Truro and heading into the Annapolis valley
At Windsor we joined Hwy101 to Wolfville where we drove up into the hills to locate Luckett Vineyard. The property is beautiful and the view from the bistro has to be seen to be believed as they have a clear view across the Minas Basin. We took a few pictures and share them below.
We cheekily enjoyed lunch in our van (Cheese scones with Crab spread and locally grown strawberries). We did also pickup a few vineyard produced products to take home with us.
Luckett Vineyards, Wolfville, NS
We drove a further hour towards Lawrencetown, NS where we had made a reservation to stay at the Lunn’s Mill Beer Company for the night. A Harvest Host location that is a craft brewery with a great selection of beers and an amazing food menu.
I enjoyed an English Style Bitter while Barb tried their Lager. We split an order of Poutine and Barb enjoyed the chicken wings and I had a burger. All around a delicious meal that we were able to enjoy outside in their beer garden.
Lunn’s Mill Beer Company, Lawrencetown, NS
Tomorrow we head to Digby, NS where we will be staying for a few days. Good night one and all.
We awoke to rain and mosquitoes. The idea of hiding away inside our van for the day was not appealing, so we left Panmure Island Provincial Park even though we had paid for a second night. We figured the weather had to be better elsewhere.
We started by driving from the campground onto Panmure Island to take a look at the lighthouse, the oldest wooden lighthouse on the island!
Panmure Island, PEIPanmure Island lighthouse, PEI
From Panmure we headed South and the East to look at Cape Bear lighthouse. As you can see, the sun came out.
Cape Bear lighthouse, PEI
Along the way we passed lots of lilacs still in full bloom and potato fields with the plants now appearing above the soil in nice neat rows.
Scenes from PEI
As our plans had always been to leave PEI by ferry because it was something we’d not done on our last trip here many years ago, so we headed to Woods Islands to look at the lighthouse and check ferry availability.
Woods Islands lighthouse, PEI
The lighthouse did not disappoint, but the ferry did. They only had overflow available for the 3:00pm ferry or we could reserve for the 6:00pm ferry. It was 12:30pm and so we decided to drive back to the bridge and take it instead.
Along the way we stopped at Point Prim to look at the lighthouse. It is the oldest lighthouse in PEI and is built of masonry, is round and finished with wood shingles. It was completed in 1845 as an aid to sailors entering the Charlottetown harbour.
Point Prim, PEIPoint Prim lighthouse, PEI
Crossing the Confederation Bridge took us from PEI and back to New Brunswick. We were stopped for road repairs on the bridge which gave us a good opportunity to look about and observe that concrete bridges also flex under the load of moving vehicles. Hmmm.
Confederation Bridge
Entering into Nova Scotia we stopped at the visitor center and we’re welcomed by a piper. The light rains we’re about to get worse according to the darkening skies under which we were soon driving.
We were headed to Colchester, NS and were driving up and around Westchester mountain when the skies became really dark and the winds picked up. We paid the toll at the Cobequid Pass toll plaza and then the rains came. The windshield wipers were on full and the rain covered highway shone like an ice covered pond. We slowed (obviously) to about half the posted speed limit and luckily the worst was over in just a few minutes.
We stopped for fuel, dinner (fish & chips) and a few groceries at the Masstown Market. Quite a place that has just about everything you could want in one stop.
Masstown Market Fish market
From the Masstown Market we drove 2km to the Elm River Campground as it had been a long day. Below is our site and a quiet one we are hoping it shall be. Good night.
Today we left Twin Shores and travelled East across the island. We started by stopping in Cavendish and Barb did a little souvenir shopping and bought a COWS ice cream cone. It was just 10:30am.
We drove East across the center of the island and then out towards East point. Here a few pictures of things we saw along the way.
We also saw the crushing aftermath of hurricane Fiona (Sept 2022) in scenes like the one below where an entire forest appears to have just been blown over. Sad.
We eventually made it to the East Point lighthouse. The gift shop building now stands next to the lighthouse as erosion has undermined its old foundations. In the right hand picture below our silver van is parked next to the old concrete pad that the gift shop used to be on. It is currently hanging over nothin and could fall into the sea in a matter of weeks.
The pictures below are taken 23 years apart. We last visited in 2000 with our children and posed for a picture at the top of the lighthouse. The picture on the left was taken on our first digital camera, a Kodak 1MegaPixel wonder. The picture on the right is taken with an iPhone13 12MP camera.
Leaving East Point we headed along the South shore towards Souris. It is from here that you can catch a ferry to the Îles-de-la-Madeleine. We drove past the ferry terminal and stopped to briefly look at the Souris lighthouse. As you can see it was raining again.
We arrived at a very wet Panmure Island Provincial Park after driving around the area looking for a place to have dinner without any luck. We setup our campsite and retreated into the van avoiding the rush of mosquitoes that wanted to join us.
As you can see below the campground was not busy and we shared our section with one other van (Roadtrek) from Quebec, although we didn’t actually see anyone enter or leave the van while we were there.
All for now. We are scheduled to stay here for two nights but are talking of possibly leaving early due to the weather. Check back tomorrow to see what we decided. Happy trails.
We’ve spent the past two days relaxing at Twin Shores Campground on the North shore of PEI. This is a large campground with hundreds of campsites able to accommodate everything for tents to the largest RV rig. Trees or open sites, electrical, water and sewage available in differing combinations suiting whatever one might need or want. The park also has several snack shacks and a café as well as gift shop / camp shop should you have forgotten something. Doggie park and wash for those with pets, games arcade, mining exhibit, bike rentals for those with kids. They’ll even rent you a golf cart if you find walking around the park a little too much.
The owners put a lot into this park, right down to keeping small flowerbeds about the park like the one shown below between a couple of campsites. If back this way we will stay here again. As June is just out of prime season it was quiet and yet we had access to most of the amenities available in the prime summer months. Thumbs up from us!!
Of course, the star of the show at the campground has to be the amazing red sand beach. Below are a few pictures we took while walking one afternoon.
And of course, here’s a selfie to prove that it was actually us at the beach taking these pictures.
In the earlier morning hours you can watch the lobster fishing just off the beach, or on the other inner side of the park you can watch the oyster/mussel farm being tended to from your campsite.
Above you can see Barb enjoying the afternoon sun stretched out on the beach while reading her latest Coleen Hoover novel.
The weather was great while we here, we timed it just right it would seem. Tomorrow we head East across the island to spot a few more lighthouses. Have a great day!
Another quiet night and I’m early to go for a walk. Yep, for the first time in a few days it’s dry enough and warm enough to convince me to get out there. I complete a short 4km loop outside of the park on local roads and am passed by 0 cars during the walk. Quiet country roads are so nice early in the day.
Breakfast, shower, prep for the road. And we’re off. Today we will visit the North cape lighthouse and then make our way back toward the center of the island on the North shore to the campground we will be staying at for the next three nights.
We take the scenic coastal road along the west side of North cape and see some stunning vistas across the Northumberland strait to New Brunswick. The road dips and turns as it follows the red cliffs and hidden coves.
We arrive at the North cape and take a walk around the lighthouse which is over 150years old. As you can see in the following photos, the sun has finally made an appearance.
North cape lighthouse
We drive south along the eastern shore of the cape towards Tignish Shore where we stop to take a look at the decommissioned lighthouse that stands there. We also take the time to enjoy a quick lunch in the van before heading further south where we pass over several inlets where we see oyster farms in the quieter waters.
After passing Summerside we turn North towards the Twin Shores campground. A few miles before arriving we pass the following church which has, for its size, an enormous wind vane balancing on its steeple.
Twin Shores campground is easily the largest campground in which we have yet stayed, and yet our campsite is quiet and yet close to the beach.
After setting up we take a late afternoon walk down to the beach. It is a huge red sand beach with shallow water that would be perfect for younger children to play in. Barb has to take off her sandals and wade into the water, it is cool but not frigid as she expected.
We find a flock of swallows nesting in the cliff tops and they dart above our heads, clearly not happy that we are there.
As you can see below, the beach is not busy, one of the key advantages of visiting ahead of the main summer camping season.
Barb revisited the beach after our hamburger dinner and caught the following sunset. This will do nicely for the next couple of days.
