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.
It’s still grey and overcast when we wake, the forecast is for better days ahead, will today be the day we find the sun? Or it finds us?
The morning is the typical routine, awaken slowly and too early to be of much use for anything ahead of the morning coffee. Coffee, banana and a yogurt and we’re feeling the day. Clean up the interior of the van, disconnect the electrical service, remove the leveling blocks and we’re away. Today we head to Prince Edward Island, or PEI we are used to referring to it as.
We head toward the Confederation Bridge, the 12.9km (8miles) long concrete structure that connects mainland Canada to its smallest province. Opened in 1997 the bridge has made it significantly easier to visit (and leave) PEI. The toll is $50.25CAD (in 2023) which is paid upon leaving the island.
You can above that from our van we had a very good view from the bridge, those driving cars will barely see above the concrete wall that forms the edge of the bridge deck.
We stop at the PEI visitors center at the far end of the bridge and pickup a lighthouse map and few souvenirs as well as a few alcoholic beverages from the liquor store.
We head to the West across the island stopping in Summerside for groceries. The potato crop is just being planted and we take note of the fact that trees are 3-4 weeks behind Ontario. The same is true of people’s yards as the garden centers are doing a booming business and people are busy planting their gardens.
Potatoes recently planted
Leaving Summerside we drive westward towards West Point where we will camp for the night at Cedar Dunes Provincial Park. We get setup on our site and after a short rest in the van take a walk to the West Point lighthouse.
This is our second time here, the last being in 2000 when we visited with our children and camped in a tent that we carried in our minivan. The park was damaged quite extensively by hurricane Fiona in 2022 with many of the cedar trees being uprooted. There are still some around but the damaged areas are easily spotted and will take many years to recover. As you can see below, our site had a spruce tree on it but it was one of very few. The beach is beautiful and in the summer the water very warm as it faces south. A very nice smaller park to stop at with family for some beach time.
