Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island

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Here's the next instalment of my year of adventure - picking up where the last blog left off. (12th September was such a long time ago - definitely need to catch up a bit!)

Day 12: Monday 12th September - From Washington to Halifax

This day was always mainly going to be about travelling as I hadn't been able to find a direct flight from Washington to Halifax so I went via Toronto and it basically took all day. However I made it a bit more interesting by taking the most bizarre route to the airport. (I flew from Baltimore so it was quite a distance from Washington). I ended up taking the metro out to the suburbs and picking up a bus from there - which was the cheapest way to do it but not necessarily the quickest and I'm pretty sure not what most people do. I managed to miss the bus I had intended to catch which meant a 40 minute wait in the midday sun in the middle of nowhere. All the metro station had was a car park. Fortunately I had allowed plenty of time and had episodes of Modern Family downloaded to entertain me.

On the bus I met possibly the only African American who's going to vote for Trump. He doesn't like Clinton because he thinks she lies and felt that it was ok to exploit people's fears to win votes as that's the only way to do it. We moved on from politics though and it turned out that he race yachts. He is involved in a project to try to persuade more African Americans to take up sailing and claims to be going to England soon to race Ben Ainsle! Overall it was an interesting trip to the airport.

The two flights were fine. We had some excellent views of Toronto as we came into land there. I didn't get to Halifax until 10:30 at night and it was almost 1am before I got to the hostel. I was pleased to get there and was relieved that I wasn't locked out.

Day 13: Tuesday 13th September - Halifax

Tuesday was the one day I had to explore Halifax so I tried to do it justice in 24 hours. I had quite a few recommendations from people who had travelled to Nova Scotia themselves and my cousin and his wife who used to live there. My first task was supposed to be to the car rental place to check that I could pick it up a day later than I had booked it for. However I hadn't paid enough attention to the map when I had checked where the rental place was and had some trouble finding it. In the end I headed up to the citadel because I wanted to be at the Citadel in time for the midday cannon. It was definitely worth deviating from my original quest for. I managed to get through the gate just before they closed it in preparation for firing the cannon.

I ended up staying at the Citadel for about an hour as there was quite a lot to see - definitely worth a visit if you're ever in the area. I don't think I would have liked to have been a British soldier based there. It sounded very cramped and uncomfortable. After my visit and some lunch I did manage to track down the car rental place and fortunately there was no problem with picking up the car the next day.

I spent most of the rest of the afternoon walking along the waterfront enjoying the sunshine and being by the water. At one point I found some hammocks that have been set up for chilling out in so I spent some time there. I also walked up to the library and the public gardens which allowed me to see a bit of downtown Halifax. (Incase you were wondering why I went to the library - it's the number 2 thing to do in Halifax according to Trip Advisor; the gardens are number one.) The library is recommended for a visit because of the architecture and the art on the walls. It was good but I think there are more interesting things to do in Halifax. There was clearly a push from the library to get more children in - which appeared to have been quite successful. However none of them were reading; instead they were side-by-side on the computers playing games!

I managed to time a trip over to Dartmouth on the ferry for dusk which was nice. I spent 15 minutes exploringing the waterfront in Dartmouth before heading back to Halifax for supper. I went to check out the Lower Deck first on the recommendation of my cousin and the hostel, but it was practically empty so I went to another of the restaurants overlooking in the river which was a bit busier.

Day 14: Wednesday 14th September - Driving to Prince Edward Island (Bucket list item number 2 - and pretty much right at the top.)

The first thing I did on this day was go and pick up the car. I had not been looking forward to this. I don't particularly like driving and find hiring cars stressful. You get given keys and keys represent responsibility! However it had to be done as I needed to drive to be able to do Prince Edward Island justice. I had booked the smallest car possible so was surprised to find myself driving something quite big. (It was bigger than the car my parents and I have now for the three of us). Also, you didn't have to put a key in to start the engine - you just pushed a button. It was all very posh and my first achievement was to successfully drive it from one end of Halifax to another (about a 5 minute drive.)

I felt it was time for a break from the stress of driving so I went to the Pier 21 museum. It was an interesting museum about migration to Canada with a side exhibition about a boat that sunk. The thing that I read was that amused me the most was that being married used to be classified as a disability! Another highlight was the banana cake in the cafe.

Finally, around lunchtime I realised I couldn't put it off any longer, and I started the drive to Charlottetown. My original plan was to get the ferry over and drive back over the bridge. However I didn't investigate this properly. I arrived at the ferry terminal in time for the 3:30 sailing (just by coincidence) and discovered that they definitely prefer you to book. You can just turn up and hope for the best, so I joined the end of the queue. Unfortunately there weren't any additional spaces though and the people in the cars in front of me started getting out of their cars and heading for the cafe. The next ferry wasn't until 7pm and there was no guarantee that I'd get on that one either, so I decided to head down the coast to the bridge instead. It was actually a beautiful drive but I ended up driving over the bridge in the dark and by the time I arrived in Charlottetown it was also pouring with rain.

The hostel in Charlottetown was my favourite of all the places I've stayed in so far. It was small and friendly. The kitchen had just one table in the middle and there was a decent amount of storage space in the room. They also provided breakfast and free potatoes. The downside was that I had a bed in a mixed dorm and the first night I had to share with lots of snoring men! I had to venture out into the rain again in pursuit of food as the banana bread was all I had eaten all day. I went to the bar recommended by the hostel owner which had very generous portions and I ate well. There was even a bit of live music.

Day 15: Thursday 15th September - Charlottetown Part 1

My first full day on Prince Edward Island was spent in Charlottetown. I decided to have a bit of a slower day after all the driving the day before. I had a few odd jobs to get done and the joys of washing to look forward to too. Charlottetown is a very quaint town with beautiful houses. I mainly looked round the harbour area and downtown. There isn't a huge amount to do but there is an old house to look round. I found out later on on my time on the island that it was one of six key places to visit that tell the history of the island. It dated back to the turn of the last century and clearly was very advanced for its time. It even had central heating! Unfortunately the man who built it went bankrupt a few years later. He and his wife also ended up living separately, although they never actually divorced. They had eight children and his wife outlived all of them and him by 30 years.

"Anne of Green Gables" has a key role in the tourism for the island, and has done almost since it was first published. It was why I was there. It also attracts huge numbers of Japanese tourists. I think they study it at school. In Charlottetown in August you can find two "Anne" inspired musicals. The more famous one is the musical of the first book, but unfortunately the season for that production finishes at the end of August. However "Anne and Gilbert, the Musical" was still on so I picked up a ticket for Saturday. You can also find an "Anne of Green Gables" gift shop and - best of all - Anne of Green Gables chocolates. (What a great combination!)

In the evening (post washing) I went back to one of the parks in the town to watch the sunset. It was another good one, with the added bonus of an almost full and very low, eally rising moon. There was a picturesque lighthouse just the right spot for being in the foreground of some good pictures. On the walk back to the hostel I'm pretty sure I saw a skunk, and I definitely saw a fox. Charlottetown was the first place that I stayed that I didn't see any rats or mice in the streets. I'm sure there are s living there, but I think the presence of the foxes keeps their numbers down. This is why I'm always pleased to see foxes around my flat in London.

Day 16: Friday 16th September - Brackley beach - Green Gables - Cavendish Beach - Summerside

Today I made the journey over to a Green Gables. This was something I had been looking forward to years and was concerned I would be disappointed, but I wasn't. P.E.I. is a beautiful island and lovely to drive around. The north part of the island where you find the house is particularly beautiful. On the way there I stopped off to check out Brackley beach. I was originally going to stay in this area but the hostel I had booked into shut at the end of September. I'm pleased I stayed in Charlottetown instead because the Brackley area was pretty quiet. The beach had a few people on it but there wasn't anybody in the sea. It was quite warm though and it was tempting to put a foot in. However I didn't have a towel with me and I had a busy schedule planned for the day so I went on to Green Gables.

Although Anne is a fictional character (I now know what a home-child is thanks to my trip to the Pier 21 museum), Green Gables is based on the house where L. M. Montgomery's cousins lived and she spent quite a bit of time there herself because she lived with her grandparents just a short walk away. The house has been done up to look like typical farm house of the time that the book is set with adjustments to the fiction, so you can see Marilla, Matthew and Anne's rooms. There's also a lovely garden and a farmyard barn. There is a lot of information about L. M. Montgomery and her life and it was interesting to see where events in her life are reflected in the books. The cafe served raspberry cordial - very tasty!

As well as the house, you can visit the real Haunted Woods and Lovers Lane which Montgomery named in her childhood. There are short trails that you can walk in both locations. I had the added bonus of spotting a red squirrel and got a good picture of a chipmunk. The Haunted Woods trail leads through to the site of the house that Montgomery lived in for most of her childhood, passing the site of her school and the graveyard where she's buried. Unfortunately there isn't any of the house left. However I did see the church that she used to attend.

While I was visiting Green Gables I discovered that there was also a museum to visit. I had run out of time to see it that day so made changes to my plans for the following day. When I left the house I headed off to Cavendish beach. There I found another nice walk around the back of the sandunes. It went over a lovely lake and then round to some red cliffs. It was at the end of the walk that I ran into my first bus load of Japanese tourists who were clearly enjoying themselves as much as I was.

Next I decided to head for the west side of the island to catch the sunset. I put in the name of a place on the west side into Googled maps and followed the directions given. This is when I discovered how small some places on the island are. The Googled maps lady announced I had arrived at my destination and there was nothing there apart from a crossroads and a couple of houses. Fortunately I found a beach just about in time for yet another great sunset.

From there I drove down to Summerside which I had planned to look round a bit, but it was dark and quite late by the time I arrived there so I just got some food and then headed back to Charlottetown. P.E.I. is lovely to drive around during the day but not so much fun in the dark. Fortunately I had lots of downloaded episodes of Kermode and Mayo to listen to during my trips.

Day 17: Saturday 17th September - White Sands Hotel - Anne of Green Gables museum - Anne and Gilbert, the Musical

The first quest for the day was to find the two buildings that had been used as the White Sands Hotel in the Anne of Green Gables films. I had found a great website that lists a lot of the filming locations, many of which are actually around Toronto and not on P.E.I. at all. The first hotel was easy to find. The second was close to the first but a bit trickier to track down because it turned out to be a private house. To get there I drove down my first proper red road (very exciting) and walked quite a way along the bay. I think I found the right place in the end. It looked sort of like I remembered and it's my preferred "White Sands" because it was the one that Anne recited "The Highwayman" in.

From here I attempted to visit Avonlea, but it was shut for renovation as the main season had finished. The disappointment continued at the museum as it didn't have half the things that some of the reviews had said it had. It was pretty small and had very little to do with the books. It is set in another house owned by some of L. M. Montgomery's relatives and is used in another book she wrote. It did have some highlights. The house overlooks the Lake of Shining Waters and has the bookcase that Katy lives in. Katy was Montgomery's imaginary childhood friend who she gave to Anne. The house was also the setting for Montgomery's wedding.

At the museum there was a bo showing locations that Anne fans should visit. I decided to go to the lighthouse that was mentioned. I plugged into Google and set off. However it turned out you had to do down a very rough track. I tried to force Google to find another route but there didn't seem to be one. Later I checked the reviews on Trip Advisor and it sounds beautiful but I don't think that my hire car (which already had some scratches, source unknown because I hadn't driven into anything) would have survived it.

Due to the set backs to my plans, I had enough time to make one more "Anne" trip to the house where L. M. Montgomery was born and lived for 22 months until her mother died. I had passed it earlier in the day and almost run over the tourists standing in the middle of the road taking pictures, so I took my photos with caution.

I had to be back in Charlottetown in good time because I had the tickets for the musical. I had time before the show started for my first taste of lobster. (It wasn't very exciting - but I tried some more in Maine which was much better.) The show itself felt like a local amateur production. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. It had some good jokes (I especially liked the comment about the quality if education on the island when the teachers went to university after teaching!), some catchy tunes and in some ways stayed closer to the books than the tv films. It was unfortunate that the girl playing Anne was slightly overweight, especially as they decided to keep a line about how thin Anne was compared to Diana (played by a much thinner actress). Surely this would have been easy to cut!

Day 18: Sunday 18th September - Charlottetown Part 2

Sunday on the island was a quieter day. I decided to have a day off from driving and the weather wasn't great. I went to church in the morning. I had found a church close to the hostel with a service due to start at 10. I arrived at 10.05 to discover that the church had just changed back to term time timings and the service wasn't due to start until 10:45! Fortunately they had coffee before the service and I happened to meet a few ladies who were clearly key members of the congregation. One of them introduced me to every person that went past! The service itself was nice. They were having a shared lunch afterwards that I was invited to stay for, but I had a vague plan to go to the cinema so I declined. The cinema was showing "A Field of Dreams", which I've seen quite a few times before but never on a big screen. Unfortunately it was quite a bit further out of town than I thought and it soon became clear that I wasn't going to get there on time. On the plus side, it wasn't raining as much as forecast and I managed to stumble across a section of the Confederation Trail that was much nicer to walk along than walking beside the road.

I did make it out to the cinema in the end but I didn't go in, opting instead just to make a trip to the supermarket and wander back into town along the trail. I had baked P.E.I potatoes and salad for supper, chatted to some of the other guests in the hostel and attempted to start the blog. (Most of the first draft of the first entry was lost when the site crashed.)

Day 19: Monday 19th September - Orwell Historic Village - The Coastline - Summerside again - Back to Nova Scotia

According to the forecast (which turned out to be correct) the weather was going to get increasingly bad as the day went on, so in the morning I did my outdoor thing and went to the Orwell Corner historic village, which turned out to be well worth a visit. My favourite part was the school house where I pretended to teach. I even found a broken slate! The village general shop was also really interesting because the guy running the shop told me all about the different things that were available to buy and how they worked. It must be a great location for school trips.

From the village I drove back to Charlottetown for the last time and then on to Summerside, chosing to take the south costal path rather than the main road. I made several stops to take photos. I was keen to get back to Summerside to get some pictures for a friend who has family connections to the place and is unlikely to get there any time soon. I don't think I saw the town in the best light. It was raining quite a lot by the time I arrived and had an air of being shut. It is definitely a bit more run down than Charlottetown but it has some nice parts.

Finally I had to leave the island and head back to Nova Scotia. By the time I got over the bridge it was raining heavily. The drive over to Lunenburg was not fun, especially when it got dark too. The driving rain significantly reduced visibility and in some places I could only see a few metres ahead of me. There were times when I thought it might be wiser to just pull over and find somewhere to stay where I was, but then the weather would ease off and you'd think the worst of it was over. I kept thinking of the story of Jeus sleeping on the boat while the disciples worried about the storm and took comfort from the knowledge that God was in control. I was very pleased to arrive at my accommodation. I had a room, bathroom and to to myself for the night and the views across the harbour where lovely, even in the rain. (I didn't get to see them properly until the next day because it was about 10 by the time I got to Lunenburg.)

My joy at being safe and off the road was quite short lived as, when I checked my account later in the evening, there were some payments that I hadn't authorised. One of my biggest concerns before leaving had been that I would have to cancel my card because I hadn't been able to sort out back-ups before I left. It's all been a bit of a saga and it's still not completely sorted out, but I've not been short of money and there are plenty of people who are worse off. However it was an anxious night. I didn't sleep well and I had my first dream about work since starting my trip!

Day 20: Tuesday 20th September - Lunenburg - Peggy's Cove - Halifax

The weather today was the inverse of the previous day although nowhere near as wet. I started the day with a walk around Lunenburg. It was very pretty and I was excited to see some early autumn colours. I then drove round to Peggy's Cove which lots of people had recommended and with good reason. It was a lovely drive along the coast and the sun returned. It was full of tourists but still felt quiet. It was nice to sit and watch the sea for a bit. Finally I made my way back to Halifax, parted company with the car and checked into the hostel. In the evening I ate at "Your Father's Moustache" - another recommendation. The next day it was back to the USA.

Day 21: Wednesday 21st September - On to Boston

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