We Discover Canada And Beyond

14 August 2011

Cross Canada and Back Part 22

Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia

It is the 13th of July 2011, day 59 of our "Cross Canada and Back" trip.

We now have word that the axle for our trailer will arrive in PEI around the 17-18th of July, so we have almost a week to do some more traveling without the trailer. We have some friends we like to visit in Tantallon, NS. We also wanted to tour the southern part of Nova Scotia.

View Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia. in a larger map

We made the decision to leave the trailer at Linkletters (see part 20 of our trip) who will be doing the repair, and just travel just with the truck. Liz quickly did another load of wash, and we got packed, and dropped the trailer off at 3pm. Linkletters were very good, they let us plug the trailer in, so the fridge and freezer would be running OK.

We crossed the Confederation Bridge with $43.00 less in our valets. It is a wonderful sight crossing the bridge and we did not mind paying the fees.

Crossing Confederation Bridge

Our plan was to find a motel around Berwick but could not find anything exciting until we came to Digby,NS. We drove through the Annapolis Valley and it was not what we had expected. I guess we sort of expected to see more fruit trees and wineries, more like the Okanagen Valley in BC. Never the less, it is very pretty countryside.

Beautiful Country Side

In Digby we found a little motel just on the outskirt of town that served the purpose..... sleep. We had not yet had supper, so we went out for a bite.... Scallops was on the menu, after all we were in Digby, NS!

Day 60 of our trip, the 14th of July 2011, we decided to back track to Port Royal and Annapolis Royal.

Port Royal

Port Royal is a re-created French Fort. This national historic site (also free with your annual Parks Canada pass) features a reconstruction of early 17th century buildings, representing the former colony of the French who settled on the Nova Scotia coast.

Port Royal National Historic Site of Canada

Here costumed interpreters and period demonstrations help recreate the look and feel of Port-Royal and the days gone by. We had one guide that was very knowledgeable and willing to explain.

One of the guides

In the summer of 1605, French explorers built a settlement on beautiful Annapolis River (formerly the Dauphin River) basin near the present day town of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. The area provided fertile soil, and fishing and hunting was plentiful.

The fort in the back ground

Liz inside one of the buildings at Port Royal

Another good reason to settle here was the Mi’kmaw people. The Mi'kmaw who had lived in the region for thousands of years, welcomed the men. They showed them how to survive in this new part of the world.

A tepee outside the fort

Liz checking out the moose hide with Mi'kmaw drawings

The fort, christened Port-Royal, became the first European settlement north of Florida. While only in existence a few years, the settlement, and what it accomplished, proved to be a model for future exploration of the continent.

Liz and our guide.... he was extremely knowledgeable.

Inside the courtyard.

There is to this date no real evidence/artifacts that the fort actually was at this site, except some written documentations and drawings of the fort.

Liz looking down to the courtyard

The fort

The panoramic views of the Annapolis River and Basin are wonderful from here. For more on the history of Port Royal, check out the Parks Canada website.

Melanson Settlement

Melanson Settlement is another National Historic Site not to far from Port Royal. Melanson Settlement contains the archaeological remains of a pre-deportation Acadian community from 1664 - 1755.

Melanson Settlement National Historic Site of Canada

Walk through the meadows and farm land that was once used by the Acadians

Liz and the Melanson National Historical Site of Canada

These archaeological resources reflect the family communities settled by Acadians and Acadians' unique dykeland agriculture practised along the Annapolis River or the Dauphin River as it was earlier called.

There is no charge to walk the trails and the grounds. It is very beautiful and worth a hike through the meadows. One can only imagine what these people went through. More on the deportation of the Acadians in our Part 19 blog.

Annapolis Tidal Generating Station

The Annapolis Tidal Generation Station is situated on the mouth of Annapolis River. The construction of the generating station began in 1980 and took 4 years to complete.

Annapolis Tidal Generating Station

The Annapolis river drains in to The Bay of Fundy which averages 12 meter tides. This tidal power is what drives this power plant.

Power

The power of the tide is incredible

The plant produces 30 gigawatt hours each year. This is enough to power up over 4,000 homes. More of this kind of green energy is needed.

Annapolis Royal

The town of Annapolis Royal was next on the agenda. This is a wonderful little town with some of the most beautiful old homes lining the picturesque streets.

Beautiful home in Annapolis Royal

The town dates back to 1605 when settlers started to make this area home.

Liz at Fort Anne National Historic Site of Canada

Parks Canada staff explaining the tapestry and history at the Fort Anne interpretive center.

Annapolis Royal is also home to the remains of Fort Anne National Historic Site. Here you can also get more of our past history.

Miniature layout of Fort Anne

One of the many canons that protected Fort Anne

Fort Anne National Historic Site of Canada is Canada's oldest. It is a present day reminder of when there were great conflicts between European countries( England / France). The battles was acted out on the shores of the Annapolis River, NS.

Fort Anne offers a sweeping view of the beautiful Annapolis Basin. The museum exhibits highlights of the history of the fort. Wonderful staff members will answer your questions in French or English ( they are mostly Acadians). More on Fort Anne National Historic Site on Parks Canada website.

Digby Neck, Nova Scotia

Digby Neck is a peninsula and several islands going out into the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine It is a wonderful drive and you can experience weathered little fishing villages.

Digby Neck

The ferry rides out to the end of Digby Neck are free. Once there, you can do some great hikes on the islands, one of them is to the Balancing Rock, about a 5 km round trip hike.

Balancing Rock Trail Information

Part of the trail

The trail includes some great boardwalks over marches and swampy areas. The last part of the trail has a lot of stairs (225 steps down and 225 up) to a platform.

Anders on the cell phone helping mom with computer problems

Liz at the Balancing Rock on St Mary's Bay

The Balancing Rock

Anders at the Balancing Rock

From here you have a beautiful view of St. Mary's Bay and the Balancing Rock to your right. For eons of years this rock has stood teetering on the edge of the ocean, providing quite a sight. A must if you are on Digby Neck.

An other must: Lavena's Catch Cafe

Lavena's Catch Cafe

Best Halibut chowder ever at Lavena's Catch Cafe

Liz enjoying scallops at Lavena's Catch Cafe.... soooo good!

Another must is Lavena's Catch Cafe by the ferry terminal in Freeport on Long Island. This is a family run place and the food is fantastic. The Halibut chowder was the best chowder we have had so far. Don't miss this place.

Evangeline Trail, Southern Nova Scotia

After leaving Digby Neck we eventually got back on to the Evangeline trail, a beautiful drive along the Acadian Coast. There is a lot of French spoken in many of these coastal communities and the Acadian flag flies fron many homes. We eventualy booked in at a motel at Mavillette Beach on Cape Cove. Cape View Motel is a great little motel. The owners are from Alberta. It has 10 rooms and 3 housekeeping cottages.

View from our room at Cape View Motel

The views of the beach and the bay are wonderful. Continental breakfast is served in the lobby and one gets to meet the other guests and talk to the owners.

There is a restaurant across the street which is OK. Liz had "Rappie Pie", looks real ugly but she ate it, and went back for seconds......

More pictures from this part of the trip by clicking the image below or go directly to the slide show here.

Digby, Annapolis, Digby Neck NS

Cheers,

Anders and Liz

Here are some shortcuts to all the blogs from our Cross Canada Trip. Just hover over the number to see where it will take you

1,   2,   3, 4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   10

11, 12, 13,  14,  15,  16,  17,  18,  19,  20

21, 22,  23,  24,  25,  26,  27,  28,  29,  29b

30, 31,  32,  33,  34,  35,  36,  37,  38,  39,

40,   41,  42,  43,  44,  45,  46,  47,  48,  49,

50,   51,  52,  53,  54,  55,  56,  57,  58,  59,

60,   61,  62,  63,  64,  65.

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10 August 2011

Cross Canada and Back Part 21

Prince Edward Island or PEI

Prince Edward Island, or what many people refer to as PEI, is for us the most an alluring, picturesque, environmentally friendly, and warm place you can think off. We were lucky enough to celebrate Canada Day, 1st of July there. We spent two weeks in total on the Island.

View Prince Edward Island or PEI in a larger map

Prince Edward Island, or Isle St.Jean is known as the "Birthplace of Confederation", because in the capital city, Charlottetown, is where the idea of Canada was born in in 1864. That did not mean that PEI was going to join the Confederation in 1867 when it was actually formed.

Prince Edward Island - Life is a beach.

PEI had a few different options that they considered: staying a British colony, becoming its own country, or joining the USA as the northern most state (at that time). Finally in 1873 Prime Minister John Macdonald bribed PEI to join the confederation of Canada by paying off its substantial railroad construction debt.

Lobster boats

The Province of Prince Edward Island is the smallest province in Canada with 5,683 square kilometers and around 142,000 people. The island could fit into Lake Ontario, three times. Vancouver Island is 5.6 times larger then PEI.

Liz on the beach

PEI is very environmentally conscious. In 1976 they banned aluminum soft drink containers until there was a proper way to re-cycle them. That ban was lifted in 2008. PEI is so forward thinking they even have compost bins with the recycle bins in campgrounds and public places.... Way to go PEI!

Wind farm on the North Cape.

The landscape is just so..... beautiful!

The North Cape of PEI (the most Westerly part) is one of the windiest spots in the country and what a better place to have a wind farm. The wind farm generates 18% of PEI's power requirements.

Located at this most northerly tip of the island is also WEICan, the Wind Energy Institute of Canada. The WEICan mission statement "WEICan advances the development of wind energy across Canada through research, testing, training, and collaboration".

North (West) Cape Wind Farm

Liz at North Cape

If you are interested in wind farms etc. this would be a must visit. Not only is the country side beautiful, it is a technology that we should know more about it and have more of it in all of Canada.

Anders and Liz at Prince Edward Distillery

PEI was the first province to implement the prohibition in 1901, it was also the last to repeal it in 1948. Talking about alcohol, there is a great distillery on the north east part of PEI called Prince Edward Distillery.

Anders thinking....... I could have one of these on Cortes!

Mmmmmm, nice still. I could distill some miscible or immiscible liquid mixtures.... ethyl alcohol, that's it.

They make some wonderful products, one being a Blueberry Vodka. This Blueberry Vodka is made with wheat from PEI and blueberries from PEI. Yes, yes, they do have a potato vodka, wonderful.

Anders

After a while you just can't stand it anymore, and you just have to clean the beast. Oh well, it is not so bad, actually quite enjoyable.

Liz doing the final touches

During our two week stay on PEI we stayed at Prince Edward Island National Park - Cavendish and at Cabot Beach Provincial Park. Both of these parks have campgrounds and they are both great and have full services. The beaches are fantastic at both of the parks.

Liz and Anders at Prince Edward Island National Park - Greenwich

Prince Edward Island National Park - Greenwich

Liz and Anders on the beach at Prince Edward Island National Park - Greenwich

If you enjoy golf, PEI is the place to be. Some of the best golf courses in the country are here. Biking and hiking trails are also plentiful. Water sports are found everywhere.....

We made several different trips to just about all parts of the Island. We chatted with friendly people everywhere. We picked up some locally made cheese, baked goods and Island produce.

Cheese Lady's Gouda Cheese..... it's so good. Some days you can even get cheese curds. I got some garlic curds, what can I say, they are to die for.

Gouda Cheeses of all kind of flavours.

The boss at work

PEI is famous for its fresh seafood, and you can take in one of the local "Lobster Dinners", many sponsored by churches.

Annamarie's ( Liz' sister) first battle with a PEI lobster

Soo good

You can order a 1-4 pound lobster, and with that you get all you can eat seafood chowder, all you can eat mussels, all you can eat desert..... I looked like the Pillsbury dough boy coming out of there.

Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables

Anders at the National Historic site

Lucy Maud Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables are still a big hit on the little Island. There is Green Gables that and Montgomery this.... even the Federal Government is making money from the author and the book. Good for them all, milk it for all it is worth. Anne of Green Gables was rejected by four publishers before being accepted for publication in 1908.

Liz on the Balsam Hollow Trail

Just wonderful

The arts and crafts on the island is alive and well. Liz dragged me through every shop in the little province.... well almost. I think we need an extra trailer behind the 5th wheel to get it all home.

Music is a big part of PEI, if you go you have to take in one of the local Ceilidh at one of the halls. Ceilidh is a gathering with some local musicians and some time some dancers. Origianlly Ceilidh was a traditional Gaelic social gathering, often in the neighbour's kitchen, which usually involved playing Gaelic folk music and dancing.

Ceilidh at it's best at the Malpeque Churchhall PEI

Such talent

We went to one of these gatherings and it was just fantastic. There are some short movie clips in the photo albums. Here is a sample.

PEI potatoes are really good, ask for them next time you are to your local grocer. 1/3 of the potatoes grown in Canada are grown on Prince Edward Island. They also have a way with words. A sign outside a local business in PEI: "A man who eats many prunes, gets a good run for his money"

Potato field

Country side

Real estate on PEI is still very affordable in comparison with Victoria, BC. You can get a house for $100,000 and if you want to go fancy, you can get a brand new ocean front condo in Summerside for around $400,000. Similar unit in Victoria would be over 1 million.

Affordable Real Estate in Summerside Prince Edward Island

Harbour front in Summerside, PEI

The capital Charlottetown is a wonderful quaint town. It has all the amenities you need, a great airport with direct flights to Toronto. Around 32,000 people make their home in Charlottetown.

Annamarie and Anders in front of the PEI Legislature in Charlottetown

This is where the Confederation of Canada was signed

This is where the current PEI Government shoots the breeze.

There are many wonderful places to eat. One of those special places is Water Prince Corner Shop in Charlottetown. The seafood chowder is one of the best, no doubt about it.