Prince Edward Island - part 1

Prince Edward Island

First things first – we’re now HOME (Vancouver) as of the Thanksgiving weekend!  The return part of the journey was much quicker than the outbound journey.Total distance travelled was 23,500 km!  We’ll continue with the blog, slowly, working to fill in the trip pretty much in chronological sequence.

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We had a deadline to reach PEI -- August 1 -- to meet one of Shamir’s law school buddies, Sasha, and her husband Gerry, before they returned to Vancouver.  Gerry is originally from PEI, so they purchased a wonderful summer home in North Rustico, across the street uphill of a working fishing wharf.

Within walking distance are a fresh seafood store, a really good bakery, a liquor store, and tons of wildlife viewing all around … it doesn't get any better than this!

View from the deck: Adult eagle on the right, with juvenile on the left, in giant nest

We arrived with Chardonnay in hand to begin a memorable evening.  After a bit of a chin wag, we went for a stroll down to the local fish store, where they bought six lobsters for the meal.

Amidst appetizers of freshly shucked oysters, potato chips, Chardonnay, and local beers, we finally got the lobster pot boiling after a few hurdles along the way with the propane tank and the barbecue.  As the lobsters got cooked up, Gerry re-taught Shamir the basics of shelling them … something Shamir had last done in 1981 on his previous visit to the Maritimes.

It soon became clear that we had wa-a-a-ay too much food.Now, Gerry is really just a kind-hearted hippie at heart, as we soon found out.  Why not release one of the lobsters, he thought, back into the ocean to fend its way to a different future?!  So he picked a good sized, relatively lively lobster and headed down to the water.




After a quick test or two holding the lobster in the ocean water, he let go.  The lobster dashed off -- what a tale it would have to regale its lobster buddies about an astonishing journey from ocean to fishing boat, to holding tank in a fish store, to paper bag and then refrigerator, to human hand, and back into the ocean!  And to us humans, an evening indelibly imprinted on us as the Night of Lobster Karma.

The Night of Lobster Karma!!

After overnighting in the van, we joined Sasha and Gerry for coffee the next morning and headed out to explore the rest of the island.  Rustico is now in our blood, though -- we returned to park the van for a couple of days with their permission, after they had left, enjoying the wonderful deck and amazing location after we had seen more of PEI.  Pieces of our hearts remain in this lovely part of PEI.  We want to thank Sasha and Gerry for a wonderful introduction to their little corner of heaven!



The lovely Rustico home

Look closely - the Rustico home is at the left ...

These re-connections with friends and family throughout the country were a wonderful part of the trip.  To the consternation of most of our hosts, we generally found it easier to overnight in “AshRam” (which is a Dodge Ram van) than to come inside.  Our bed was comfortable, we knew where everything was, and we didn’t have to worry about what to bring in each time, and what we might have forgotten as we were leaving.  The van again proved its flexibility and comfort.

PEI - part 2

Prince Edward Island Part 2

Charlottetown is decidedly picturesque ...

Hey! Look who Surrinder is talking to! ... Sir John A ...

It is also the site of the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, one of the first meetings of what would later become the Fathers of Confederation, to discuss the idea of creating some kind of union. A re-enactment of some of the early discussion and debate, which included ordinary PEI folks asking why this would be good for them, really brought home the issues of the day -- it felt like we were in a time warp!

The very room in which early Confederation discussions took place ...

During our time in PEI, the area around Province House became our de facto central hangout – luckily, parking is free there on weekends!. The beautiful Confederation Centre of the Arts complex is right next door, with its theatres, galleries, restaurant, and beautiful library.Adjacent are the central walking and shopping areas of Charlottetown.Nice, really nice.

Since we both enjoy a range of music, it was a real treat to learn how PEI is a real hotbed of live music of many sorts.We attended a ceilidh (pronounced“kaylee”) in Charlottetown the night after our fabulous lobster dinner.Cynthia MacLeod, a sparkling Maritime fiddler, was the feature artist at the weekly Irish Benevolent Society ceilidh – what a lively, gifted, energetic young woman!

Her hands were a blur of energy!

Check out this Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQH8LlIdWAw. The evening also featured a “lunch” -- snacks during intermission, all for the ticket price of $10!

Saturday morning, we finally made it to a Farmer's Market – we had great time looking and stocking up on the local fruits, vegetables, and seafood.

We met Tony Campbell, a fascinating geologist and gemologist.Surrinder's passion for rocks kept them going quite a while, and we ended up with a lovely early birthday present for Surrinder.You just never know what's going to happen one moment to the next!

We were on a mission to eat and taste lots of seafood in the Maritimes, part of which involved trying different chowders and lobster rolls wherever we could. Surrinder has never eaten so much seafood in her life! She really likes the texture of lobster compared to that of crab - lobster is like eating 'meat'. Ever creative, Surrinder also developed her own style of lobster rolls.With Gerry’s lessons under his belt, Shamir fearlessly undertook the shelling of a few lobsters along the way (though we did let others cook them), leaving Surrinder with several opportunities to test her skills.Let’s say we’ve discovered a new food treat for Surrinder …

PEI does an amazing job of catering to the hordes of tourists it attracts over the summer.There is a tremendous variety of entertainment happening almost every night of the week, including a busy theatre scene.We attended Evangeline at the Confederation Centre of the Arts, the play based on Longfellow’s long poem about the expulsion of the Acadians (Maritime French settlers) by the English in the 1700's. A lavish production, it brought home that very dark chapter in our history.

A very brief summary … The English and French were fighting back and forth over a couple of centuries, to decide who would formally claim (actually, we would say “steal”) North American territories in their own names. Meanwhile, a distinct colony of New France, separate from that in Quebec, was established in the Maritimes, particularly Nova Scotia.These became known as the Acadians. After several generations, however, the crazy goings-on in faraway Europe resulted in France formally ceding the territories to the British. The Acadians were wary of the British, and refused to swear allegiance to the British crown, wishing to remain neutral.

Long story short –the British deported them wholesale, out of the Maritimes, an episode known as the Grand Dérangement or Great Upheval.About a third did not survive the deportation, drowning or dying of disease.Some ended up around Louisiana, and are now known as the Cajuns (say “Acadian” quickly and a bit lazily, with a silent first syllable, and you have “Cajun” …).The whole thing was quite nasty in our view, and left a very sour taste in our thoughts of Canadian history.We learned while we travelled that this was but one of numerous dark episodes in our history. It opened our eyes.

The Acadian Monument to the Grand Derangement, or Great Upheaval

PEI - part 3

Prince Edward Island - Part 3

Meanwhile, we wandered around the very beautiful western part of PEI, up to the north west tip where the Wind Energy Institute of Canada is located.  There are huge wind farms with so many windmills of various shapes and sizes that you lose count.  Fascinating.   

We saw wind turbines in various places during the trip, especially in the Maritimes and the tiny bit of the Gaspé peninsula which we travelled along.  Like solar energy, it’s as renewable and long-lived as we’re likely to see in human lifetimes.  There are controversies about noise, effects on birds, and other matters, though.  The other great energy source which remains largely untapped is tidal energy, being studied at FORCE, the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy.  Unfortunately, weather and timing didn’t allow us to explore that energy source.  Guess we’ll have to go back another time to learn about that!! ;-)

As you probably know, PEI is now reached via a long bridge from New Brunswick -- back when Shamir last visited, you could only get there by ferry or plane!  The engineering behind the bridge is an astonishing and frankly quite beautiful achievement.  The result is an extremely efficient way to get back and forth from the mainland to PEI. 

We hear Newfoundland keeps toying with a similar concept, but a lot more road work would be needed on the Quebec side of the north shore of the St. Lawrence before that were even vaguely feasible.  

We decided that we had to check out the one tourist destination on the Island which draws perhaps the largest crowds from furthest away -- Japan.  That would, of course, be Green Gables, the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery's beloved Anne of Green Gables.  It's fascinating that many Japanese have really taken to this story.  The visit proved enjoyable despite the many tourists, as was the lovely Cavendish Beach nearby ... though rain fell heavily on Cavendish and its famous red cliffs as we were leaving.  

Gotta love the curious little guy at the door!

One way or another, PEI is well worth visiting, for its genteel, idyllic farm scenery, picturesque landscapes throughout, and remarkably active arts and music scenes.

 

A final salute -- no visit to PEI would be complete without a stop at the world famous Cow's Ice Cream chain.  There's apparently even a location in Whistler!

A COWS salute to the people's performer, Stompin' Tom Connors, who passed away earlier in 2013 ... and whose beloved song Bud the Spud keeps PEI in our hearts and minds. 

Watch Stompin' Tom play Bud the Spud: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNEg65rlnu4
 

New Brunswick - Canada's only officially fully bilingual province!

Finally, an update!  We left Newfoundland as expected, the day after we were "stormed in."  We visited more of Nova Scotia, went quickly back through New Brunswick and Quebec, and are now in Southern Ontario, on the verge of hitting Toronto.

Remember, as you go through the blog, to *click* on images you want to see better. They should enlarge when you click on them.  Especially worth clicking on are the long, narrow photos, which are panoramic views of some sort or another.

Returning to our journey in a chronological route, here's some of what we saw in New Brunswick as we made our way along on the route east, after Quebec.

Let's start with a few images from along the road ...





Surrinder had zero preconceived ideas about New Brunswick, and Beresford/Bathurst proved to be a great introduction to the Maritimes. 

Shamir had learned from Deb Lane in Manitoba that a high school classmate was now based in Bathurst.  Shamir hadn't seen her for about 35 years.  Not only was Mariane Paquet delighted to hear from him, she opened up her fabulous home and heart to us. We will remember her kindness and generosity for some time to come!  

We spent 5 days enjoying the beautiful beach, exquisite food, great company, music, and wine ... it was hard to leave. She gave us a break from the van at an opportune time in the journey -- it was nice to live in a house again for a few days.  Mariane had a huge yard with a wonderful vegetable garden, literally a short block from the beach.  

Surrinder thoroughly enjoyed the garden and tried not miss her own so much!  

And we went for two walks on the beach in one day!  

Surrinder took the opportunity to bake muffins, peach/yogurt and bran/raisin ... 30 muffins in total!  She definitely misses baking and having an oven!  We also made lots of popcorn the old fashioned way ... in a large soup pot with oil and a lid -- very tasty!

Mariane introduced us to her neighbour, Lorenzo, who made us an authentic Acadian seafood chowder ... one bowl and we were full!  






We joined Mariane and Lorenzo in a long drive to a concert at the renowned Lameque International Baroque Music Festival.  Though the rains were ultra-heavy that day, Lorenzo showed us so much about his native Acadian fishing coast that our spirits were not dampened, so to speak.

The church was unusual -- have a look at the interior colours.  Surrinder thought it ugly, but Shamir liked it.  The four of us were unanimous that the music was glorious, however!  The young soprano, Samantha Louis-Jean, had a beautiful voice and was simply gorgeous (she looked a little bit like Bree, our daughter-in-law).





We were also treated to a local day trip to a beautiful nearby falls:










We left Bathurst with full hearts and bigger bellies! Surrinder feels very grateful for all the wonderful friends and family Shamir has brought into her life.

We continued to explore New Brunswick along the coast and ran into a soap factory -- Olivier Soapery.  Along with demonstrations of soap-making and a tour of the factory, we took advantage of their exterior hot shower facilities, to test out the soaps we had bought!









Further along, we stopped for the night at Pointe Sapin, across from a man-made fishing harbour.  We were able to watch the lobster fishermen bringing their thousands of traps to the wharves, getting ready for the lobster opening a few days later. 

Daytime view ...

Same scene at night!

The next morning, we walked along the beach nearby, seeing marvellous rock formations, sea-tossed lobster traps ... even a beautiful church nearby.

The weather can be severe ...

Continuing along the coast, we stopped at Kouchibougouac National Park, taking in some salt marshes and more beautiful beaches.

Look closely at the family ... look for "concrete" evidence of their activity ...

Family Guy watchers ... now you know where "Quahog" comes from ...

To end our visit  to New Brunswick, we "u-picked" some delicious low growing blueberries.

One final observation ... in the Superstores in Atlantic Canada, you can buy freshly baked bread ... choose how you want to slice it.  See below ...

As for the title of this post ... we didn't realize that New Brunswick is the only province whose official policy ... and practice ... is to be fully bilingual.  You hear a lot of French in parts of Ontario, Nova Scotia, even PEI and small parts of Newfoundland (in addition to pockets in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) ... but only New Brunswick makes if a formal province-wide policy.  And Quebec is officially unilingually French.  Vive le Nouveau Brunswick!