Day 6 – June 30, 2016

Up early and on our way to the Prince Edward Island Ferry and according to a quick check online the Ferry was to leave at 9:30 a.m. We eager early birds arrived at 8:15am to make sure we made the first ferry, just to find out we had already missed the 8:00 am ferry. Really!?!? We read the wrong ferry schedule…lol  Next Ferry leaves at 11:45 a.m.

Now the question, do we wait for the next ferry or drive to the Confederation Bridge…which is 2 hours away?? We voted and the Gypsy won. She had her heart set on bringing Betsy on a boat. So off to the Coffee Shop we went to wait. After a relaxing coffee and a delicious homemade cinnamon bun at The Stone Soup Café . We headed back to the ferry only to hear the attendant cheerfully ask “ Good morning, do you have a reservation??”.  NO????.  Attendant,  “Well…you will NEVER get on this ferry”….Betsy to the Confederation Bridge!

Note to fellow East Coast travelers if you are planning on taking the ferry please ensure you book a reservation.

 

On a side note, we had a big event occur while driving to the bridge. Wait for it…wait for it….Betsy turned over 300,000 km. Yay!! for Betsy! She will get the royal treatment after this trip….a complete tune up and spa treatment car wash!

 

Finally we came to the Confederation Bridge. Built  in 1994 the curved, 12.9 kilometer (8 mile) long bridge is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water, and more than a decade after its construction, it endures as one of Canada’s top engineering achievements of the 20th century.

Once on the island we made our way to a small town called Summerfield. The boardwalk came highly recommended and we wanted to check it out. Unfortunately there wasn’t much of a boardwalk?  We went into a few shops and quickly realized that this wasn’t the place for us. Lacking the local east coast charm we longed for we decided to hop back into Betsy to find the true PEI.

Nap time! Or as us adults like to call it and impromptu rest period. One of the best luxuries of #vanlife.  We simply found a private dead end street that looked right out onto the water. Parked Betsy sideways opened both side doors for a cross van ocean breeze as we sleepily snacked on a tasty cheese, meat and fruit plate. Yup…heaven ☺

 

Bottle buildings are what Bernard Rudolfsky called architecture without architects where ordinary people build extraordinary things.

At Cap-Egmont in Prince Edward Island, where he was a lighthouse-keeper, Edouard Arsenault started collecting bottles in 1979. According to his daughter on the Bottle House website in the spring of 1980, at the age of 66, he began his construction, in 1981, the first Bottle House was open to the public. From 1980 to the spring of 1984, he cleverly cemented over 25,000 bottles of various shapes, sizes and colours, into three fantasy-like buildings. This is a recycle junkies dream!

While we were stopped earlier for our morning rest an older gentleman collecting beach glass suggested that we head up to North Cape where the two tides meet each other. Not on our list, but a quick search and we were only ninety minutes away. Can’t go wrong listening to the locales. North Cape here we come!

The North Cape is where the the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Northumberland Strait meet with magnificent results. This event has created one of the only rockbars that we are aware of in Canada.

Shoes and socks off these two nomads had to see if they could wade their way out to the rock island. Good thing we showed up at low tide, the water was only knee deep! Um….more like upper thigh deep….lol Although a bit chilly we are glad we didn’t miss this.

While at the North Cape we also decided to try another first, cooking pasta (aka Kraft Dinner) with our old reliable Jetboil and our new pot attachment. The mission was a complete success. William suggests we add this to our regular menu…..Laura not so much.

On the road again and heading back towards the center of the island, we came across another ice cream stand. The Dairy Royal. Yes, another Ice cream stand! But this place sold a local favourite called a Dilly. Fresh Ice cream made that day dipped in Chocolate….Laura could not resist.

By this time it was getting late and we needed to find a place to rest for the night before William turns into well…..a beast. In the middle of nowhere, we came across a small town named Kensington, so small they only had a drive thru Tim Hortons with no parking lot…..stealth camping here was not an option. We decided to tour the town anyway and came across a local park area with public washrooms. Score! The washrooms were clean and unlocked. We are home.

Day 7 – July 1, 2016

In the morning we still had access to our very own private washrooms; thanks to the town Kensington we could actually “wash up” with warm water.  This was definitely a great find for these two not so clean travelers.

We were headed to Thunder Cove a beautiful private beach paradise. We reached the beach and had it all to ourselves except for this little critter that William decided to call over. We could not believe the red rock bluffs, the clean sandy beach and the overall feeling of pure serenity that this place offered. Check out the pictures.

 

These two wanders walked for hours along the untouched beach, back and forth only to feel the warm breeze and hot sun on our skin. For a moment we considered hanging our hats up and calling this place home. What a hidden wonder.

Fully relaxed and totally at peace, we started back on our route de jour to visit the Butterfly House and The Great Canadian Soap Company .  

To our surprise the two young students working at the Soap Company were studying Engineering and Nursing. A perfect career match for this traveling duo so it opened up a great conversation about the island, employment and just life in general. Great stop with fantastic natural laundry soap.

Well it’s been a few days and these two nomads needed to find a place to set up camp, a warm shower and to do laundry. We hit the closest provincial park we could find, Selkirk Park. We pulled in with our fingers crossed and asked for a non-serviced tent site and by sheer luck (because it’s a holiday weekend) they had a site for us. Only 28 dollars, big score for our travel budget.

Cleaned up and laundry under way, we heard of a perfect local restaurant to experience the best Clam Chowder and Lobster Roll on the Island. The Chowder House is located at the end of a dirt road with a spectacular view of the water and its very own lighthouse but more importantly the cook did not disappoint.

Even though the gypsy is not a fan of seafood she tried a bit and with a local brewed beer in hand, William happily finished off the rest.

Day 8 – July 2, 2016

Up early as usually we snuck out of the campground before many of the weekenders even started to stir. On the road we were heading to the birthplace of the Confederation and the theatre production of Mamma Mia, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

When we arrived in Charlottetown we parked Betsy in the downtown parking garage and decided to use the shoelace express to explore. First stop on the Charlottetown tour was the Cathedral Basilica.

While out on our stroll we came across a little boutique Northern Waters Knitwear where the gypsy bought a locally made winter headpiece and matching gloves and William purchased a new travelling hat!  Always trying to support local.

Well it was close to 1:30 p.m. and we had two tickets to see Katie Kerr, a talented young woman from our home town of Windsor, Ontario. She is currently playing the lead role in the stage production of Mamma Mia.

Since William has been with this Gypsy, he has been exposed to the arts and theatre and loving every minute of it.  These two travellers were simply stunned at how fantastic the live performance was and the AMAZING job Katie Kerr did playing Sophie.What was even better than watching the show was the after show visit we had with Katie Kerr!

After just an amazing day on Prince Edward Island, it was time for these to East Coast Travellers to start the long trek back home. With our adventures still at the forefront of our mind, we filled up Betsy and headed back towards the Confederation Bridge. Weighing our options we decided to take the Canadian way home and planned to keep driving till the sun started to set. While Laura was fast asleep in the passenger seat we crossed into Quebec from New Brunswick. Finding the first rest stop along the highway William called it a night.

Day 9 – July 3, 2016

Up early and on the road we were on a hot pursuit for the closest Tim Hortons to get William a morning coffee. Next exit La Pocatiere, Quebec. Taking the exit and heading towards the Tim Horton’s and we had a “deja vous” moment. We’ve been here before!?!?  The Gazebo on the water, the Tim Hortons parking lot and the old Hospital in the background??  This was the hometown of the LeBel Pioneer, Nicolas LeBel that we had explored back in December. With a quick search, we realized that we were literally three minutes from the LeBel Sanctuary Monument. Well, we couldn’t waste the chance to visit the site again since we were so close.

After we laughed about our little surprise visit with William’s ancestors we headed back to Betsy, filled up with gas and this Gypsy said “Home William!!”