PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

Riding on Prince Edward Island was a dream compared to riding Cape Breton Island. Mind you, Cape Breton Island was beautiful in the highlands, and we did know it would be some steep climbing, made more difficult by being on a fully loaded tandem, but as we met a couple of challenges of riding (not walking) up a couple of grades, we were content to move on and have a couple of extra days on PEI.

On the ferry to PEI.

On the ferry to PEI.

Arriving at Wood Islands, PEI.

Leaving Caribou, NS on the ferry we arrived at Wood Islands, PEI with the anticipation of rail trails and fewer hills. We were not disappointed as our first rail trail started about a mile up the road. After a brief stop we headed down the trail to Murray River for a lunch stop. We bought some bread and a block of cheese and sat on the wharf watching a man deal with his sailboat. Apparently he had purchased a used genoa for sail, but the roller furling system was getting hung up on the forestay when he tried to raise the sail. He had his friend there with a bucket truck to go up and get things working, which they did. We ended up spending the next hour chatting with them about all things biking and boating. We eventually made it to our first campground at Panmure Provincial Park, where we enjoyed a stroll on the beach, milkshakes, the lighthouse and the sunset.

Leaving Wood Islands on a section of the Confederation Rail Trail.

On the Confederation Rail Trail.

Happy to be on a rail trail.

Enjoying some lunch on the wharf at Murray River.

Watching the repair of the roller furling system.

An opportunity to dry out at the campsite.

Getting more ice cream at Panmure Beach.

Enjoying milkshakes while checking out the beach.

Riding along the causeway to Panmure Island.

Lighthouse on Panmure Island.

Waiting for sunset.

Enjoying the sunset.

The next day we were on the road headed to our next campground at Red Point. We passed through the quaint town of Montague, stopping for a quick coffee and cookie at the old railroad station while watching boats and birds in the harbor. We were able to ride another short section of rail trail before getting back on the road. Lunch was more cheese and bread with some Vienna sausages thrown in for good measure (I find them tasty and only eat them during such periods of extreme exercise) at a small gazebo in the town of Bridgetown. Continuing on, Don and Pam passed us on the road which turned out to be a good thing because we forgot to get our additional oatmeal out of the truck following our last transportation.  Passing through Souris we stopped at a beach stand and tried one of their locally made flavored sodas, Strawberry Rhubarb Basil. It was quite good and refreshing. We purchased some provisions and continued on only to be halted by a broken shift cable that operates the front derailer. Fortunately we only had a few miles left to go and the chain was stuck in the small chainring making for easy pedaling. I had a spare cable so was able to get it fixed and operating again. Another walk on the beach with red sandstone cliffs and another beautiful sunset.

Hanging around in Montague.

Trail out of Montague.

Another nutritious lunch?

Fresh carrots from a farm stand. Now we are talking nutritious.

Taking a break in Souris.

Enjoying the Strawberry Rhubarb Basil soda.

Campsite at Red Point Campground.

Waiting for another sunset.

Along the beach at Red Point.

The next day had us on the main Confederation Rail Trail where we put in a  good 60 mile day to reach the Brackley Beach area to meet my parents and Katie who drove up to spend a few days on PEI. It was a lot of time in the saddle, and we found the rail trail to be more undulating than we were expecting, but with smaller trains back in the day they could cope with steeper grades. We made one stop to hike into the woods to see the bubbling springs. We could see some swirl of water coming up out of the sand below the pool of water; kind of neat, but I think the mosquitoes were more impressed with the amount of blood they sucked out of us. Moving on, we made it to the cabin and were reunited with family.

On our way to the Brackley Beach region on the Confederation Rail Trail.

Taking a break in St. Peter.

Riding along the trail.

Having some Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble based on the recommendation of a biking couple from New Zealand we passed on the trail.

back on the trail.

At Bubbling Springs.

Checking out some carved lawn furniture.

The five of us took in Green Gables (Pam and Don also met us there) and an evening visit to Charlottetown, all by car which was a nice change of pace (but only for a day). We enjoyed some nice restaurants, sites, and pies (blueberry and strawberry rhubarb) and it made for a nice down day, along with a couple of nights in a comfy bed, but it was all too soon time to move on.

Dressing as they did in the days of Anne of Green Gables.

The house that served as the inspiration.

Entering Green Gables.

Anne's room.

Enjoying some lunch.

More lunch.

Out on the town at Charlottetown.

We took off the next day back to the Confederation Trail and made our way to Summerside. The weather was a bit uncertain, but fortunately no real rain appeared. It was windy, however, and by the time we made it to Linkletter Provincial Park on the Northumberland Straight, it was really blowing. We got the tent staked down, put up, and had a  simple dinner of bread, apples, and rice krispie treats in the tent vestibule​ to get out of the wind. Another beach walk and sunset rounded out the day.

Breakfast stop.

View along the trail.

Passing through Kensington.

A breezy day in Summerside.

Getting ready to devour a Nutella and strawberry crepe.

Eating dinner under the protection of our tent.

Campsite at Linkletter Campground.

Waitinf for another sunset.

The sunset.

Last day on PEI had us heading to the Confederation Bridge to meet Pam and Don to drive us across to New Brunswick. Before we started I went to tighten the rear rack only to find the brazon had broken off leaving one side of the rack not attached to the bike, but just sitting on the frame. A quick job with a tie strap to hold it in place did the trick. The bike is starting to look like it is being held together by the handy little plastic straps. On our way, we headed down a dirt road as a short cut, even though it said the bridge was out. We figured we might make it across, or if not turn around and go the long way around. Sure enough the work crew was there working, and one side of the bridge was gone over a four foot deep trench they were digging. A lady in a work truck said we couldn't go through and we said that was fine, we just came down to look. A couple of the work crew yelled across if we wanted through. We of course said yes, so they grabbed the bike and carried it over the trench. Saved us about five miles, awesome, but the other side of the rear rack had broken off. More tie straps and we were off. We made the meet with Pam and Don at noon, and following lunch crossed the Confederation Bridge and on to our last week of adventure, in New Brunswick. We hope the bike survives... 

Ready for our last day on Prince Edward Island.

Stopping for coffee and donuts.

Some of the guys that helped us over the bridge construction site.

On the other side.

The 8-mile long Confederation Bridge that we soon will drive over.

Click HERE to see more photos on Flickr.
See the route map HERE.

CAPE BRETON ISLAND

We were driven to Cape Breton Island (CBI) from Halifax by Laura's parents. It was a longer drive than we expected and given the undulating hills we encountered earlier on our tour (and our struggles up them) we decided to shorten our overall distance on CBI. Making that decision, we were dropped off at Cheticamp in the evening for a short pedal to the campground.

Riding into Cheticamp.

Arriving at the campground, we were given the last spot in the overflow camping area. It was about two miles further down the road, with no facilities except a pit toilet. Good enough for us. We set up on our spot next to the road, exposed to all the elements. There was a cliff looking up to our east, and we could see the ocean to the north alongside the steep, but short climb to start our ride the next day. Those elements were in the form of a very strong wind. We ended up tying our tent to the bike as we watched our neighbor's tent start to come unstaked and blow away. As the owners were not there at the time, we were kind enough to try and save their tent. Borrowing a hammer from our other neighbor we attempted to pound the stakes back into the ground. Unfortunately the ground was just too hard, and the stakes not strong enough to get through and hold. As a last resort, we pulled out the poles and laid the tent flat. After we were in bed, we heard them return and gasp at what had happened to their tent. If they only knew what could have been, but we just kept quiet and fell asleep. The wind blew all night and continued blowing the next day. We packed up quickly in the morning and began our day of climbing through the Highlands National Park.

Camping in overflow area, Highlands National Park.

Tying down the tent with the bike.

Watching the wind blow the tents.

We altered our itinerary once again when we found there was a lot of construction on the road through the park, and heavy rain was in the forecast. We rode the eight miles from our campsite to Skyline Trail. Eight miles does not seem like much, but it was mostly up, up, up, and we are on a tandem, a fully loaded tandem! While we did take a few breaks, we managed to ride the whole way. Some people on single bikes did catch us, but given they were not carrying gear, that would be expected. Overall, we were quite proud of our accomplishment. Those undulating hills previous complained about seemed like nothing now, and future hills began to become just another minor obstacle to get over.

Taking a break from working our way up the hills.

The hills we are climbing.

So far so good...no walking for us.

Still climbing.

The road we climbed.

At the Skyline Trail, we hiked out the two miles to the overlook and nearly got blown off the boardwalk. The view was great when we weren't hanging on, and as the rain started to fall we headed back to the bike. We came across Pam and Don on the trail, got to the bike, loaded it on the truck as the heavy rain started. As we drove away we looked out the window at the other bikers struggling through the rain and the construction, and felt a tinge of guilt, but knew we made the right decision for the bike. The roads were rough and surely would have caused issues.

Getting blown around on the Skyline Trail.

We were dropped off at Broad Cove campground on the other side of the Park. We set up camp in the pouring rain, cooked dinner in the forward vestibule of our tent, and hunkered down for the night. The next day was sunny, so we dried out as we repacked. We were off again, knowing we had a big climb over Cape Smokey ahead of us. The views were picturesque, and the day was beautiful. We ate lunch at a small dock watching a couple of sailboats and fishing boats tied to the wharf.

Drying out after the rain.

Getting re-organized and re-packed.

At Broad Cove Campground.

Lunch on the wharf.

The view during lunch.

After lunch we tackled the climb. Once again we made it to the top riding all the way. We wondered, who are we, that are able to accomplish such feats? We managed fine, but the bike was starting to make a lot of creaking noise in the back. Checking the cassette, we found it was starting to come loose. Not much we could do on the side of the road, but we knew we needed to get to a bike shop. We raced down the other side of Cape Smokey, glad we didn't have to come up that side as it was a steep and windy decent, and gently pedaled to our next campground. We tried to check in at the office, but it was empty. We decided to find a spot and come back later to pay. Turns out there was a bike tour group already there, so we joined in with them for the night. There were a couple of other tandems in the group so we enjoyed chatting with them for the evening. The next morning we arranged for Don and Pam to pick us up after crossing the little ferry at Englishtown and off to a bike shop we went.

Checking out the bike and realizing there is nothing I can do to alleviate the cassette noise.

Sharing the campsite with other bicycle tourers.

Sunrise at the campground.

On the ferry to Englishtown.

Fortunately the cassette and free hub were not too far gone and the mechanic at Pictou County Cycle & Repair was able to get us back in working order, although likely on borrowed time, but we'll take it. We were dropped off at Caribou Provincial Park to setup camp once again in the rain. Tomorrow it is off to Prince Edward Island via the ferry. The change in itinerary on CBI now allows us a couple more days on PEI.

Another wet day.

Life in the tent when it rains.

Waking up to dryer weather.

Click HERE to see more photos on Flickr.
See the route map HERE and HERE.

NOVA SCOTIA - Blomidon to Halifax

Woke our last morning in Blomidon to a foggy landscape and a slight chill in the air. Got packed up and headed back down the hill to the undulating roads of the Annapolis Valley. We made good time and the bike was working well. We even found a short stretch of rail trail in good condition to ride into Wolfville. There we grabbed some coffee and some lunch supplies and headed to Grand Pre.

Waking up to a foggy morning at Blomidon.

We stayed at Grand Pre enjoying lunch on the historic grounds. At the museum we saw a brief movie about the Acadian people and their forced deportation because of their unwillingness to take sides, French or British during the mid 1700s. We also participated in a wonderful walking tour of the grounds learning more about the history of the area from different perspectives.

Lunch in gardens at Grand Pre.

Flowers at Grand Pre.

Learning about the history of the Acdians at Grand Pre.

Church that was rebuilt in Grand Pre.

Inside the church at Grand Pre.

It was late and time to move on. More undulating roads found us in Windsor where we decided to continue as far as we could towards Halifax. A quick dinner by a lakeside and we were back to riding. With darkness falling we found a church surrounded by tombstones and made camp at the base of the hill below the church. It was an odd feeling laying there with thoughts of the dead tucked into the hill just behind our heads.

Dinner by the lake in Windsor, NS.

Looking down at our tent hidden in the trees, below the headstones of the cemetery.

Our stealth campsite.

 
Morning came quickly. We packed and headed off only to find we had a flat tire. Repaired and back on the road. This time less undulating, more like up, up, up! We made it, and cruised into Halifax by early afternoon where we met Laura's parents at their hotel where we took showers and got cleaned up, and continued the ride to Dalhousie University where we stayed for the night. That evening we walked the few blocks into downtown Halifax and walked the Public Gardens and enjoyed the spectacular flower arrangements.

Breakfast of oatmeal on the climb towards Halifax.

Finding a place for second breakfast of eggs on the way to Halifax.

Trail around the busy roads heading towards Halifax.

Outside the Public Gardens in Halifax.

Checking out the dahlias.

Viewing the flowers.

Now on to Cape Breton Island, and the real hills....

Click HERE to see more photos on Flickr.
See the route map HERE.