Prince Edward island (PEI)

With the delights of a long weekend in Fredericton over, it was time to bid farewell to New Brunswick and head over to Price Edward Island (PEI).

This time there was no dilly dallying along backroads. Charlotte and I hit the Trans Canada Highway and hightailed it east. Some 300 odd kms later we approached Confederation Bridge, which at 12 km long is the longest bridge over ice covered waters in the world, and is the only road link between mainland Canada and PEI.

Unsurprisingly it is a toll road, having only been built in the 1990s, but as I spotted the toll sign I must admit i was taken aback at the price – $46 for a 2 axle car! I quickly checked my wallet to make sure I had enough cash, before realising that at that price they would expect people to use cards!

The bridge itself is narrow – just two lanes (one each way), and I can only imagine the chaos that would ensue should anyone breakdown halfway across! Luckily Charlotte refused to expose me to such an experience and we reached the other end humming along as usual. As we slowed I expected a long queue, but I couldn’t see a toll gate anywhere, and son enough we had made it onto PEI proper, with plenty of exits to main roads.

Had we somehow managed to escape the toll?

Nope. The bright people in charge had decided that the toll was payable upon leaving PEI. Given there is only one way in and one way out by road it made sense, encourage people to get here as quickly and inexpensively as possible, and only sting them as they leave. Clever buggers.

The 2 biggest towns on PEI are Summerside and CHARLOTTEtown (!!) with the former the closest to the bridge. So Summerside it was, not just because of its proximity, but also because taking Charlotte to her namesake town was not something to be rushed,

Although it is technically designated as a city, Summerside is really little more than a small town, or even just what back home might be a single suburb. Despite the wonderful imagery put together by their tourist board, there is not a lot to do or see here – though I did enjoy a fantastic bowl of mussels on the deck of the Deckhouse pub and eatery which overlooks the harbour.

After an evening spent doing laundry and a relaxing sleep in the shady local park, it was off to explore the North half of PEI, via the North cape Coastal Road. The drive is picturesque, with stunning views of the water, interspaced with lighthouses and other points of attraction.

First on the attraction list was PEI’s world famous (?) Bottle Houses, a group of small buildings made entirely of more than 25,000 bottles by the obviously eccentric Edouard Arsenault. He started building them after having received a postcard of a glass castle from his daughter in 1979, which she had visited on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. It inadvertently also became PEIs first true recycling project as the bottles were all recovered from local restaurants, community halls and the like.

It’s a nod to both the bizarre and the beautiful – the light inside the buildings is unique, as is the tale behind both the building and the restoration of the individual structures. There are 3 buildings – a house (complete with working pump organ), a tavern with a display bar filled with assorted alcohol bottles) and a chapel (complete with pews and an altar) – each interesting in a different way. It clearly was a labour of love for Edouard, but underneath it all is that slight hint of crazy which makes it all the more remarkable.

From the bottle houses we headed out to PEI’s westernmost point, where we saw the first of many (MANY!) lighthouses, and another plate of fantastic mussels for lunch.

More scenic driving around the coast ensued before Charlotte and I headed inland, towards the highly anticipated Canadian Potato Museum! Potatoes play a rich part in PEI’s history, the Prince Edward potato you buy at your local market comes from here, though I was more expecting something a bit kitshcy, a la the International Banana Museum back in California.

The big potato at the entrance didn’t disabuse me of that expectation, but once inside I instead found a detailed, well laid out and highly informative museum across 5 or 6 rooms, charting the history of the potato from its beginning as a wild food source in South America, to the fourth largest commercial crop in the world.The museum also has, apparently, “the largest collection of farm implements and machinery related to the growing and harvesting of potatoes in the world!”

It genuinely is money well spent – it took me a good hour and a bit to slowly walk around and look at all the exhibits and read all the information boards. I highly recommend it as a point of difference for any PEI traveller.

One last stop for the day beckoned – the nearby Moth Lane Brewing, as advertised in the monthly PEI tourist guide.

It was located a little out of the way, and whilst my Garmin couldn’t find the address (like that’s a first!), it was clearly visible on Google maps.

We arrive at the street it is listed on, a narrow one car width dirt track. No phone signal so I can’t double check google, but the street name is right so Charlotte and I venture forth.

We get all the way to the end, in sight of the water, and there is nothing remotely resembling a brewery to be found!

Bugger.

Luckily there is a drive way to turn around in, and although it’s a bit tight, I pull in and start to back Charlotte out facing the other way. Just as I go to slip her into first gear – THUMP! I rev the engine, but the wheels just spin and Charlotte isn’t going anywhere.

I get out and this is what I see – the back wheels have slipped off the edge of the road. We are stuck hi and dry. In the middle of nowhere with no phone signal.

Just as I’m considering my options, 3 guys from what the house just down the road start walking out the front door laughing. They’ve seen my skillful driving, heard the thump and have done the obvious math.

They are actually the guys opening the brewery – it’s not ready yet, and they’ve had a bunch of travellers wander down the road looking for them all month. They are hoping to open the brewery somewhere in the next month or two, but in the meantime with advertising already in place they have to put up with inquisitive tourists each day disturbing their work.

I discover I’m not the first one to slide of the road in the act of turning around, in fact it’s so common an occurrence that they have a rope already in place nearby and tell me they average around 4 or 5 rescues a week!

They pull Charlotte out of the ditch and after a brief chat merrily go back on their way to work on the final touches to the brewery.

Pity I can’t get a beer from them – I suppose a helping hand will have to do!

Charlotte and I then finished the northern loop by returning to Summerside for the night, before setting out for the larger central and southern loops, and CHARLOTTETOWN!