Day 24

I sort of lost track of time and missed a day.  We had such a great time visiting our friends Frederick and Carol at their cottage.

 

 

 

Yesterday was a great day of exploring around PEI arranged by our friends.  We toured Charlottetown and saw the apartment where they spend the winter.  What a great spot they have with access to their community in ‘town’.

 

After lunch we headed to ‘Belfast Mini Mills’, near Montague. This was really an inspirational stop.  This family has developed amazing equipment that they manufacture and install all over the world. The beauty of their system is the ability to process small batches of any type of fiber from virtually any animal or plant. When small quantities of fiber are processed with the assurance that they go back to the original owner it expands the market considerably.

 

 

 

Some examples that they showed us were yarn from Poodles, Samoyeds, and Golden Retrievers as well as rabbits, camels, all kinds of sheep, silk, bamboo, cotton and many more.

 

 

They have installed mills in Peru, Australia, South Africa, and many more as well as in Saskatoon. They have a very busy life making all the equipment, giving tours, making products for their shop and a farm with exotic birds and animals as well.

 

After that we visited a potter with exceptional skill and a design esthetic that appealed to us.

 

 

The next stop was Mount Stewart where we had supper and attended a musical evening with Billy MacInnis.  This was a really exceptional evening with delicious food and wonderful entertainment. It brought back memories to Cathy and I as we had stayed at this place 13 years ago when we cycled across PEI and the Magdalen Islands.  PEI certainly has an active music scene. Billy MacInnis on fiddle, Johnny Ross on keyboards and Leon Gallant on guitar had all the ingredients for great entertainment.  I especially enjoyed some of Johnny’s antics on the keyboards. He just could not seem to sit still as he was playing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We returned our car to Enterprise and are now back on bicycles and foot for transportation.

 

 

 

We explored Moncton and area on another gorgeous autumn day.

 

 

 

Tomorrow we pack up and head out on the train starting our journey back to Saskatoon.

 

 

 

Day 22

We left Alma on route to P.E.I. and encountered more of the magnificent color combinations nature is capable of.

 

 

The Confederation Bridge loomed before us as we prepared to cross the Northumberland Straight onto P.E.I.

 

 

 

The next couple of days we will spend with Frederick and Carol, friends from Saskatoon who have moved back to PEI. The time will fly by as we are treated as royal guests who need to be plied with food, conversation, hysterical laughter, tours of the Island and the warm embrace of longtime friends.

 

Our first outing was one of P.E.I’s famous beaches with endless sand drifting into dunes and disappearing into the crashing waves.

I was delighted to see dozens of shorebirds working at their jobs of gathering food.

 

Day 21

Another great morning of table conversation at the Mahogany Manor B&B set us up for a 10:00 get away heading to Fundy National Park.

 

 

A short hike hugging the Fundy coast through a forest dappled with sunlight occasionally wandered to the edge of the cliff revealing vistas of the Bay of Fundy.

 

This burl felt comfortable beckoning to me because it knew I did not have a chain saw.

 

We had been told today was the first day of lobster fishing and wondered if this boat was one of them.  It came into view as we hiked along the trail.  We later saw the same boat come into the dock in Alma.

 

 

We arrived in Alma, a small tourist town, at the edge of Fundy Park where fishermen had left at 6:00 am on the high tide for the first day of lobster fishing. The tides along this coast are the highest in the world.  Today the tides moved approximately 38 ft. in the 6 hour+ tidal period.  We headed out at low tide to walk about 800 meters onto the beach. These three crows sat in a tree waiting for some bargains.

 

 

I enjoyed watching gulls fly up and deliberately drop shells to have them crack open and spill their contents for immediate consumption.

 

 

This picture shows a boat patiently waiting for tidal floatation.

 

 

Here is the same view just before high tide showing returned lobster boats reloading to head out and set more traps.

 

 

We had our supper overlooking the harbor, watching the tide rapidly fill the bay and the river.

 

Evening colors descended over the harbor and magically illuminated the returning lobster boats.

 

Day 20

Bit of a slow get-away today, necessitated by great conversation around the B&B table.  Two visiting scientists from Germany were on their way to St. Andrews to attend a world conference on Cod Fish (and other fish in that family). At the beginning of the meal one fellow explained that he needed to do some reading about the area so please excuse him if he was reading ‘New Brunswick for Dummies’.  I just smiled to myself knowing that there would be way too many questions directed at him to even think about reading. Soon we were well into a discussion involving global warming, Cod Fish stocks, Berlin wall collapse, smoking, German tourism in northern Saskatchewan and biking around Europe.  A couple from the U.S., in an animated discussion with the owner’s of the B&B, sat at another table. It turned out to be a delightful morning as we all ate our French Toast adorned with cream cheese and smothered with strawberry sauce and whipped cream.  Ho Hummmm.

 

Today’s goal was to explore the Bay of Fundy starting at St. Matins and heading to the Fundy Trail.  We started out on our bikes but soon realized we would enjoy it more on foot as parts of the trail were covered in tree roots and very steep.  

 

 

As we biked and hiked along the trail, unbelievable vistas kept appearing around every corner.   On this thanksgiving weekend it is not hard to come up with a truly long list of wonderful things we have to be thankful for in this peaceful, bountiful, stunningly beautiful country.

 

 

 

Day 19

My friend Mel told us we must go to the Fredericton Farmer’s Market.  Our first stop this morning confirmed the wisdom of his advice.  This market is a sight to behold with both inside and outside portions.

 

 

It was impossible to see everything due to the crowds of people and the number of vendors. Crafts, breads, beautiful local produce, meats in all shapes and sizes, juice bars, wine, coffee, cheese, Samosas, food vendors …all were represented many times over.

 

We succumbed to the siren call of a lobster roll and confirmed that lobster is a highly overrated, expensive meal.

 

After the market we headed out for our next stop in St. John at another B&B. We took the slow route along the river and enjoyed another drive through beautiful fall colors.  Note the Farmer’s Market pears in the window.

 

We stopped at a local quilt show in Upper Gagetown to view the hundreds of hours of designing, cutting, sewing and quilting represented by the beautiful work of the local quilters.

 

We arrived at ‘The Earl of Leister’ B&B, in time to do a bit of exploring.  The buildings are delightfully old, on great hillsides and many have scars that show their age.

 

The Emerald Princess cruise ship was in port and dominated the harbor. We hung around and watched as this massive boat deftly slipped sideways, swung end for end with the apparent ease of a well handled canoe and headed out to another port.