Acadian Coast and PEI

What strikes me most about the Acadian Coast Drive in New Brunswick is the utter lack of the blaring presence of commercialism.  It isn't easy to find a coastal area anywhere that hasn't been swallowed by the lure of tourism.  Not that there aren't tourists here, but one has a feeling that these folks want to share, not spoil this precious land and sea.

I had read that Piping Plovers nest along the beaches of the Gulf of St Lawrence and so I intended to watch them at it.  Of course, donned with a hat, my walking stick and my new binoculars, I could pass for any retired schoolteacher from the US any day!  No one would mistake me for Bo Derrick ever! (You might have to be of a certain age to understand that reference.)

We made several stops along the way that day in search of a boardwalk, a bog, a beach, a provincial park where we might spot wildlife: birds or bears.  We did actually see a bear: dead in the back of a pickup, stretched out and filling completely the bed of that truck.

A small sign directed us to a nature trail which led to a beach which led to a No Trespassing sign and an orange fence blocking our way to the nesting Piping Plovers.  They are endangered. We later found out at less than 60 pairs nest on this beach.  Plovers are interesting little birds, known for placing their eggs in  clusters of seashells on the beach rather than laying them up in the grasses in the dunes which are always off limits to human foot traffic.  From their perspective, the eggs blend in with the broken chards of shells and thus might be overlooked by predators.

 Billed as The Acadian Isles, the Acadian Peninsula stretches northeasterly crossing small, narrow islands and culminating in Miscou Island.  Some along this coast go to the  mainland to work in the mines, but most still fish for a living or work in fisheries. Ports of call are filled with various sizes of fishing trawlers, but few have the look of pleasure boats.

We decided to walk the beach on Miscou. No shells to find, but a warm and sheltered beach away from the wind.  There was a bit of flotsum which I decided to clear away.  The only problem was that there were no receptacles available.  I stuffed everything in the head and hoped that we would find a dumpster that evening. Maybe one or two of those nice fishing floats made their way back to Indiana.  I'm just saying...

Kelley's Beach Boardwalk is part of Kouchibouguac National Park. We were impressed with the intent given to preserve these areas as well as make them available to walkers, birdwatchers, nature lovers and cyclists. It appears that it is the result of a combined effort of local citizens and the provincial and national government.  Our reward for the 2 klm walk was watching this pair of nesting Red-breasted Merganzers and then laughing as a tipsy Common Tern flew head on into the walkway railing. The term "dingbat" comes to mind.

First Nation of this area are the Mi'kmaq. I believe they are related to the Algonquin so familiar in upstate New York. So, many place names if not French are of Mi'kmaq origin. The town of Miramichi is located along one of the longest flowing rivers, renown for its salmon fishing.  The Miramichi River also served as an escape route for Acadians trying to flee the British in the 1700's  We actually stayed in a campground located where many Acadians had been brought  until a solution could be determined. Name of the camp:  The Enclosure.  It wasn't ideal for them or us:  damp and buggy right along the river's edge amidst dense pine.  We could have stayed elsewhere along the Gulf of St Lawrence, but I wanted to experience a part of that history.  Silly girl, I did have air conditioning, but still...  (I did sight my first Snowshoe Rabbit.  So did Missy Moo; didn't think she would ever settle down.)

We didn't hurry even though that is often our tendency. Kouchibouguac National Park encompasses a large tract of sensitive environs along the shores of Northumberland Strait and was a great place for us to experience swamp, bog, marsh, dune and beach.

I must have Trillium on my mind. Here is a little white one we saw as we walked one of the trails in search of a beaver dam. The kind folks in the visitors center reminded us to keep an eye out for bears. Not the first time we had been cautioned and certainly not the last. Bears and moose, bears and moose...just keep repeating.  Didn't find the beaver dam either, but sure did see the damage they do to trees.

Kouchibouguac means "river of long tides".  It is representative of the Maritime Plain Natural Region.

For lunch we drove around one of the small towns nearby. Found a "take-out" restaurant that had seafood.  Clams and scallops, deliciously cooked and served on paper trays and for a mere $46.00. Well, it wasn't Captain D's!  We then spotted a grocery and found out that our credit cards don't work in ATM's in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. No problem; we just had to get our cash from a bank instead of some stand-alone ATM.

Are we there yet? Wasn't I going to write about the PEI? Get on with it!

Prince Edward Island is joined to the mainland only by one bridge and a ferry system.  The Confederation Bridge is long and in places very high.  I suspect that winds funnel steep waves through here with regularity, but the bridge means commerce and tourism to this beautiful island.

Greeting us at the other end of the bridge was Gateway Village, combination tourist bureau with quality souvenir shops and a pricey ice cream store.  I don't care where it is made or if the cows eat only organic grass; no dip of ice cream should cost $4.98!  Other than that, it is a very good place to stop and get insider info and maps.  We were there before July 1 so many of the entertainment venues were not open yet or only available on weekends, so for us no "kitchen parties", Celtic dances or Anne of Green Gables look-alikes.

What was ours to enjoy for two days was a beautiful landscape of farmland and ocean, forest and sea. We split our time in two: first a drive to the west and north and then to the south and east and back. We didn't see it all and, ironically, missed Green Gables altogether.  I'm sure I had been snoozing because we drove right by the turn-off and were a ways down the road before I realized we missed it.

The campground at Crystal Beach overlooks the water.  Near low tide, we watched several clam diggers as they raked or shuffled along picking up clams and putting them into boxes before they made their escape as the tide approached.

We drove the coastal route west and stopped at the West End Lighthouse and Park. The lighthouse is also an inn, a trend that shifts the daily maintenance of a lighthouse to enterpreneurs, leaving only the light to be maintained by the Coast Guard. Walking the beach, I found two rather large razor shells. I've seen smaller versions along the Carolina and Georgia coasts, but none so large and intact.

At the end of this drive is the North Cape Lighthouse and Wind Generator Institute and Interpretative Center.  We learned some things about wind generators that we didn't know or had forgotten. (We have had wind generators on our last two boats. For us, they have been either noisy and work great in a wide variety of winds or quiet and don't do much until the wind picks up to 25 kts and stays there.)
The center illustrates how many households can be served given a particular wind speed. Surprisingly, a lot until the wind gets too strong and the machines have to be shut down. The institute has a variety of generators with different blades in order to test the effectiveness of the machines.

After our tour, we found lunch at a small "take out" in the middle of a commercial harbor front. One seafood platter for the two of us: $12.00.  The nice young woman at the counter told us about her trip across America to Las Vegas for business even though she had never been to the east end of PEI. She was impressed with our being from Indiana and hoped we enjoyed their island.

Brackney Beach and Vacationland RV Park became our destination simply because the tour book said they opened the weekend before.  At least we would have electricity.  This is a large campground with many long-term sites situated along the banks of a winding tributary.

Skirting the large city of Charlottetown on the TransCanadian Highway, we headed to Prim Point Lighthouse and then bought some wine at PEI's only winery, Rosignol Wines.

This day was enjoyable because the skies had cleared and the farmland's many flowers and trees sang with joy in the wind. That's a little overly poetic, but it was a beautiful day.

At Murphy's Beach, small lobster for fishing boats were hurrying back in to unload their catch onto waiting trucks. 

Through Murphy River (the town) and back to Charlottestown on our way to the bridge, we spotted farmers preparing their fields for planting.  Could not figure out whether these folks were picking up rocks, gathering unwanted weeds or dropping seed or potatoes in rows. Notice the red soil.

In a final gesture of friendliness, a white fox crossed our path. Most unusual sight! But time to turn our Roadtrek in the direction of Nova Scotia and the Glooscap Trail...