Day 44

Starting to feel like I'm in the home stretch.

Rode out of Charlottetown and caught the ferry over to Nova Scotia. Sure enough, the ride out was just as nice as the ride in. I didn't make it too far after that, but not biggie as I only have 300km to cover to make it to the ferry by Friday (my reservation). From there, it's a 16 hour ride to Newfoundland, and then 130km to st johns, followed by a few days of relaxing and the. A flight home on the 29th.

I've sent out a few warmshowers/couchsurfing requests, so hopefully I'll be able to stay with a few more interesting individuals before all is said and done. For tonight: I'm back in a park and feeling quite at home. I think I'm going to miss this lifestyle.

Day 43

Two day post.

Made it to PEI! The rest of the ride through NB was excellent as always, and I started to get a little excited when I first saw Confederation bridge. It's so long! Sadly I couldn't ride it, but the shuttle was as free as it was prompt and I was on the island before I knew it.

PEI is gorgeous. I was able to keep on back roads all the way along, and still managed to meet friendly people every hour or so. One was a France-French gentleman who showered accolades on me for my adventurous spirit, and another was a local who hooked up the best route to Charlottetown. The ride in has to have been one of the nicest of the trip: beautiful empty roads with gentle slopes passing by the oldest farms ever as well as a few little fishing communities here and there. Loved it.

As I was getting close to Charlottetown, I spotted some folks on a bridge up ahead getting ready to jo. Stoked. Hopped off the bike and stripped down quick as I could do go and join them. I ended up jumping with two guys visiting from the states, one of whom was clearly overcoming a dual fear of heights/water in the process (gun-show in the pic). After I brief but exhilaration fall, I hit the water. Salt water. Right. So much for camping tonight- shower just became top priority. Onwards to charlottetown.

After stopping to get groceries before heading for the hostel, an older man comes to check out my bike as I'm pounding back croissants and asks if I have a place for the night. Upon hearing I'm planning to go the hostel, he asks if I'd prefer to join him and his wife at their home instead. Obviously a yes.

I ended up staying two nights with Bryson and Joan, who were two of the nicest people I have met so far. They had done tandem touring earlier in life, and had always been picking up stray cyclists to come stay when they found them. It was really nice to be able to sit and just chat with such welcoming people for two days. I also got te chance to explore Charlottetown, which was great. Ended up spending quality time posted up in a coffee shop catching up on the blog before ambling around taking everything in. Hung out with a vagrant busker for a while and swapped stories, then head back to the MacDonalds for a lovely dinner and a sleep in a real bed. PEI is exceeding my expectations, which were high.

Day 42

After having a delicious breakfast with Paul, I set back out in uncertain weather. I'm mostly riding along the coast, and the clouds are grey but the water is lovely. Plenty of farms and rolling fields along the way- makes for really scenic riding.

No particularly exciting happenings today, just cruised my way down to Cap Pele, where I cooked dinner then set up shop next to the tourist info building. When I woke up I popped in to use the facilities, and they asks if I was camping outside and when I replied that I was they asked all sorts of questions about where I was headed. Niceness level: Maritimer.

Day 41

Today made for a very well-rounded day of touring. After waking up to clearer weather in my gazebo, I proceeded to go wash up in the (unused) children's waterpark area, using the jets as a makeshift shower. After drying off and having breakfast, I set off towards Paul's house. I connected with Paul on warmshowers, and he offered to put me up for the night. The ride went very smoothly with a few short breaks to wait out isolated rain showers. After zipping along and getting within five or so kilometers, disaster struck! My second flat tire. And of course right on cue the heavens open and it begins to pour. Laughing at my misfortune, I remove my panniers and he to work on changing my tube. Just as I'm finishing up, another helpful local pulls over, presumably to check on me. "Are you James?". Oh snap, it's Paul come to rescue me on intuition alone. I pile my stuff in the car and we drive the last leg to his place.

After the all-important shower and laundry, Paul cooks a delicious dinner which we eat outside looking out over the woods. He is Acadian and his english matches my french, so our conversation flows freely between the two. As we munch on a huge bowl of fresh picked wild blueberries, he tells me about his upcoming tour about PEI, and we compare gear and discuss bikes. I turn in pretty early and set up outside on the deck under cover, falling asleep to the sound of rain falling.

Day 40

New Brunswick is rad.

The people are so nice! I had several people pull over to make sure I ok and to offer route advice when I was stopped on the side of the road. Also everyone still seems to speak French; the Acadian population is huge. As I rolled along there were French flags with a yellow star on the everywhere, on houses, painted on telephone poles, on cars, tshirts, everywhere. Turns out it was Acadia day, that was the Acadian flag, and everyone was out celebrating. I passed through numerous street parties and generally had a wonderful time.

As I approached Bathurst the weather went downhill quickly, and I ended up outdoing the previous nights camping spot by several magnitudes. Just threw down the sleeping pad in a gazebo in the middle of a park downtown. The only person I saw was a guy walking his dog in the morning, and a few drunk teens at night. Great success.

Day 39

New Brunswick!

After overshooting the turn off to Campbellton and only finding out when I ran in to some fellow BC tourers who laughed while pointing me in the right direction, I decided today would be. a short day. After doubling back and crossing the bridge I made it about 20km before it started to pour. I hunkered down in a tiny park to cook dinner under cover, and when the rain didn't let up decided to just set up behind the bathrooms. Tons of people saw me and several waved, but no one seemed to care. I have a feeling the Maritimes are going to make for some pretty blatant camping.

In the morning the people who lived across the street to say hi.

Pictured: melted my spoon, and discrete camping spot.

Day 38

Today marks my final day in Quebec. The ride today reminded me of riding through Ontario; amazing forest and little lakes an rivers and very little in between. There were finally some hills as well, a few of which serving as reminders that the riding out here has been pretty easy.

I caught up to Seb for lunch at a casse-croute, then split up for good. Probably going to be doing the rest of the ride alone, and kind of looking forward to it now. It's nice to just be with your thoughts and to be able to stop/start as the mood strikes. Need to find a new book though- my poor phone is not an acceptable substitute.

Passed by dozens of fishermen floating the river before settling on a spot for the night: ended up at the edge of a telus outpost. Despite my proximity, I still did not have reception. Why telus, why.

Pictured: a huge blurry coyote