· Whirlwind tour of P.E.ICharlottetown, Canada · 13th Oct 2008 · Posted by Chris
On the day before leaving Fredericton to fly towards NYC we decided to hook up with Chris & Aimee again and spend a night on Prince Edward Island (P.E.I to the locals). P.E.I is an island off the coast of the Canadian province of New Brunswick.
After attending the post-wedding present opening and brunch session with Beth-Anne, Richard and their respective families we met up with Chris & Aimee so that the road trip could begin. We met them at a place called Cora’s, a chain of restaurants in Canada. They’re famous for building possibly the most massive breakfasts available. Annie & I had already eaten so we unfortunately didn’t get to sample the Cora’s menu ... maybe next time.
The road trip was on. We had a rental car for the trip and considering the distances involved this is definitely the best way to get from place to place if you want to be able to stop along the way to admire the Canadian countryside.
It’s about 3.5 hours drive from F-Ton to P.E.I (listen to us talking like locals) but it’s a very pleasant drive. I think most of the time I was the only one awake as the other 3 are pretty good at falling asleep while they’re being chauffeured around the place. Unfortunately, despite all the warning signs along the way, we didn’t see any moose.
P.E.I is connected to the Canadian mainland by an absolutely huge bridge. At 12.6km long it’s quite surreal driving over water for that long. While you’re on the bridge you can see it curving into the distance – very impressive.
The 12.6km long bridge from NB to P.E.I
When we arrived on the island we figured we’d head straight out to a town called Charlottetown, the biggest of the towns on the island. It’s actually a very pretty place with tree-lined streets, postcard-perfect houses. Being off-season though it was very quiet and we hardly saw a soul during our initial drive around.
Miles and miles of straight, empty roads ...
We managed to find a small B&B (bed & breakfast for the uninitiated) for CDN$65 per night – very reasonable. The whole place is run by a very friendly lady named Barb who made us feel right at home from the very start. The rooms were really nice, the house is immaculate and the breakfast the following morning is something else altogether. There was fresh bread, yoghurt, fresh fruit, cereal, and the best part, freshly-made cinnamon spiral roll things. YUM!!!
For the evening we decided to keep it low-key, not that there’s much choice on P.E.I this time of year. Beth-Anne’s parents have just bought a house on the island actually and we can see why – it’s so peaceful and relaxing there. Anyway, we wandered around for a bit and eventually found a place claiming to have awesome fish n chips. Being 4 Kiwis we had to decide for ourselves and we weren’t disappointed. $5.45 cocktails were good too! Instead of wandering around and see more of Charlottetown we decided to sit in the restaurant and talk the night away so that’s exactly what we did. It was a great way to spend a relaxing evening and the only thing to do afterwards was take a leisurely walk back to our accommodation, play with a very friendly cat along the way and then hit the hay.
On the way back the next day we stopped at a beach near Cavendish – during the summer it’s known as ‘the’ beach spot. It’s got a ton of boardwalks, BBQ areas and sand dunes for people to muck about on. Being almost Canadian winter though it was pretty frickin’ cold while we were there. That didn’t stop us taking plenty of happy snaps though!
It was COLD here
It was only a short trip and the only thing we didn’t like about it was the CDN$41.50 toll to get back over the bridge!
Next stop ... N.Y.C wooooooohoooooooo!!!
After attending the post-wedding present opening and brunch session with Beth-Anne, Richard and their respective families we met up with Chris & Aimee so that the road trip could begin. We met them at a place called Cora’s, a chain of restaurants in Canada. They’re famous for building possibly the most massive breakfasts available. Annie & I had already eaten so we unfortunately didn’t get to sample the Cora’s menu ... maybe next time.
The road trip was on. We had a rental car for the trip and considering the distances involved this is definitely the best way to get from place to place if you want to be able to stop along the way to admire the Canadian countryside.
It’s about 3.5 hours drive from F-Ton to P.E.I (listen to us talking like locals) but it’s a very pleasant drive. I think most of the time I was the only one awake as the other 3 are pretty good at falling asleep while they’re being chauffeured around the place. Unfortunately, despite all the warning signs along the way, we didn’t see any moose.
P.E.I is connected to the Canadian mainland by an absolutely huge bridge. At 12.6km long it’s quite surreal driving over water for that long. While you’re on the bridge you can see it curving into the distance – very impressive.
The 12.6km long bridge from NB to P.E.I
When we arrived on the island we figured we’d head straight out to a town called Charlottetown, the biggest of the towns on the island. It’s actually a very pretty place with tree-lined streets, postcard-perfect houses. Being off-season though it was very quiet and we hardly saw a soul during our initial drive around.
Miles and miles of straight, empty roads ...
We managed to find a small B&B (bed & breakfast for the uninitiated) for CDN$65 per night – very reasonable. The whole place is run by a very friendly lady named Barb who made us feel right at home from the very start. The rooms were really nice, the house is immaculate and the breakfast the following morning is something else altogether. There was fresh bread, yoghurt, fresh fruit, cereal, and the best part, freshly-made cinnamon spiral roll things. YUM!!!
For the evening we decided to keep it low-key, not that there’s much choice on P.E.I this time of year. Beth-Anne’s parents have just bought a house on the island actually and we can see why – it’s so peaceful and relaxing there. Anyway, we wandered around for a bit and eventually found a place claiming to have awesome fish n chips. Being 4 Kiwis we had to decide for ourselves and we weren’t disappointed. $5.45 cocktails were good too! Instead of wandering around and see more of Charlottetown we decided to sit in the restaurant and talk the night away so that’s exactly what we did. It was a great way to spend a relaxing evening and the only thing to do afterwards was take a leisurely walk back to our accommodation, play with a very friendly cat along the way and then hit the hay.
On the way back the next day we stopped at a beach near Cavendish – during the summer it’s known as ‘the’ beach spot. It’s got a ton of boardwalks, BBQ areas and sand dunes for people to muck about on. Being almost Canadian winter though it was pretty frickin’ cold while we were there. That didn’t stop us taking plenty of happy snaps though!
It was COLD here
It was only a short trip and the only thing we didn’t like about it was the CDN$41.50 toll to get back over the bridge!
Next stop ... N.Y.C wooooooohoooooooo!!!
