Two Sore Backs

I was hell bent on getting to Charlottetown for Canada Day. What escaped my memory was that PEI refused to join Canada on that date, instead waiting until 1873 as they liked their ties to Britain. Charlottetown hosted the first confederation conference in 1864. And that gives Charlottetown the distinction of being the birthplace of confederation. Not withstanding, many indigenous people were here centuries before any French, British, Scottish, Irish …… arrived. Fortunately there is a better telling of historic facts today.

But first we had two last stops on the New Brunswick side. First one was in Shediac to see the giant lobster. (And the drive down the Acadian coast from Kouchibouguac thru Bouctouche to Shediac was lovely too.)

Next we stopped at Cape Jourimain National Wildlife Area to take some photos of the Confederation Bridge. The bridge is so long that you don’t get a decent photo while driving. The wildlife area has trails and is an interesting stop in its own right. As I said at the top, the goal was to get to Charlottetown’s Canada Day celebrations so we did not take time out for a trail walk. Our loss.

Once across the bridge we stopped to charge and have a celebratory beer in Borden-Carleton. PEI is our penultimate province to visit. Only Nfld is left on our list. The bridge crossing takes about 10 minutes and you don’t see too much until you are close to the PEI side.

We had about an hour’s drive to PEI national park. The drive was beautiful – gentle farmland – rolling hills …. It was a warm day and that beer made me sleepy. So excited to see PEI national park (3rd of 8 national parks on this trip) and I can’t keep my eyes open as we enter the park. OMG. It is beautiful despite the devastation of Hurricane Fiona. We set up on the North side of the island at Stanhope campground (dunes, beach and ocean) and then head into Charlottetown. YAY!!!!

The party was downtown in Victoria Park. We encountered the food trucks first – two orders of fried clams and fries please!! We made our way over to the stage area and were treated to some great music. 6 Hearts were performing upbeat traditional music (Acadian and Celtic); they had the audience eating out of their palms of their hands.

We also listened to DeeDee Austin – she’s all of 17 years old. She is an award winning indigenous singer songwriter. She had a full band with her and has so much talent – she’s been writing music since she was 11. Her lyrics reflect her indigenous circumstances and are very honest.

We didn’t stay around for the fireworks but caught the sunset back at PEI National Park. As we got comfortable in our sleeping bags we could hear the Charlottetown fireworks in the background. Another perfect day.