PEI and Halifax

Hi Everyone,

Through the past week I've been exploring PEI and Halifax. But more importantly Jenn has arrived in Halifax to join me on the final leg to St. John's!

Before heading to PEI I stopped in Moncton. The downtown was filled with patios and good food. I stopped for dinner in one of many breweries to have blueberry beer and seafood!

From Moncton I headed along Northumberland Strait to the Confederation Bridge. You can't bike across it, but there was a free shuttle which deposited me in a tourist town right beside a beautiful red sandy beach! It's quite surprising that the sand on the New Brunswick and the PEI sides of the strait is so different.

Confederation Bridge spans the 14km across Northumberland Strait.

Yay, province number 8!

Along with Irish Cobbler potatoes and Anne of Green Gables, PEI is the home of Cows Ice Cream ... mmm!

I took a couple days to explore Charlottetown and the North coast of the island. True to what I've heard, everyone was super friendly. If I wasn't riding I was talking to someone, and there was great music all over the city. To top it off, the hostel served fresh banana bread in the morning! I should note that I didn't get a chance to visit Cavendish or do any other "Anne" related tourism.

Province House, where John A. Macdonald and George Cartier successfully pitched the idea of a united Canada to the maritime provinces in 1864.

There were great beaches all around PEI. This is PEI National Park, with the famous dunes visible in the background.

View from the ferry as it leaves Wood Islands.

From PEI I took the ferry to Nova Scotia and rode to Halifax to meet Jenn. We assembled her bike and explored Halifax and some of the surrounding area for a couple days. Halifax has a great feel to it: history, food, and friendliness. Amoung other things we visited Pier 21, where 1 million immigrants arrived in Canada between 1920 and 1970. Also, we were able to catch up with Rachel, who finished her cross Canada trip about a week earlier.

Only one more of these signs left!

This nifty little pipe saved me after I had run out of water about 40km from town on a very hot day.

Halifax harbour.

Tidepools and the Atlantic Ocean in Dover.

We went for our first swim in the Atlantic here at Peggy's Cove. The famous lighthouse (and hundreds of tourists) in the background.

Now we are riding towards Sydney to take the ferry to Newfoundland. Hurricane Bill is supposed to hit this region tomorrow night, so we've chosen a route along the North side of Nova Scotia and will have to hunker down and wait it out.

Reunited!

Cheers,
Dave