Friday, Aug 21
Temperature: High 73°F / Low 61°F
Conditions: Sunny with light breeze
Distance Hitchhiked: 70.9 miles
Adventure Length: 5hrs 13minutes
Experience of the Day
Today was our one full day for exploration on the islands and I knew what I wanted to do: take a drive out across the islands and then around to the end of Grand-Entree.
We had looked for ways to get around but we had never found anything and not speaking French made it a little more difficult. As it ended up we had no form of transportation, which turned out to be just fine.
Just before 8:30am, I made my way out to the road. Therese had opted for a day of relaxation, so I was on my own. I put my thumb out and waited. A few minutes later a guy pulls over. Hmmmm. Tattoos. A lot of tattoos. All death and skulls. He was headed to the airport area; I indicated I was going elsewhere. I'm sure he was kind, but I declined the ride.
Thumb out, an old guy in a red pickup stops. He didn't speak much English, but it sounded like he was doing some kind of conduit work. I rode with him about 10 minutes and he dropped me on Ile du Havre Aux Maisons. There was an RV campground up the road and I hoped maybe someone would give me a ride. I walked a bit, thumb out. Tourists don't pick up hitchhikers. But another local guy picked me up. A softer version of the first person who stopped, so I got in. The car smelled faintly of pot; he chatted a bit and was happy to practice his English. He dropped me just before the bridge to Ile aux Loops as he was off to pick blueberries.
I walked a bit, no thumb out, just taking in the scenery. A delivery guy in a CTMA van pulls over; not many cars at this point, so I hopped in. He liked to talk, so I used my Google Translate to visit with him. Of course we swerved back and forth across the highway as he told me about the islands, his route, and the salt mine we passed along the way. His last stop was a garage in Grosse-Île-Nord. You couldn't ever really tell there was a business there, except that there was a small sign. There was also a red car and a lady getting ready to leave; she looked like the Scottish and Irish people on PEI. I asked if she was heading to Grand Entree - not quite, but she was happy to take me. I had arrived at the English speaking part of the islands - a very tiny area - and very Irish. As it turns out, Jane’s son owns the garage and she does the books. She told me about living there and caring for her mom for 19 years prior to her passing two years ago. She pointed out her house and took me to Old-Harry where there was a museum and Grandma's Bakery. The tiny bakery was open but the museum was closed for the season. Not enough tourists at this point(!). I looked around the outdoor museum and then walked a bit to La Maison du Potier, which had lovely pottery decorated with the small colorful houses that dotted the island. I bought a small bookmark and continued down the road to Musée Un peuple de la mer - A People of the Sea Museum which is actually in an old church. I wasn't sure if it was open, but an old guy was nearby and he took me inside and explained that it is always open. It was a sad place; everyone pictured had drowned. Shipwrecks and immigrant disasters on the “coffin ships." So many people died trying to get here from Ireland on the boats...the traffickers wanted to optimize profits by cramming as many people as possible onto the boat. If you survived the crossing, you were tough with strong genetics. Across the road was Seacow Bay, which is where walruses were hunted until there were no more. The blubber was used as train oil.
I was getting close to my final destination; I had walked to Grande-Entrée when Tony pulled over and offered a ride. He looked to be, or was, an avid cycler and appeared to be close to 100. The car rattled and shook, but the brakes worked, so all was good. He dropped me 3km later just down from the road from the Seal Center. I walked up the hill, past a few campers, paid my fee and learned a bit about the types of seals that live in this area. It was a nice little museum, although the movie was in French only, so I missed out on a couple things. The museum was housed adjacent to motel/restaurant; however the museum clerk referred me to the restaurant at the harbor, so I walked down the hill and caught one last ride with a fisherman. He spoke no English, but he knew of the restaurant, Buvette de la sirène, so when I said sirène, he dropped me off out front. I had made it to the end of the island...35 miles from the hostel and what felt like a world away.
Three fish tacos, a walk around the harbor to look at the boats and read the interpretive panels featuring the town history and boat captains, and my thumb was out again. A nice man picked me up and indicated he was only going 1km but it positioned me at the exact right place and the perfect time.
Thumb up, a few tourists passed me by, but a small car stopped and inside was the nicest couple who lived nearby. They were headed to Cap-aux-Meules and were happy to take me all the way back. We settled in and he told me about the salt mine (he had worked there until retirement six years ago) and I explained what I was doing. I showed his wife my PEI map and used Google Translate. Between Google and his limited English, we had a nice time. I needed to go to the IGA Co-op, thinking I would catch another ride, but they kindly told me to go in and they would wait for me! Before I knew it, we were at the hostel, Auberge Paradis Bleu. I thanked them profusely and we said our goodbyes.
Back at the hostel, we had a relaxing afternoon, washed some clothes, repacked and prepared for our early morning departure. We tried to find a ride to the ferry, but there seemed to be one just taxi and the other guests who were going to be on our ferry were very worried about missing it and didn't have room for us in their car So we planned for an early rising the next morning.
It was a great day!
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with black beans and coffee
Lunch: Fish tacos
Dinner: Soup, biscuit, popcorn, orange juice
Lodging: Auberge Paradis Bleu
