PEI Tour - Day 3

Tuesday, July 1, 2014 - Norway - 59 km

Another beautiful but hot day awaited us. Today we left the Confederation trail entirely and took the coast road, which meant gentle rolling hills and ocean views. We also had a tail wind so flew along here fairly quickly. In Alberton we stopped at a small diner for danishes and coffee and then continued northward, pushing on towards the cape, as today was "summit day". At about 11:00 we reached North Cape and found a fairly substantial wind farm, a lighthouse that Katja declared too small, and a gift shop. We browsed but did not buy. The restaurant was not open until noon, and the menu did not list any prices, which is always worrisome, so we ate our own food in a shady spot on the lawn after which we explored along the beach and mud cliffs of the cape. Returning to the bikes had us now pushing into the wind as we made our way south along the western coast. It was still early, but we wanted to camp along the shoreline, so we started looking. Before long we saw a small dirt road that went all the way out to the water. We took it and found a spot along the beach with no shelter, but a nice log to sit on, and a patch of moss to set the tent up in, so we decided to stay. A few people have driven down to collect rocks or walk dogs, but everyone is fairly friendly. The afternoon was spent with much difficulty trying to keep cool and shaded. Swimming was out of the question as the ocean is teaming with massive purple jellyfish with long tentacles that look fairly unfriendly. At first we covered ourselves with towels which worked for a time, and then I set the tent up so we could lie down. It was bloody hot in there, so the strategy was just to keep idle by reading and waiting for the sun to slowly cross the sky. I would never have figured that being next to the ocean on PEI would be so hot! We are also dry camped here so water is a concern. Anyway, the sun should be setting, giving us a lovely sunset we hope, in about four hours and things should cool off then.

We cooked supper at 18:00 as it finally cooled off a bit, but it seemed that the entire population of Norway was coming to the beach to fetch rocks. One guy even brought a front end loader and started scooping up the beach into a trailler and another pickup truck. ATV's zipped around and loads of other pickup trucks came down to drive on the beach, either just driving around, or to fill up with rocks. After we had eaten, about ten cars and trucks all showed up and a large group of folk of all ages built up a fire. At this point we gave up on having a peaceful beach to ourselves, so we wandered over to say hello and join the party. We spent the rest of the evening with these people who were a very friendly extended family who were on the beach as a Canada Day tradition to roast hot dogs with the kids. They graciously fed us some yummy brownies and a few glasses of juice which was appreciated by our slightly dehydrated bodies. Some fireworks were set off as darkness set in, after which we said goodnight as they all packed out too, leaving three driftwood fires ablaze behind. The mosquitos were fierce as we returned to the tent, but at least we think there will be no more beach traffic tonight!

Another beautiful day in the neighbourhood!