Woke to sunrise over the sea with the tide at its lowest point again and the sky beautifully clear. Ian and I ate our breakfast in the room overlooking the sea before leaving early but not before a short time taking a few more pictures.
Into the van for the drive to Hopewell Rocks so that we could be there as the park opened and so it gave us the longest time on the beach before the tide came in. A short walk through woods goes down to steps which themselves go down to the beach and which incorporate platforms overlooking the first rock stacks. They are truly astonishing, of red shale with bright green trees on top which looked stunning against the blue sky.
Some of the stacks stand alone and others are still being formed from the cliffs so are just vertical clefts in the rock. The beach is inevitably reddish, pebbly and a bit muddy. It was filling up with people as we came away and made our way back up to the visitor centre.
The visitor facilities that we have come across have been of a very high standard and this one had quite a classy shop along with restaurant.
Mid-morning, we were back in the van for the drive to Prince Edward Island which included going through Moncton. The scenery was much more agricultural with less forest, so we had good views of farmland and the lovely clapboard houses, all well-spaced with neat, clipped gardens none of which have much in the way of boundaries. Unlike at home, so many residents have managed to keep their gardens looking spruce and colourful this late into the year. Quite a number also have little displays incorporating pumpkins on their doorsteps and porches.
Finally, in the far distance along a straight road, the Confederation Bridge heaved itself up into the air. This is the longest (8 miles) bridge over iced water and is staggering. It doesn't appear to be over a shipping lane but us quite high in places to allow ships to pass underneath. We had been told that it incorporates lobster and bird habitat. The low PEI stretched out in both directions.
Just over the bridge we stopped at the Gateway visitor centre where we had a picnic lunch still in sunshine.
Some if us wanted to take up the offer of a tour round a historic house in Summerside, which meant we had quite a lot of time to kill. Chadwick let us loose in the shops which were all pretty tacky, so that was not great.
Summerside is a town (city) of about 15,000 residents, wher one Wanda Wyatt lived in some comfort in a house built in the 1890s. Next door was a larger house where her grandparents had lived. She bequeathed the two, plus three others to the city for them to maintain as of historic interest but also to encourage study of history and the arts. One of the houses was the MacNaught History Centre, named after a former owner.
The tour was very good and showed that the house had developed over time - Miss Wyatt had been a contemporary of my grandmother and had been a student of law and a traveller. At the end we were offered glasses of rhubarb cordial and dishes of ice cream with rhubarb compote, so delicious but a major sugar hit. The others had to wait for us to come out, ready for the drive to the hotel.
Bay View Motel was lovely with rooms opening onto a long covered porch with wooden chairs outside. The view was out over an inlet with an oyster farm.
We had opted for dinner in a huge lobster restaurant where the price included chowder, the main protein, an eat-all-you-can salad bar, plus soft drinks, dessert and coffee. Ian and I opted to decline the main protein and shared a lemon-meringue pie, which was plenty.
Back to the hotel with the stars shining much more visibly than at home.
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