Maritime Roadtrip - Miramachi, New Brunswick to Johnson Shores, PEI

 We had an excellent breakfast at the Days Inn (how often can you say that) and were on the road by 8:30 traveling through New Brunswick on a highway, lined with trees, moose signs and overtaken by trucks, in the rain. We had decided to just boogy down to the PEI bridge and then take our time in PEI.

There was some construction on Confederation Bridge but we sailed on through. Nothing to see due to high edge and low Prius as well as misty conditions.

 Opened May 31, 1997, the 12.9-kilometre (8.0 mi) bridge is Canada's longest bridge^[3] and the world's longest bridge over ice-covered water.^{[4] From Wikipedia}

We drove straight across the island to get to the North Shore through rolling agricultural land with pastel houses

and recently tilled red soil.

We don't know if this was just manure on the field or perhaps sea weed from the shore but the birds, including the Bald Eagles were very excited about it.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

The churches look a little different here.

We got through Cavendish as fast as possible with its water parks and rental cottages with green gables, most of which were closed.

Out to the wind swept empty beaches. Nic had to try the water ..... cold!

Red cliffs, red rocks, red sand.

The rain had stopped as we arrived in PEI but there was a cool breeze off the water and occasional drizzle.

Nic was in search of beaches and crashing waves. I was in search of lighthouses.

Lobster boats

were a bonus.

Oyster farming. Not appealing to either of us but we stopped at a family restaurant, full of travelers and locals, and had fresh Atlantic scallops.

We saw a sandbar with 10 herons

fishing

watched over by a Bald Eagle. We also saw Osprey, in nests or flying with prey in their talons.

At the next lighthouse

there was a group of workers from Parks Canada setting up a fence to keep people off the dunes. Trying to get them to regenerate after Hurricane Fiona last September.

As we drove along we saw the horrendous damage inflicted by Fiona...great swaths of trees had been snapped off half way up or totally uprooted. Some looked like a giant had just stepped on them, others had fallen like dominoes, piles of brush and logs as people continue to clean up. Houses with tarps on their roofs and others unscathed with trees fallen around them.

 During Hurricane Fiona all of PEI was without power for at least a week. The coast and the forests were severely damaged and the cleanup continues.

Just before we reached our next accommodation we received a phone call from Dave (Co-owner) who warned that the road in was muddy and offered to come out and fetch us.

We took a look at it and decided that we would take him up on his offer rather than risk the Prius getting stuck.

We loaded up his Subaru and he took us in on an adjacent logging road that was not in any better shape.

Our room,

our view,

such a lovely place.

Then off for a walk along the cliffs.

and rocks.

Looking back at the Inn.

Dave and Mel were excellent hosts, making us feel right at home along with their dog

and cat.

For dinner we started with a salad, then braised beef on pollenta

and finished with butter tart and ice cream.

We sat and talked with Mel (originally from Port Stanley), Dave (from London) and the only other guest, with wine as

the sun went down. We heard all about how they rode out Fiona with 200km/hr winds, the windows bowing in and water seeping in everywhere. Turns out that we were the first guests of their 2023 season.