Partying on P.E.I.
There was no heads up for this trip, because it was a little impulsively planned about a month ago, but I just got back (hopped off the plane 5 hours ago) from spending a fantastic week with Doug on Prince Edward Island in Canada – and I even came home with a tan!
That’s right, it didn’t rain the entire time I was there – only the first few days, but we got to the beach twice woo hoo – with 800kms of beaches you’d hope I’d find somewhere to swim! I satisfied my need for a swim in the ocean, at least until August, and we also had a beach party with about 30 people and a massive bonfire and we camped overnight on the sand. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and I had brought Pimms – fruity goodness! Doug and I set off a heap of fireworks which half deafened us – Tyler said we looked hilarious diving and ducking for cover each time we lit the noisy low-to-the-ground ones, but it was a team effort with the wind whipping around. Luckily we packed up and got away just before a big storm set in the next morning.
Camping on the beach had to be my highlight, but we also indulged in a lot of great live music. July 1st is Canada Day, and so there was a lot going on – The Festival of Lights was a three-day event on the pier-front which drew 14,000 people each night and then there was the StreetFest which went over two nights. I loved it, I’ve never seen and enjoyed so much live music before, and yeah it was my first official festival – ever! Andrew ended up getting all these free passes to a pre-concert warm-up to kick off the festival, and it was VIP entry only. I passed on the free beer, but the concert was held in this empty building on the docks and the music just vibrated through my chest – they featured The Trews, a Canadian band, and the next night we went to see Our Lady of Peace (Canadian) and Hinder (American). They performed in the park, and it had been raining earlier so it was mud everywhere – I’m discovering it’s the only way to enjoy a festival.
This was the first year they ran Streetfest, and there were a few small hitches but it was a good night – I met some of Doug’s friends, Shannon, Jen, Melissa, and we all had a dance. They shut it down at 1am because the liquor inspectors turned up and found there were double the amount of people who were allowed (closer to 2000 than 1000) to be in the area for safety sake. Actually, on the way home we ran into another Jen, who was a bit drunk, and everyone was standing around talking. When I put my two cents in (in other words opened my mouth and the noticeable Aussie accent came out) Jen gaped, took a step backwards and goes “WHERE are you FROM???” hehe it was pretty funny!
Doug took me to see Anne: The Musical, which is Canada’s longest running musical since 1965. It’s a nice play and is true to the story; there’s a song about everything from kindred spirits to ice cream and dresses with puffed sleeves. The set was bright and colourful, and of course you can’t forget about the handsome Gilbert Blythe. I actually bought a bottle of raspberry cordial from the Anne shop, which is just fizzy red lemonade but red food dye does send me ga-ga, and some chocolate creams, and went and sat on the grass by the pier. Doug also drove us up to Cavendish where Green Gables is set in the National Park, and you can walk through the Haunted Wood and Lover’s Lane. It was one of my dreams come true, ever since I read Anne of Green Gables for the first time I told myself one day I’m going to make it to PEI to see what it’s like, and it truly is beautiful – the whole island gives you all the scope for imagination in the world!
Cavendish is a big tourist spot, not only with Green Gables and the village of Avonlea, but a few other small theme parks, where Doug, Tyler and I went go-karting around this figure eight track. Not only was the gas pedal on the wrong side, but there’s no power steering and I literally had to put a lot of effort into steadying the wheel from side to side. I didn’t crash, but I did go like a bat out of hell and it was kinda scary in parts. I had to dodge a few other crashes though. Beforehand we had got Beavertails for lunch. They’re pastries that are deep-fried and then smothered with anything from apple and cinnamon to chocolate and banana. Mmm. What a sin.
We had some nice nights out: Steph, Andrew, Doug and I all went to dinner at the Olde Mill, where Steph works. It’s a pretty place overlooking a lake, and it’s fine dining, so Steph chose the seating and the wine and kept our server on his feet 🙂 Doug and I went out to The Dunes, which is where his housemate Hannah works. It’s this awesome art gallery where you can also sit down and have a nice meal. They sell all the pieces on display, and there’s everything from jewellery to paintings and huge pieces of wood sanded down into seats and coffee tables. Our waiter said the meal would take a half hour to cook, so he invited us to take our drinks and go for a walk around the gallery and he’d come get us when it was ready! It was a beautiful place and you get to sit overlooking the garden.
Canada has some amazing food – their current fad is sweet potato fries mmm, but the island is very well known for its lobsters, that’s right Mum, I could’ve even boxed one up at the airport and brought it back with me! But I did indulge in Peake’s lobster special overlooking the harbour with Jana and Doug, sitting there ripping the poor thing apart and enjoying every last bit. I also tried some traditional Acadian food, rapure, which is a baked casserole of grated potato and pork fat and salt, very yum, and French meat pie, which was delish! (Acadians are 17th century French colonists who settled around this area of Canada.)
Everything is written in English and French, which was kinda strange in what I’ve always seen as a country that seems so influenced by both England and America. It was nice to see these little things that make Canada stand out as a place of its own. Oh, and when I say everything, things like posters for the Festival of Lights, cereal boxes, there’s even a great movie we watched called Bon Cop Bad Cop, which is literally half English/half French.
Doug did a lot of driving – P.E.I. has the most roadkill I’ve ever seen anywhere, mostly consisting of skunks, so it’s not a good idea to run over them again if you want to keep your nose! We went up to Summerside, which is where Doug grew up and where his family still lives, so we popped in to say hi, and I got the town tour. I was reading through this little book of PEI facts at the bookstore and it had a list of traits you have if you’re an islander – things like you think nothing that the post office has one slot for Island mail and another for Everywhere Else, you learned to drive a tractor before a car, any drive longer than an hour is too long, you can’t go down the street without running into someone you know hehe there were some funny ones in there!
And I can’t forget the fireworks for Canada Day on July 1st! They were down on the water, on a huge barge, right after the last Festival of Lights concert and before the streetfest night kicked off. We were hanging out in Patricia’s backyard with a bunch of friends, enjoying the cool change after a warm day, and we walked down to the pier when it got dark. Everyone sung the Canadian national anthem, which was really nice to hear – the celebrations are quite big in Charlottetown because it’s the birthplace of Canada where all the leaders met in 1864 to discuss the formation of Canada. The fireworks went for about ten minutes, and they were synchronised to music by the Bond girls – the quartet of electric violinists. It was mad as!
So I’ve touched on a bit of Canada, and it’s definitely given me enough of a taste to start planning that cross-country road trip that I’ve always wanted to do, and maybe even give that visa a go. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something but I had an amazing time and I can’t wait to go back…
Tags: Travel
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