Day 76: Green Bay to Sundridge, Nova Scotia

Yesterday, after eating a bowl of oatmeal, I got everything ready and said my goodbyes to Mike and Paul.

This place is one of several paradises I’ve been to. I remember on my 2018 bicycle tour across the US, I stayed at Dave and Belinda’s house in Dolores, Colorado, where they had a great view of the mountains in the backyard. More recently, in Douglastown, Nadine and Jean-Marc’s house overlooked the water and the hills. I guess I appreciate a house with a good view.

What is paradise anyway? I always think that earth is paradise, and it’s also Heaven. I’ve been very lucky to have experienced many good things in life. But there are bad actors here who are trying to make earth more like hell. I suppose paradise is different for each person. For me, it’s a place with a great view and with good people.

I left Mike and Paul’s paradise around 6:15 AM, the earliest departure time of my trip so far. It was cloudy during my ride to Charlottetown, but it didn’t rain.

I explored downtown a bit, it’s not very big. Most of the shops were closed since I arrived so early, before 8 AM. I walked to Confederation Landing before turning back to find a breakfast restaurant.

After having a breakfast sandwich and a cappuccino at Receiver Cafe and Bistro, I got on the road again. This time, I’m cycling all the way to Wood Islands without taking a break. I couldn’t take a break anyway since it started to rain and I had to keep going.

There were hills after hills and farms after farms. I bet the scenery would have been much better if it didn’t rain. But it is what it is.

After 48 miles of riding from Green Bay, I reached Wood Islands ferry terminal and bought my ticket for CA$23 for a bicycle, or $16.81 USD. I arrived so early that I could have gotten on the 11:45 AM ferry, but I decided to take the 1:30 PM one like I originally planned.

I bought a chicken sandwich with fries at Treena's Takeout, which is a food place that’s right by the terminal. I ate my meal inside the terminal building since it was so wet out.

I boarded the 1:30 PM ferry and the whole trip was about 75 minutes from Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island, to Caribou, Nova Scotia. There was a musician who played the fiddle and the guitar for the passengers. It was a great performance and a little girl was dancing the whole time. I also had a second lunch consisted of a pulled pork sandwich on the ferry.

When I got off the ferry the rain clouds cleared and I saw the blue sky for the first time of the day. I rode another 8 miles or so to get to my Warmshowers host’s house in Sundridge.

I was greeted by Oliver, the son of Annika. He showed me the basement where I’ll be staying and gave me a tour of the 18 acre farm where they keep chickens, ducks, horses, and rabbits.

After taking a shower, I had Oliver take a photo of my back where I had over 100 mosquito bites at least. It was all from camping. No wonder I felt so itchy a couple of nights ago. 

I met Annika and her daughter Ruby when they came back home. Annika works as a carpenter and has her own business.

We didn’t talk that much since everyone was busy doing things on the farm.

I went to sleep around 8 PM and woke up before 6 AM. I plan to cycle back toward Pictou to a Tim Hortons before going to a campground south of Truro.

Leaving paradise

Downtown Charlottetown

Love locks on Confederation Landing

Sculpture on Confederation Landing

Cargo ship

Riding on Highway 1 across the Hillsborough River

Rural road

More farms

Wood Islands ferry terminal

On the ferry

Made it to Nova Scotia

Mosquito bites on my back. The most I've ever had!

Rabbits on the farm

Annika, my Warmshowers host, and her dog Scout