East Coast 2026:Day 9: Island Time

Our day started off with a crisp ocean breeze. Got up and went out for a walk down to the wharf (again).

Post feeding we started to close up the fort and get the van ready for travel. Fresh water full. Black and grey tanks drained without incident. Double, triple check and away we go. Fortunately we did not have to turn around and fix any omissions.

Our goal was to travel over to PEI. Specifically, I wanted to go to North Rustico to take the bike path over to Cavendish. But first, 45 minutes of winding Nova Scotia and New Brunswick back roads and then the big obstacle. The Bridge. The Confederation Bridge. The longest bridge in Canada. You may already know that I don’t really like heights nor edges. The bridge had both. Before we got to it we had the “are we really doing this”. And obviously we did. I should have had a towel up front to deal with the sweaty palms (mom’s spaghetti). At the end of the bridge we treated ourself at Cow’s (a decision I later regretted).

Oh no! I should have filled up the gas tank at $1.95 / litre in NewBrunswick. Gas is $2.15 / litre here on PEI. Oops. Maybe we can get safely off the island before we have to fill up.

Did you know that the National Park here on PEI closes on Sept 21? Can’t camp there and they don’t collect fees to access the trails.

We parked in North Rustico at the very end of the park. I had read that dogs were allowed on the beach at this end as it was just beyond the park boundary. Not true. I got all prepped for a bike ride. Brompton unfolded, tires pumped up, HRM on, Garmin gear on and communicating, two bottles of water and a snickers. Check the weather and confirm the steady 27kmph headwinds will persist. Yes they will, but the headwinds only impact was on the way to Cavendish, not the way back. That’s a tailwind, my friends. There is a belief that you never forget a headwind as long as it is impacting you, but tailwinds are forgotten almost immediately. I did not forget either of them on this ride.

While I was gone Mrs Milddogs took Amy for a walk (not on the beach) and then did some solo beach combing and general van relaxing.

With all of the Internet information out there, you might think I paid attention to the elevation gain of this trail. I did not. It follows the coast, how hilly can it be? Hilly. It can be hilly. In fact, the most elevation gain I have had on a bike ride. Bad news was that hill climbs and headwinds slowed me down. Good news was that tailwinds and hill descents gave me a top speed of 45.8kmph.

Fear not, it was a great ride filled with great scenery. No regrets. Yup, I did swear at a few e-bikes as they gleefully jaunted past uttering their secret little e-bike phrases like “why is that fellow pedaling?”. Cheers little Brompton you did well and took me on another adventure.

Post ride we plotted a course to Richard’s Seafood for some seafood. It was about a 25 minute drive from North Rustico but well worth it. Mrs Milddogs had a lobster roll and I had classic Fish and Chips. All was great. Mrs Milddogs couldn’t believe how many lobster claws (shelled, of course) were in her lobster roll. She stopped counting at 8. The fries were really good too, if not a little salty. Well done Richard’s.

Time to find a place to sleep. We had looked at a bunch of Boondocking spots but I wanted something easy so we opted for a smaller private campground. It’s a tad wet here so we switched spots for fear of getting stuck. We are really only here to sleep. My guess is that by morning we will wish we had found a boondocking spot. Note that boondocks spots are fairly rare here in PEI. I might not even do a shower review.

On the way to Tranquility Campground we drove through Cavendish Beach. Did you know that Mrs Milddogs lived for the first three years of her life in the same manse that Lucy Maud Montgomery lived in? True fact. We drove by it today but were too late to hit the gift shop / museum. Last time we were there about 34 years ago, one of the workers recognized Mrs Milddogs as she knew her family when they lived here. That was a funny moment when she said “Mrs Milddogs, is that you?”. In fairness, I did mention that she used to live there.

We are still undecided as to what awaits for us tomorrow. Will we start a GoFundMe to help pay for some gas to get off the island? Do we need another lobster roll? Will we stop at any of the 3700 gift shops we passed along the way today. Stay tuned.

Peace and love to all. Many thanks to all of the people that reached out today. Cake time (thanks to the North Rustico Clover Farms Food Market).