Over the Hill and Far Away……….

In a pleasant parallel with last year’s trip we seem to be in the middle of a heatwave here. We had two nights booked at the motel here, mainly so that Mark could consume twice his bodyweight in shellfish and crustaceans at the Blue Mussel Cafe, but we couldn’t have picked a better  spot to enjoy the hot weather. Today we travelled a grand total of 12 miles, to and from the beach at Cavendish.

The day began late (for me at least) and I was woken to find Mark standing over me in full biking gear with his bucket and spade in his hand raring to head for the beach. He muttered something about the weather being lovely and wanting to feel the sun caressing his helmet…. I therefore leapt out of bed and onto the bike and within seconds we were on our way.

We arrived at Cavendish not long after and stopped for a beverage at the “Beavertails” stand which was run by two wizened ancients. We were greeted with a cheery “Have you biked here?” to which we replied that in fact, contrary to appearances,  we just like the feel of leather next to our skin on a hot day and the helmets are simply an accessory for carrying cans of beer in. The elderly male then busied himself with trying to make a pot of tea; a task he undertook at the speed of a particularly dilatory glacier. Meanwhile the female half of the double-act tried to engage us in conversation, an enterprise that foundered on a combination of her, and our, deafness, mutually incomprehensible accents and general cross-cultural confusion.

On the way to the beach we passed “Green Gables” but resisted the the urge to visit it on the basis that Mark already had already been there, I knew nothing about it and it also sounded rather boring.

Cavendish beach has everything you could hope for in a beach i.e. it had sand and a copious quantity of sea (which I actually ventured into). The sea was cold but not impossibly so and I seemed to suffer only hypothermia and minor nerve damage as a result.

After that, it was off to the Blue Mussel again for a light lunch of oysters and crab cakes, washed down with copious quantities of water. Yes, you read that correctly – water – as we had the bikes with us. We are planning to return this evening, having cadged a lift from the motel-owner’s niece for the second night running. People here are very generous and we also had an offer of a lift from the waitress at the restaurant. The motel is only about a mile away from the Blue Mussel but unfortunately there is a large body of water in between and the walk round that would make it about 3 miles. 

I write this after a further visit to the Blue Mussel during which we consumed yet more oysters and another lobster or two along with a bottle of wine or so to wash it down. We are now back at the Pines Motel where Mark is impressing everyone with recounting the merits of the Harley Davidson Heritage Softail and I am assuming the persona of the enigmatic man in black on the Indian Vintage – or was that the vintage man on the Black Indian?

Toodle pip, or Parp Parp as Toad would say – more tomorrow. 

The day began with a bit of a disappointment. We had secretly hoped for a traditional breakfast of bear testicles with a side of lobster claws but had to settle for a very agreeable omelette instead. But let me express our thanks to Margo and Walt for your generous hospitality and please rest assured that we have recommended you to every biker that we have met on the way. Many of them have said that they will be calling in on you with the rest of their gangs when they are passing through! And if you noticed any nasty smells lingering about the place – that was Mark,  not me! 

We set off about 9.30am  with promises to meet up again on Sunday and headed off north to Prince Edward Island. It was a perfect riding day with temperatures around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The Indian happily grunted away at about 2500 revs (for the less technically minded, that counts as about tickover speed on a Japanese bike) and we made fairly good time .

The road was mainly dual carriageway and the only concern was that,  as New Brunswick is a bilingual province, up to 50% of the drivers might be Frenchmen who were passing us at 80mph  whilst simultaneously swigging from a bottle of wine and eating a large baguette. And then of course there were the ever-present moose……

However we survived, and after about 250 miles or so, of which we saw little but trees and perhaps more Dutch barns than are strictly necessary even in an agricultural environment, we arrived at the Confederation Bridge. This stretches for 8 miles across the Northumberland Strait onto Prince Edward Island and therefore by bridge standards is rather long. We crossed the bridge and as we did so the temperature dropped about 10 degrees F. It’s a toll bridge but we only have to pay when, or if, we leave and as PEI is so lovely the issue may never arise.

After another 25 miles we checked in at the Pines Motel in Rustico at about 4pm, We then got a ride from the owner’s niece to the Blue Mussel cafe where we ate huge amounts of seafood, including oysters, mussels, mackerel and scallops along with copious quantities of beer and wine. We also watched the sun going down over the bay in front of us and contemplated on the meaning of life. It really is an idyllic spot but would probably  not suit anyone with an allergy to lobsters. 

We are  now feeling generally quite pleased with ourselves and will be turning in fairly soon. We are staying here tomorrow so there is a strong possibility that further large amounts of seafood may be consumed,

Just a short blog tonight as there is limited internet connection and there are yet more lobsters to be eaten shortly.
We are staying with Mark’s lovely friends Margo and Walter who are very kindly putting us up for the night and supplying beer and lobsters.
It’s currently very rainy over here and Mark’s tassels were looking distinctly droopy this morning. Mark was particularly alarmed to look out first thing and see someone swimming past our hotel window! Then he remembered our room looked out on the swimming pool!I also discovered to my cost that leather seats do seem to absorb rather a lot of water which they then generously transfer back as you ride along.
We sat out the rain for as long as possible then set off around mid-day. It was cloudy all the way as we travelled up through the picturesque villages of Maine with their white, clapboard houses. There were also rather a lot of trees but fortunately the moose kept themselves to themselves today and didn’t put in an appearance. It was a very cold ride and we were both suffering a bit by the time we reached the Canadian border about 100 miles after setting off. Crossing over was easy enough although it was the first time an immigration officer has commented on an entry stamp in my passport that is in Arabic script.
From the border it was only 25 miles or so to Walter and Margo’s place where we were greeted by 6 lobsters waving feebly at us from a cool-box on the front step. I am now going off to eat some of them.

Highway 9 – Bangor to the Canadian border