Back to civilization (sort of)

After cleaning the condo a bit and making sure that all of our recycling/compost was properly sorted, we headed out to the eastern end of the island. On the way, we drove on PEI routes 1, 2, 3, and 4. It was mostly more of the same view: fields of potatoes, hay, etc.




These are the "main" highways on the island, meaning that they're 2-lane roads, often passing zones, and anywhere from 55 to 70 mph speed limits. They're often under construction, in poor shape, or severely patched and lumpy. In some places, it seems that they ran out of (imported) asphalt/gravel, and the side roads aren't even paved.

An hour or so into the scenic coastal drive, we stopped at another random scenic overlook (and lighthouse).



It seems that the parks department hasn't quite gotten to this site yet, or perhaps the guardrails have just fallen over the edge as a few more victims of erosion. Either way, the only attempt made at keeping people from plunging to their deaths is this sporadic deployment of signs that depict cars in various states of freefall over the cliff.




An hour or so down the road from the lighthouse, we stopped at the Rossignol Winery. They weren't offering any tours, but they did let all four of us taste about 10 different wines and liqueurs. I insisted on buying a bottle of the maple wine, even though nobody else really liked it.




Just past the winery, we stopped at another lighthouse at the southernmost point of the island, right next to the ferry terminal.



After walking around for a bit and taking a hurried tour of the lighthouse, we mosied over to the ferry for a ride to Nova Scotia.







Upon landing in Picou, NS, we had a relatively uneventful ride down to Halifax (well, Dartmouth really). We stopped briefly in Truro to get a map at the visitor center and such. It's hard to believe that we didn't have a GPS the last time we were up here. I don't specifically recall getting lost a lot, but that certainly doesn't mean that it didn't happen.

We went down to the Dartmouth waterfront for dinner, at the Celtic Corner. It feels a bit odd to be back in a "real" city, with buildings taller than 10 stories, and more than a few thousand people scattered here and there. On the ride here from the NS side of the ferry, it was odd to not see any potato fields for the first time in nearly a week. Words cannot convey how empty and deserted almost all of PEI feels. According to Wikipedia, there are just about as many people in Halifax as on the entire Prince Edward Island.

Tomorrow, we'll tour around Halifax for most of the day, then head back to New Brunsick at some point (to St. John for a night).

I don't have all of the pictures offloaded from cameras yet, so they'll probably go up tomorrow.