Girl Meets Canada: Beach Living

The ongoing story of a girl and her van on an epic journey across Canada.

Day 92 (Mon, August 9th)

After a few weeks of lollygagging around Halifax, I decided I needed to leave immediately or stay forever. Since nothing was leaking out of the bottom of my van, I opted for the former, and hit the road, heading north. Check this out and tell me how lucky I am. An old coworker has a family cottage on the coast of Nova Scotia on a lovely little beach that looks out to the distant sands of PEI. This cottage was not currently spoken for, so I got to spend five days there.

Five days of sunny skies, low tides, and ocean that is actually warm enough to swim in without risking hypothermia. BC friends may have a hard time believing this, but I SWEAR IT’S TRUE! The water had just the faintest whisper of a chill, only enough to be totally refreshing — unlike the arctic currents that terrorize the west coast and threaten to freeze anyone foolhardy enough to dip a toe into its icy swells. I swam out about a kilometre from shore in this blissful salt water haven, and then was bawled out by three grandmas sitting on the shore when I returned, who didn’t believe me that even that far out I could still comfortably touch the bottom and was in no danger of being sucked out to sea, what with their being no waves at all.

My time at the cottage was spent very lazily, with lots of walking on the beach, sitting on the beach, staring at the beach, and thinking about the beach. I also bought some steak and kidney pies at a local butcher, my first ever! Very tasty.

Day 96 (Fri, August 13th)

It was hard to say goodbye to my cottage. But considering it wasn’t really, you know, mine, I had to. I decided to sooth my aching heart by seeking out more beaches on PEI. To take the bridge I crossed into New Brunswick, and was able to get the welcome sign that eluded me the first time into the province. So here you go, Bev!

I’ve driven across the Confederation Bridge before, but I didn’t remember it. Now that I’ve seen it again, I have no idea how I can have no memory of my first crossing 12 years ago. It’s 13km, and I spent every one of those marvelling at how freaking cool it is. Especially on a sunny day.

If you’re going to go, you must do it on a sunny day. That’s an order. Because then you get to enjoy the cute coastline of PEI as well.

So, how did I spend my first night on this wonderful island full of beaches and seafood and country drives and fiddle music?

I watched Stallone’s new movie, Expendables.

Why, you ask?

I don’t rightly know, but if I have to I’d guess that it’s because I’m an idiot. An idiot who gets distracted by shiny things and theatre marquees.

Photo Credits

All photos by Sarah Gignac

My cottage beach

New Brunswick Welcome Sign

Confederation Bridge

This article was first published on Raggedy Threads in August 2010.