Stanley Campground, Prince Edward Island

   Yesterday, my dad told me that we would be leaving Cape Breton today and head towards Prince Edward Island. I was excited and disappointed at the same time, since Cape Breton was truly magnificent and I enjoyed every single minute of it (except for the time we spent on the Branch Pond Trail).

By 8:30am, we had left Ingonish. Cabot Trail continued to climb the mountainous and rugged highlands and we were forced to follow at a slow pace of 20kms/hr (that’s how steep Cabot Trail had become!). Naturally, after reaching the peak of the highlands, Cabot Trail began to descend back towards the ground. When we reached the bottom, we were greeted by a 180° turn with a maximum speed limit of 10kms/hr!

By 10:00am, we exited Cabot Trail and Cape Breton Highlands National Park (goodbye!). We drove for five hours before arriving at Pictou, Nova Scotia at 3:25pm. Along the way, our car was almost crushed by a truck when my dad decided to pass a slow vehicle in front of us on Highway 106 (my family almost had a heart attack)!  We reached Pictou ten minutes late and missed the 3:15pm PEI ferry, so for the next twenty minutes, my family played cards inside our van.

  

Vehicles driving into the PEI Ferry

  At 3:45pm, the ferry arrived! After five more minutes of waiting, vehicles were allowed to drive onto the ferry. The ferry was large enough for over a hundred vehicles to park inside it (on two separate floors too!). Inside the ferry, vehicles were parked in single-file lines; one after another and as you can imagine, the parking lot was crowded.

  

With forty minutes to kill, we exited the parking lot and climbed up to the deck to enjoy the fresh air (and view). As we were crossing the Northhumberland Strait, I sighted a porpoise in the distance, but sadly, I was too far away to take a good photo.

After buying six ice cream cones (one for each member of my family), the ship’s captain announced that we would be arriving at PEI in fifteen minutes and that passengers should return to their vehicles. We hastily finished our ice cream cones and climbed back down into the parking lot ruled by utter chaos and pandemonium. People were scrambling all over the place looking for their vehicles/family members. Luckily, we reached our van with relative ease.


"Welcome to Prince Edward Island!"

After docking (4:30pm), the ferry’s gates opened, and luckily, our line was allowed to drive off the ferry first! We sped towards Highway 1 and were welcomed by a large sign (to the left). After driving on Highway 1 for an hour (with farms and orchards on both sides of the Highway), we reached Charlottetown, but sadly, we did not pass through the province’s capital. Instead, we switched onto Highway 2 and drove for another hour before we reached the Stanley campground.

  

After unpacking with great difficulties (the campsite was small and on the side of a hill) we were attacked by hungry mosquitoes. Most of our anti-mosquito equipment saw plenty of action in the twenty minutes it took for us to set our tents up and by 7:30, the mosquitoes had left! We had a quick dinner (instant noodles) and by 8:30, I was ready to enter the tent, however, my mom made me wash the dishes for the first time this trip! After an hour of dish washing, I entered our tent and fell asleep at 9:30pm...