Prince Edward Island - Part 1 - Aug 9 to 16, 2024

I just spent the last week traveling by bus from Belize to Monterrey Mexico to spend a few days there and caught a flight the night before to Charlottetown, PEI to visit my family.

August 9
Home in Canada: I barely slept last night. I was physically exhausted from a week of traveling by bus and flying and not eating, but I was too wired for sleep. My brother picked me up at the airport at 1 AM and now I was spending the day at his place in Morell. All my worldly possessions I have in Canada are being stored in his barn. I don’t have much but I spent the day organizing and going through everything to see what I might want to bring back to Belize with me when I return. In the evening he brought me to my parents in Fortune Bridge.

Backyard views in Fortune Bridge

August 10
Home in Canada: First thing, I visited my aunt in the hospital who I stayed with in Kingston, ON, during Covid-19 during my bike ride. She moved to PEI three months after I got back on the road. She was my motivation to visit Canada so suddenly. In the afternoon my dad brought me to Charlottetown to purchase a new laptop that I will have to come back to Charlottetown to pick up.

Islander’s homes

August 11
Home in Canada: I realized this morning when I woke up that I have no idea what the weather is like outside. In Belize, I have never not known the weather the second I wake up. Sleeping in an insulated house is really strange for me now. I went to church with my aunt and we both saw her future grave site. I have been inspired to build a church on my farm in Belize. Perhaps after I finish building the next cabana, I recently started I will build a tiny church on my farm. I walked home from church and was caught off guard when I exclaimed to myself that all is good in the world. The weather was perfect so in the afternoon I took a 26 km (returned) bike ride to Souris as far as their historic lighthouse.

My aunt’s church

My walk home

August 12
Home in Canada: At 1 PM Irene MacIsaac stopped by to pick me up. Irene was the person who hosted me during a wicked winter windstorm when I biked into Charlottetown in December 2019 during my bike tour. She was also very instrumental in changing my attitude during my bike ride about being open to all locals that offered hosting and other generosities. Irene had a huge influence on me. We went to lunch at North Lake and also visited the East Point Lighthouse. I saw some seals there. It was super nice to reconnect. This afternoon my uncle and aunt from Zelienople, PA arrived to visit my aunt.

North Lake marina at the ocean

East Point Lighthouse

Truly indebted to Irene MacIssac

August 13
Home in Canada: I started setting my alarm for 6 AM. I need to get back into my usual routine of going to bed at 9:30 PM and getting up at 6:00 AM. Since leaving Belize my routine has been completely messed up. First thing I went for a 6 km (returned) walk to Back Beach. It was rather chilly this morning, but I did see a fox.

My walk to Back Beach

The laptop that I purchased the other day wasn’t ready for pick up and I just walked 6 km, and then after a late breakfast, there was a thunder shower. So, I took a nap. Upon waking I was going to take a bike ride, but a notification came through about my laptop being ready for pick up and my mother determined now was best to pick it up. So, we took a trip to Charlottetown. (My driver’s license expired 2 years ago so I am at the mercy of others to drive me around.) The rest of the evening was spent playing on my new laptop. Overall, the weather was quite nice today.

Souris boardwalk at low tide

August 14
Home in Canada: I biked 13 km into Souris to visit with my aunt for about two hours and with her encouragement I went around the corner to Service Canada to see if I had any options with my expired driver’s license. They strongly recommended I get my Belize driver’s license as my expired driver’s license was from Ontario and not PEI. I thought that made a lot of sense. After breakfast my father brought me back to Souris and I cut the grass at the kid’s drop-in center they run. This evening I purchased my flight back to Belize for August 22.

My parents purchased a closed church and operate a youth drop-in center a night a week for most of the year

On the way to Souris

August 15
Home in Canada: This morning I took a 20 km bike ride. In the afternoon I went with my mom to her garden at one of their other properties in Kingsboro and took a walk to the ocean. In the evening my mom took me out in their kayaks. It was my first time in a kayak, and I am interested in a kayak for myself as I want to explore more rivers in Belize like my recently finished 300 km canoe trip of the Belize River. I feel like a kayak would be the best way to do that. I found an osprey nest with two ospreys and saw a seal. Also, in the evening my brother Jason dropped off my old bike so I would have a more comfortable bike to ride for the remainder of my time in PEI. It was the touring bike that I used to bike 6,500 km in Northern and Western Canada in 2011. I really miss bike touring.

Kingsboro by the ocean

August 16
Home in Canada: First thing, I pumped up my bike tires on my old bike. Other than my front derailleur not shifting to my smallest and largest front rings my bike is good to go. I biked to Souris to visit my aunt. First, I stopped at her house to go through her books. She said I could have any of her books about trees. I found her Robert Bateman books and she said I could have them as well. Robert Bateman was her Grade 9 geography teacher in Burlington, ON. After a visit with her at the hospital, I returned home to lunch. In the afternoon I finished writing my blogs for the Mexico part of this trip. Part 1 and Part 2 and this post. In the evening my uncle and aunt took my parents and me to the same restaurant Irene brought me to in North Lake.