On 6 June we left Brule Point and headed back to the TCT in Tatamagouche. We spotted the nice Tipperary Café and stopped for a coffee. We could have never imagined we’d have our 15 minutes of fame in there! We started chatting with Joanna, an enthusiastic and charming woman who happened to be restocking the café with Snowflake Knitwear pieces for the IWK Children’s Hospital. She later introduced us to her mum, two amateur photographers stepped in as well and had a chat and took some pictures of us… and even a lady working partially as a local journalist asked about the two bicycles on the street. We’ll share the outcome as soon as we have some feedback from them.

 

 

We finally got back to the TCT and followed the trail ‘down’ to Oxford, where we stopped for the day. We hesitated whether to follow the trail up to Pugwash but in the end we decided to forget about the coast for a bit. The trail was very nice at the beginning; the outskirts of Tatamagouche were beautiful and the trail was extremely well marked.

 

 

However, at some point the trail started to get a bit softer and gradually muddier –most likely due to the rain over the previous two nights. Then two buggies and two ATV’s overtook us, and we started to understand they’re were going to have a different kind of fun than ours. We let them pass and one of the buggies stopped to have a quick chat with us and we realised they’re two couples of retired fellas ‘going out for a ride’! The driver was also surprised by the fact we –coming from abroad– knew about that particular trail!

 

And from that moment on, things started ‘sliding down’ –let’s put it that way. The scattered puddles on the nice gravel trail disappeared shortly after and led to a ‘mudfest’ rutted by the big wheels of buggies and ATVs… so much cleaning the day before for nothing 😑.

 

 

We managed to get through all muddy patches with as much dexterity and dignity as possible –some of them felt like riding on butter– and we cycled across one of the most beautiful areas we’d seen so far in the trail: Pineo Lake, where the trail was again gravel and snowmobilers even have a shed.

 

 

However, the last part of the trail had a final surprise for us. About two kilometres before getting into Oxford, a bear appeared just in the middle of the trail! Since it was quite far away, Pak could take some pictures of it just before he started walking backwards. It stayed for a few seconds there and then got lost in the forest.

 

 

Then Tere arrived and before deciding on anything a guy on his motocross bike tried to overtake us. We stopped him and explained the situation. The first thing he did was to thank us and then he suggested we would follow him close and he would start revving the engine to make some noise. So that’s what we did… and we never saw the bear again –but Tere had never ridden the bike on a flat stretch as fast as she did at that moment! 😅

 

On 7 June we got back to the TCT outside Oxford and set wheels to Baie Verte and Port Elgin. It was a sunny morning, we had took a nice little road that led us to the trail, which had some houses here and there, and then we entered an area of ‘active logging’. We realised soon enough we had taken a wrong turn and came back easily to the trail… to get back into a new kind of mudfest!

 

 

The main problem with that part of the trail was it seemed more intended for hiking rather than cycle touring –at least not with our bicycles Anacleta and FU.LA.NA. Only the first part was manageable but then the trail started being too steep and soft to cycle –at the same time it became rockier. We therefore had to start pushing the bicycles on the steep climbs up and to be extremely careful on the descents.

 

 

After some rough patches and a lot of sweating, we decided to leave the TCT and take the road towards Amherst, so we could go directly to Loch Lomond campground at Blair Lake. We finally arrived there when the sun was starting to set –and mosquitoes started to rise! Exhausted as we were, we didn’t notice about that at the beginning. However, it didn’t take us long to realise we were about to get eaten alive if we didn’t manage to get some shelter soon enough –the alternative was obviously to start some disco dancing while pitching the tent!

 

On June 8, with several mosquito souvenirs from the night before and that very same morning, we started cycling with the idea to get to Dorchester through a set of secondary roads and some highway stretches. However, we unfortunately had again some strong head and side winds… until we reached the ‘sweet 16’. Route 16 is a secondary leg of the Trans-Canada Highway and the last section in New Brunswick that isn’t 4 lanes. However, its shoulders are indeed as wide as a lane.

 

So there we were, on route 16 and having to turn left to wave it goodbye. Besides, the temperature was fine, it wasn’t too sunny and we finally had the wind at our back! It was too painful to turn left and to risk again strong winds against us –specially when we knew what we had on that road. Therefore, we decided to change plans, continue on the 16 and set sail to PEI (Prince Edward Island).

 

 

We literally flew on that road. Even if we had some areas were the shoulder almost disappeared and we faced a couple of steep climbs, we managed to cover 60 km in about 2,5 hours -with a short stop for a sandwich lunch in Port Elgin. We stopped at the Cape Jourimain Nature Centre and called for the shuttle that brings pedestrians and cyclists to the other side of the Confederation Bridge in PEI.

 

And that’s how we met Mario, the shuttle driver. He was smiling and looking at the bikes and our panniers when he arrived but only because, funny enough, he had the ‘big bus’ on the other side in PEI and with the ‘little’ truck he had at the centre he couldn’t give us a lift. So he had to cross the bridge (almost 13 km) to bring the shuttle back and then give us the lift to the island. Despite all that hassle, he invited us to take our cameras to make some pictures or videos while crossing. And he also gave us good tips and a couple of pins. What a nice guy!

 

 

We’ve been in PEI since Friday. We stayed at the Jellystone campground (yep, it’s got even a big Yogi bear) just outside Borden-Carleton, which has a direct exit to the Confederation Trail. On Saturday 10 June we started on the trail but about a kilometre later we had to go back to the campground. Tere had lost her backup rearview mirror and wanted to check whether it fell at some point while were there. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find it but someone may find it in the coming days and leave it at the office (fingers crossed! 🤞🏻).

 

 

The Confederation Trail is extremely nice, very well marked and has plenty of amenities: toilets/washrooms, benches, shelters, etc. But it also has one major caveat: the ground is soft. I guess one could also feel it without any baggage but Anacleta and FU.LA.NA. can’t move the same way as in other types of soil.

 

 

After several kilometres we made the huge mistake of getting out of the trail to give a try on the secondary roads of the island. By doing that we realised what several people had told us about the island was completely untrue: if there is something PEI is not is FLAT! We found ourselves in a couple of roads with several stretches of steep slopes of about 7% that led to a flat of about 30 metres and then ended into a steeper slope of 12%! Therefore, after such a torture we rejoined the trail at the first chance we had.

 

 

We finally managed to get to Charlottetown. It was a long day and some quite tough 70 km for a ride that was supposed to be fun! –the 101 trail slogan reads, ‘Ohhh what fun it is to ride!!’

 

 

Since we’d had a couple of pretty intense days, we decided to stay in Charlottetown for a couple of resting days. That will allow us not only to recover but also prepare the routes for the following days in the island. And also to enjoy some of the local food!

 

’til next time! Thanks again for following us. Don’t be shy and add some comments or ask some questions. We might not be able to answer them quickly but we’ll try to do so as soon as we can!