First stop is a roadside motel near Cornwall.
Sunshiney day of riding - Edmunston NB at a rv park just out of town.
Overnight right on the water at Oak Bay. The tide was out - high tide turned out to be past my bedtime.
Up early for the 1+1/2 hour ferry to Grand Manan island. Campsites at North Head camping are $40 but a cabin (there are only 2) is $52. Would I pay the $12 a night premium? Yes I would.
The island of Grand Manan is 15 km east of Maine and 32 km south of Black's Harbour New Brunswick. The ferry crossing is free but $26.00 to get back (with motorcycle). The main road on the island is Route 776 which runs north-south on the east side of the island - 26 kms of fun road. Circa 1884, Grand Manan was the largest supplier of smoked herring in the world.
The bank has been converted to an extremely good pizza joint (that’s a piano on the deck).
Swallow Tail Lighthouse (one of several on the island) is a short walk from the campground and is a lovely spot at sunrise.
More lighthouses:
Booked a couple days here - it’s very quiet. Friday morning and the fog has rolled in (the foghorn is going full blast) so looks like a slow lazy zero day - short walk to the cafe (the hummus is stupidly garlicky and very yummy). Good books too - biographies of both Neil Young and Stompin’ Tom for borrow.
The Marathon Inn established 1871:
Ferry back and it’s an easy run to Rockwood Park campground which is on a bluff overlooking Saint John - here’s the view from my site.
This is a nice spot - it’s a campground connected to a small lake with walking parhs, restaurant and all mod cons.
The ferry from Saint John to Digby is 2-1/2 hours - very foggy morning.
Kejimkujik national park is about 65 km from Digby down twisty #8 highway - overnight here and then start north to PEI. The only wifi is in the ice cream stand lol. Very nice campsite, but that’s par for the course with national parks.
The ferry from Nova Scotia to PEI takes about 75 minutes - after that you’ll be rollin’ down the highway smilin’ (the spuds are big on the back of Bud's rig). Overnight in Souris where the ferry departs for Les Iles.
The ferry from PEI to les Iles de la Madeleine takes about 5 hours to cover the 120 km straight north to the archipeligo. The bar was doing brisk business on the Madeleine II.
The ferry docks at Cap-Aux-Meules and the Parc de Gros-Cap campground in close by - it takes up the entirety of a peninsula so they are steep drops to the ocean all way round - it’s quite a spot.
There are six islands connected by long thin sand dunes plus 2 others making up Les Iles de la Madeleine. The climate is temperate - not too hot and not too cold. Can be very windy tho.
The main road is #199 and is about 85 kms in total - it’s a blast to ride.
Saint-Pierre in La Vernière church from 1876 is the second largest wooden church in North America:
The Sainte-Madeleine church dates from 1969:
Morning Jimmy’s.
The Domaine du Vieux Convent was built in 1915, the only fieldstone building on the islands. It’s now a boutique hotel.
Incredible place - fantastic food, culture, roads & weather - 100% charming.
Next stop Charlottetown and the big bridge from PEI then on to Edmundston. Some pics from the ferry boats:
Edmundston to Cornwall to Toronto and done. The entire 401 stretch is dreadfully boring.