Cabot Beach, PEI- North Rustico, PEI (44km)

This was a rough stretch. A very hilly and gusty 44 km along the northern PEI coast. I had no idea PEI was home to so many god damn hills. You think it would be flat. There were no places to eat for almost the whole way, and I was running low on water too.

I eventually came a across a pretty traditional lobster joint; The New London Seafood Restaurant. A tad expensive for my liking but a good experience all in all. Definitely gave me the fuel to carry forward on what was a very windy,hilly, and rainy day.

I stopped in Cavendish on the way to Blaines house in N.Rustico. The beach was awesome and is a must see for any tourist swinging through. The weather cleared up and I wish I could have spent two more sunny days there. I felt like I was in Mexico or something. This beach just killed the many Canadian stereotypes I had of the east coast.

 

Anyways, it was about 2pm, and Blaine called me asking where I was. I planned to be at his place around dinner time. He said he would pick me just down the road. Long story short, Blaine was a real cool guy and is a handy man. He does contracting work including painting, interlocking, and builds houses from scratch (including his own). His side business is in the fire wood market. He orders huge logs to his lot, and then using a bulldozer and chainsaws, manages to cut them up into 16 inch pieces, and delivers quads of them all over the island. He does very well, and needed some big help the few days I was there. A lot of large rush orders to prepare and deliver. With no time to waste, I was working at “the wood” as he called it, for the next two days. Cutting and chucking the wood and everything in between. Labour of this type never felt so good. This had to be one of the coolest “jobs” id ever done. I felt like a champion wielding a gas powered chainsaw for the first time.

Blaine was at the wood most of the time, but otherwise it was Sheldon and I sawing the wood and loading the bulldozer.

I could go on and on about how interesting the two of these guys were. But I won’t. I’ll let the documentary film (in process) speak those words. I met him through http://www.CouchSurfing.org

Blaine treated me, along with one of his girlfriends at a local restaurant; By the Bay. They specialize in steak and fresh seafood. Most people were overweight by a long shot, so you know the customers couldn’t get enough! Sort of had a flashback to Houston, TX

A storm came in after my second day at the wood. Man was I happy not to be cycling. Instead I went out the windy peer, picked up some oysters, and long story short I ended up on Blaines brother’s tuna fishing boat. We went about an hour into the middle of the ocean to bring in his fishing nets so they would not get swept away in the storm. We dropped the lines in because there was a 600lb Bluefin Tuna below us. We didn’t catch him, but we caught a bunch of Mackerel (bait for tuna).. but I ate them when we got home! A couple Cod, a lobster, a sharp weird looking fish, and a couple Mackerel came in on the nets. All food for the birds. It was not a lucky haul in the brothers opinions.

Third day I met Blaines close family. His sister owns a family farm with a cow and chickens.

All in all. These three days were some of the most exciting and interesting of the trip so far. Not hard to believe I wanted to stay for another week or so… But I wasn’t going to make it Newfoundland sitting on my ass. Time to say goodbye.

Day 16-17: Moncton, NB – Shediac, NB – Albany, PEI (120km)

The weather was clearing up quite nicely and even though Moncton was quite cool, I needed to keep on moving. The sun was out full throttle.

This stretch was one of the most efficient of the trip yet. I had rested for almost 5 days; my muscles had time to recoup.

I left Moncton via the “old Shediac Road” It was quite smooth with a small shoulder and many rolling hills. A nice ride all in all. Shediac was a nice town, home to a large lobster monument. The city claims to be the “lobster capital of the world”. With the seaside-lobster- statue so large, I did not challenge the claim. I decided to have lunch in town and put some loonies and toonies into the local economy.

Norm’s Pizza really did the trick. Cheap and delicious.

As soon as I started following the coastline toward Cap Pele I could smell the fresh seawater. It was energizing and motivating to say the least. I was so far from home but felt right in place. The winds picked up increasingly toward the bridge.

On the “scenic” route 950 I struggled with about 5-10km of heavy construction. Deep and heavy pebbles littered the road. I guess they were in the process of repaving the stretch. This was the third time during the trip where I wish I had a cross country bike with thick knobby tires.

I am not the type of guy to turn back though even if I had wiped out. There were only close calls, thankfully. Thinking it was the trailer that gave me more stability.

The Confederation Bridge was one of the most outstanding bridges I’d ever seen. I think it is now the 2nd longest bridge in the world. It takes about 15 minutes to get across by car and is 13km long.

 

Unfortunately it is illegal to cycle across because of the high winds and traffic. They offer a free shuttle service on call from the information centre.

At the shuttle I randomly met up with some other touring cyclists. The third encounter with cyclists on the trip. They were from Montreal, but had taken the train with their bicycles from Montreal to Moncton. They cycled from Moncton to the bridge where I had bumped into them. They were on their honeymoon and were going to tour PEI.

We would have cycled together on the island, but I got the impression the husband didn’t want me tagging along on their honeymoon! I respectively informed them I was headed to the North Eastern coast and couldn’t join.

When we got to the island I met up with Ben who was also a cyclist. He and his girlfriend were my hosts that night not far from where the shuttle drops you off in Borden Carleton, PEI.  We connected months before on Couchsurfing.org. He rode to the bridge and was able to pick me out from the small crowd getting out of the shuttle bus.

We rode back to their summer home in Albany, PEI which was 10km away. That was a touch 10km in the high coastal winds.

The house was beautiful and the view was amazing. The whole family was into healthy eating. Lot’s of local greens. I was able to indulge in some alcoholic treats like Potato Vodka and the Lighting Moonshine from the area.

The lighting had me burning and spinning at the same time. It would be very similar to the island moonshine developed during prohibition.

The whole family was over and we all got along great. 

 

I was their first “couchsurfer” they’ve hosted. The couple, Ben and Kat,  are in New Zealand right now, surfing on couches and waves.

Wish I could have stayed another night.

From can collecting to moving companies, I am making dough and achieving goals.

It has been quite awhile since i’ve been able to check out and leave feedback on all the regular posts. I’m sorry!I figure now that I have a moment, I can do a summary post on all that is going on in my life, specifically the events that have kept me from accessing a computer, and posting.

Like i’ve mentioned a few times, I am on a mission. A mission to hussle hard, and make money for my wacky cycling trip to Newfoundland this summer. The mission consists of 3 objectives which are to be completed before mid June, all of the funding for these objectives will be from many sources, but not my full time job I start on May 1.                          

• - #1. Accumlate $600 for new bike parts (complete April5th)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  – #2. Accumulate $800 for Nikon  D5100 and accessories                                                                                                                                                                                                                 - #3. Accumulate $350-$500 for spending spending money on tour (plus some supplies)

I was at $300 after selling old parts in March, plus $100 for my xbox I sold a month ago. At this point, I was trying to figure out how to get the extra $200.

It only made sense to do my part in collecting cans on st.patricks day, where 100,000′s of beer consumers litter the streets with there cans and bottles which you can bring into some grocery stores and recieve a refund of 5 to 20 cents per can.

I am a pretty motivated person to say the least, and that Sunday was no exception. I had left my friends at 9 30am, with a bag full of bags, and started to collect into Monday morning. I was totally surprised at how generous, friendly, and understanding people were all day. This could have been because of the abnormally nice weather, but either way, it meant less garbage cans I had to rummage through.

I met all sorts of people, got super drunk with all the beer and whiskey that was given to me, and was quickly submerged into this canning culture. All the other collectors were super friendly, and we shared many laughs and stories. To say the least, I was homeless for the day, and I had a blast. I made $95 but was so sore and hungover late Monday, I could hardly walk. (will upload some pictures shortly)— Even months after the event, i continue to collect. It has become a habit!

 

Some of my friends suggested that I should have left the collecting to the homeless, and/or the ”canners” as I quickly learned on the hunt- and that it was unethical. I see where there coming from, but I believe that statement to be contradictory. I am helping to clean the environment and to be honest, st.patricks day provides more than enough cans for all those willing to break there back picking yhem up for 10 hours.

The other $100 was obtained from collecting more cans and bottles the following weeks(left behind in our apartment building) and I just sent the order out for the parts. I will post a pic of my new bike when I get it built next week.

Now, the next objective is to gather about  $800. I have 0$ right now. The $800 is for a Nikon d5100, and external mic (at 50%), and an SD card. So since this was such a significant amount I figured i needed a stronger source of income besides can collecting. I found a moving company, run by a young guy here in Montreal. Interestingly, the company is powered by bicylces.

 Of course, people move the bicycles and I thought I would be a great candiadate. I have done 4 jobs so far, and the next is on Saturday. Yes, i’ll say it again, we move stuff with bikes and trailers. The trailers have a cap. at 600lb and we can move a load like that up hills, down hills, and all over the island.

After loading up the trailers at the first location, we then bike our loads to the new location (usally a new apartment or house), unstrap everthing, and load it into the new place.

 I have moved loads of 500lb, usually consisting of fridges, stoves, washer and dryer, matresses, and heavy shelving units. Let me tell you, I never thought I’d work so hard in my life.. just thinking about it makes me sore.. It is fun though, and also allows me to train effectivley for long distance loaded bike tours. Oh, and you can sometimes keep the stuff people want to throw away. Like this great BBQ that was being thrown out today.

The companies website is www.myette.ca

If you want moving done on the island of Montreal, please give Julien a call and let him know Mac sent you!

That being said, I have done about $300 worth of work for the company. A painting I am working on for a friend will be sold for $250, selling old school books for about $100 and a TV at $50, and of course more cans at around $50. This will bring the funds up to about $800. And there you go, objective #2 almost complete

Sorry for the ramble, I am just getting excited!

 

Radiohead’s version of Neil Young’s “On the Beach”

I think that this is such an epic,-and at the same time-, dark song.

Radiohead does a great job here keeping it a bit original and matches Neil’s off-tone pitch..

Oh, here are some pics from the Pacific Coast of Mexico

Yeah, we don’t really travel like tourists.. well except for the pictures.