Charlottetown | Accommodations: HI Charlottetown Backpacker’s Inn, 60 Hillsborough St, Charlottetown, PE
I wake at 5:30 after a very good sleep! I flop around, happily lazy without the need to get the day started early. I am the first in the hostel to get out of bed, and in doing so I enjoy a full, rejuvenating shower. I then write for close to an hour in the kitchen, enjoying tea and a cool breeze entering from the backyard-facing window. As hostel guests slowly wake over the course of the morning I enter into and exit out of numerous interesting conversations. A few of the guests who had read the entry I wrote in the hostel guestbook produced some interesting questions, garnering further conversations about what I am doing and why. Matthew was a young man who I had seen yesterday around the hostel. He had presented a paper at a conference in the city of Halifax a few days ago and had been touring the east coast before returning his rental car. He asked about the motivation behind my decision to carry out this walk. We talked about passions and creative, ridiculous forms of dreaming. His research into indigenous water resources perked my interest, and we talked about where his research was leading him. He left for Halifax after breakfast, and I wished him good travels to which he returned the sentiment. I also enjoyed another interesting conversation with the owner of the hostel named Sharron about writing, education, and practice. By 9:30 I am out into the day, exploring the area called “Victoria Park” and continuing to walk around “Charlottetown Harbour”. I then walk up to the “T3 Transit” bus terminal to inquire about bus tickets. I want to see if a ticket can be purchased that will transport me to where the ferry would have let me off in Nova Scotia (the towns of “Caribou” / “Pictou” / “New Glasgow” located across the water). The bus line is able to provide me with a ticket to the town of “New Glasgow” which is next to perfect, solving the issue of having to backtrack due to the inoperable ferry. I would still prefer to have ridden the ferry, but this is the next best alternative. On the walk returning to the hostel, I stop to look over the menu of an Indian restaurant. As I am looking a man exiting with take-out hands me a discount coupon to be used for a meal at the restaurant. I enjoy the butter chicken. I pick up pints on the walk returning to the hostel, enjoying them over a few hours of focussed work transcribing notes, editing images, and uploading everything to the blog. Eventually, guests return and check into the building, and I find myself enjoying numerous conversations. 5:30 I power down the laptop, and explore the “Black and White Convenience” store one block away from the hostel for an order of shawarma and tabouli. As I wait for my meal, one of the owners approaches from the open kitchen, and we begin talking about the restaurant. I ask about the wall behind the cash register showcasing shelf upon shelf of wooden carvings in the form of human figures, animals, and sailing ships. The man—his name is Razeen—tells me that they are the collection of his brother who is his business partner. He was wondering why I am walking, understanding why I would be interested in such a massive challenge. I talk to Razeen for over ten minutes, and it became very clear that he loved what he was doing and loved the business that he had worked hard to help build. I eat, and then walk a block to a Vietnamese restaurant—“Saigon Cuisine”—that I had spotted during yesterday’s walk. A calming, minimal, quiet space and very tasty food are enjoyed, followed by some downtime in the empty hostel common room. I prepare for sleep, climbing into bed sometime around 9:30. I have been moved to another room due to reservations, with which I have no issue. The room I am now occupying is on the third and top floor, featuring skylights offering views of the sky and a cooling, calming air conditioner.
Today’s distance walked: 14.18 km (city walking) | Total distance walked: 2,035.91 km
Charlottetown | Accommodations: HI Charlottetown Backpacker’s Inn, 60 Hillsborough St, Charlottetown, PE
Over the course of a night of deep sleep—my temper tantrum abated—I woke up at 4:00 feeling rejuvenated and ready for the day. Three days of notes are transcribed with images colour-corrected before a hot soak for sore bones. At 8:00 I walk down to enjoy the breakfast included with the room reservation after raising the tent, the rain fly, and the ground sheet to dry in the room. After breakfast I return to the room to pack up the bag in order to be moved out by 11:00. I walk down to the hostel, with an employee recommending “The Kettle Black” coffee shop for coffee, food, and internet while my bed is prepared. I post finally to the blog, a good five days’ worth of writing and images. I stay until 1:00, then set out in search of food for lunch after checking in to the hostel. I am given a tour of the building and it is all very lovely. I decide to pick up earplugs as I will be sleeping in dormitory rooms. By 1:30 I am all settled in, and at the recommendation of the staff, I walk down to the information centre to look into alternatives to the currently inoperable ferry service at the southeast end of the island. I obtain a few phone numbers, but not much else. I walk over to Shoppers Drug Mart to acquire earplug technology for my stay. I wander around historic Downtown Charlottetown, deciding on John Brown Richmond Street Grille where I order a plate of fish and chips. Afterward, I walk to the waterfront, enjoying all of the market stalls and public spaces where people are relaxing in the sun. I return to the hostel and find a place to get comfortable with the laptop out in the garage (my first choice with many options for couches, tables, records, and turntable—including disco lights). While working for an hour in the garage, I have a good conversation with a young man from France who is working voluntarily at the hostel. He will be living in Canada for just under a year. He was working as a security guard but didn’t enjoy the experience, so he decided to travel for a year to learn and see the world. He is interested in what I am doing and says he would like to challenge himself as well through having a set of different experiences: a long walk backpacking across a country; sailing on a ship from country to country; driving a motorcycle across borders, etc. He wants to write these experiences into a book in order to help inspire people to fulfill their own dreams. The garage is hot and humid, so I move out to the picnic table in the backyard, eventually relocating to the common room where I transcribe notes until 9:30 before preparing for sleep. The dorm room is warm, however, an open window and pedestal fan help to cool the room. About 15 minutes of YouTube are enjoyed before I fall into a deep sleep through to 6:30 Friday morning.
Today’s distance walked: 11.38 km (city walking) | Total distance walked: 2,035.91 km
Victoria to Charlottetown | Accommodations: Charlottetown Inn & Conference Centre, 238 Grafton St, Charlottetown PE
It is difficult to put the day into motion. 4:30 I wake, and as I eat breakfast and stretch I find that I am stalling. It is warm and comfortable under the covers here on the ThermaRest, and for a moment I think about staying put for another half hour. But I will myself into action with the knowledge that later today the city of Charlottetown—which I have been considering one of the top highlights of this challenge—is just around the corner. By the time I am ready for the day it is 6:00, and I am walking into what will be a long day. I walk Highway 116 toward the Trans-Canada Highway, which for a few kilometres is the only roadway in the direction I am moving. Just before exiting onto Highway 19, I walk up to a grocery store with an attached restaurant in the area called DeSable, where I meet Terry who is able to produce a plate of thick toast and blueberry jam with hot coffee! We discuss the upcoming route I will be walking into Charlottetown which follows as much of the shoreline as possible. The 19 Highway takes me through Argyle Shore to Long Creek, to Meadow Bank, all the way northeast toward the town of Cornwall where I find a grocery store. I stock up on water, orange juice, and a few cold pints, drinking plenty of each in the humidity of the afternoon. The staff has recommended a park nearby that is comfortable for cooking some lunch and resting before the final push into the city of Charlottetown, now only 12 km away. The walk from Cornwall into Charlottetown is made by way of a paved bike and walking trail which is relaxing, separated safely from the traffic. The city limits are crossed by 2:00, in which I aim for the hotel downtown. By 3:00, heavy rain begins to fall. It is so heavy that within the time I am able to pull the rain jacket out from the pack I am soaked. It is not a cold rain, but rather relatively mild. It is so heavy that water rushes through the paved streets, angling downhill in quick-flowing torrents that reach the top of my ankles. The sky is the darkest of grey, transformed in minutes. Another dog begins barking at me with an owner who doesn’t seem to mind. I respond relatively poorly to the rapidly-changing situation of the day’s walk, and for a few minutes, I hate where I am and what I am doing. Traffic speeds dangerously everywhere, obliterating the sounds of nature with its growling, snarling aggression. Entering Charlottetown under these conditions does not conform to my dreams of the city: this first impression shatters my notion of the peaceful, placid, serenely beautiful city on the water. When at 4:00 I arrive at the hotel I am not a happy camper: completely soaked, exhausted, and a bit deflated. The clothing is hung to dry, and the sink is filled for clothing requiring cleaning to soak. I head out in search of food and beverages with which to return to the hotel. I am informed that the wifi in the hotel is down, inhibiting my ability to post online. So, I am frustrated, grumpy, and acting out childishly. After I order a wheel from Piatto Pizzeria and enjoy some cold, cold pints, I begin to feel better and smarten up. Until then, wrath.
Today’s distance walked: 45.64 km | Total distance walked: 2,035.91 km
“Get caught in the rain. We dare ya.” – “Discover Charlottetown PEI Official Travel Guide, 2023”, p. 19.
