Cadman Corner to Victoria   |   Campsite: 46.20936° N, 63.48140° W

The night was good. Waves of rain stopped after darkness fell, and a constant light wind blew, drying the tent out. The temperature overnight was mild and comfortable, and I get a good sleep. The tent is down and I am packed up by 5:20. The walk does reveal some wonderful views of the water, and later the Confederation Bridge, but mostly it is farmland without many perspectives beyond tree lines. By 9:00 I arrive at the shuttle pick-up building, where the instructions guide me to phone the service and a shuttle will be sent to my location. I wait no more than ten minutes before it arrives. Emma would be my driver to shuttle me over the big water and onto Prince Edward Island. She said that she moved here from Ontario less than a year ago in search of a quieter, slower lifestyle. As a snowboarder, she’s a bit frustrated at how flat the island is but overall loves living here. Her job will take her across the 12.5 km bridge up to ten times a day transporting people onto the island. The view from the bridge is incredible! Emma mentioned that I check out the various beaches in and around Charlottetown when I arrive in the city as she mentioned that they were quite scenic and beautiful. I first visit the information centre to double-check the state of highways, towns for resources, and distances. I acquire two beautifully cold pints that I enjoy with a cooked 10:00 lunch on a patio with picnic tables at a local brewery and restaurant not yet open. I make sure to acquire two additional pints for tonight’s camping, then head over to a coffee shop for some wifi. By 11:00 I am walking up the Trans-Canada Highway toward the smaller Highway 10 that runs closer to the shore. While I am buying some fruit from a food market I was approached by Rashid. He was a motorcyclist from New York traveling with a group of three friends to tour eastern Canada. “Good luck on however far you make it!” “Good luck to you as well and enjoy your time in Canada!” Wonderful landscapes and water breezes keep me motivated to see more. I break sometime around 2:00 for one of the pints at a church and cemetery called South Shore United Church Cemetery which is just beyond a junction of roads called Lower Tryon. From here the walk to the very small town of Victoria is made by 4:00. Upon entering downtown, a man by the name of Brendon stops me to ask where I am walking as he had seen me back in Borden-Carlton this morning. We talk for a few minutes, and when I ask him about quality seafood restaurants, he directs me toward Lobster Barn Pub Eatery where a lobster bun with blueberry, fennel, and goat cheese salad is thoroughly enjoyed for dinner on the patio overlooking the wharf alongside the water. By 5:00 the sun even begins to poke out through the clouds. My dinner is amazing, and the restaurant staff actually suggest a spot very near for me to put the tent up on the shoreline. This is all part of a good conversation with my server that I enjoy, as her every dish recommendation is incredible! She is interested in why I have decided to walk this distance. As I am finishing up my meal, a woman at the next table starts up a conversation as she heard I was walking to St. John’s. She has family living in Pickering, Ontario. A family member who was living in Alberta for decades had recently moved back to the area where she lives. Janet has been living here for most of her life, realizing early that this was where she wanted to be. We talk about happiness, challenging ourselves, and learning every day. She thought what I was doing was important, and told me I would come out of it a different person. She confirmed that the ferry service on the south end of the island was in fact canceled, but that I could find a bus service to at least return me to the bridge in order to prevent a lengthy retracing of distance. I am disappointed at this news, but as I cannot do anything about it, I’ll devote energy toward finding a solution. I leave the restaurant by 5:30 and walk a few kilometres out of town until I find a satisfying spot for the tent on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The sound of waves serves as a background to writing, reading, and falling asleep.

Today’s distance walked: 41.95 km    |    Total distance walked: 1,990.27 km

“…I must not be afraid to change my life. If I liked what I was doing, very well. But if I did not, there was always the time for a change.” – Paulo Coelho, “The Pilgrimage,” p. 157.

Grand-Barachois to Cadman Corner   |   Campsite: 46.18017° N, 64.02238° W

Writing this at the end of the day in the tent that has been set up in the backyard of Loella’s Country Market directly on the coast, I’d say that today was a very mixed bag. I was out walking by 6:00, but an hour into the walk I come to a bridge that was closed for repairs that neither Google Maps nor Apple Maps indicated as being under construction. A kilometre-long detour is required, bringing me southward to link onto the very noisy, busy, and fast Highway 15. Somewhere along this section of highway I lose a trek pole tip cover and have to use one of the two replacements I bought in Moncton. I walk the highway for close to 45 minutes, transferring onto a gravel service road that brings me back to the coast again. Stopping at a gas station for beverages, I speak to a woman working at the register about where and how to access the shuttle service that transports passengers over the bridge into the province of Prince Edward Island. The bridge was not designed with pedestrian or cyclist access, and they are therefore not allowed to walk or cycle across. She assured me that the shuttle waiting area was close to where the bridge connects with the New Brunswick shoreline and that it is easy to locate. Later on into the day as I was taking a photograph, a man crossing the road from his home to pick up his mail walked toward me to begin a conversation in French. We talked about the area and I asked about a flag or graphic that I had been seeing. It was composed of three vertical strips in blue, white, and red, with a yellow star in the upper left corner in the blue stripe. This was the flag of Acadia, (Acadie in French), he says. I say that I did not see it much throughout the province of Québec. “It is there in some regions. The Acadian culture was present in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, but also in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Mississippi.” I understand much of what he is saying, but I am sure that I miss most of the context. “Well, good day and a good walk,” he says with a smile and we each go our ways. The day then fluctuates between drizzle and rain well into the evening so that the rain jacket is accessed a few times. Walking Highway 950 and 955, over the course of the day, wears me down. It has been a tough day walking. I think I am ready to leave New Brunswick. The roadways are not very safe, nor do they offer any form of rest areas for anyone traveling them. I was again forced to cook lunch right next to the shoulder of the road as I had delayed my lunch by hours searching for a comfortable place to make a meal but finding none. Regardless of the size of the road, everyone in this province tends to drive dangerously faster than the posted speed limit. And so by 4:00, I was feeling a sense of relief in the knowledge that tomorrow morning I will be in Prince Edward Island! Upon arriving at a place called Cadman Corner I stop at Loella’s Country Market for beverages and a few snacks. A conversation begins, and I talk about the walk so far. I ask if anyone knows of a public place where I might put my tent for the night. A man says “Yes. You can tent out back behind the market if you would like.” His name was Stan, and he owned the property on which the market was built, as well as a number of the surrounding buildings. He also took care of the properties, including the immaculate cutting of grass. He shows me to a spot behind the market which was protected by a small fence where I could camp, as the waist-high structure would limit the amount of wind that would blow upon the tent. We talked about the Confederation Bridge as I would be crossing it tomorrow, and he tells me that he was a member of the construction team that built the structure. He shows me photos of him walking halfway across the bridge as one of the first people to set foot on the finished bridge before it was opened to the public on May 31, 1997. He was an interesting man with many skills—most of them self-taught—and an interesting career. By 5:00 I am inside the tent and out of the rain. Today I walked 48.93 km. A long day, but good as it sets me up well for tomorrow with the Confederation Bridge only 16 km away. I will be trying to make it to the small town of Victoria tomorrow, which should put Charlottetown in range for the following day. I journal the day out, read for an hour, then let the sound of the rain on the tent relax me into sleep.

Today’s distance walked: 48.93 km    |    Total distance walked: 1,948.32 km

Moncton to Grand-Barachois   |   Campsite: 46.22718° N, 64.42043° W

I wake at 4:00 as I want to make use of the morning in order to transcribe three more days of notes. More packing and organizing gear is done before a quick shower is enjoyed. At 7:00 I walk over to the restaurant to have the breakfast included with the room. My goal is to be back on the road by 8:00 at the latest, as I really want to reach the town of Shediac on the coast today—further if at all possible. I will be able to refill the water there, so I am feeling confident. Outside, the ground is wet and the sky is grey, but no rain is falling. I eat a full breakfast, fuelled by lots of coffee. I am excited to walk through Moncton this morning in order to see even more of this city along its more north-easterly sections. I’ll be walking Shediac Road on my way to the coastal town of Shediac. By 7:30 I return to my room, finalize all packing, and stretch for the upcoming day. I check out at the hotel office, and begin the sixth segment of this long walk: from the city of Moncton to the city of Charlottetown. I reach the edge of Moncton easily, followed by numerous waves of suburban developments. This is where the sidewalks end, replaced by sand and gravel shoulder. For the most part, the road to the town of Shediac is good. Perhaps in places, my walking space is a bit narrow for comfort, but overall I have a great day out on the road. Rain falls between 10:00 and 11:30, with the rain jacket put on only once over the course of the morning for about 20 minutes. The new footwear works quite well without incident, and the new trekking poles help well in distributing weight while creating a good rhythm. I am happy with both for the time being. I reach Shediac by 2:00. The town is fun, with both historic and newly-created fake vernacular elements to delight tourists. I met Kevin as I was purchasing pints for lunch at the NB Liquor store. He was interested in why I was walking, and we sank into a ten-minute conversation. He and his family had moved to the town from Ontario in 2019, just before the pandemic outbreak. He had never been to the area before the move, and so he was still exploring the province. It was, he said, an expensive place to live. He had confirmed a thought I had when I arrived in New Brunswick that all of the beautiful coast and beachfront land has largely been privatized. This was a source of frustration for Kevin as he believed that these resources should be enjoyed by all Canadians. I find an area with picnic tables adjacent to the building, and I make use of them to cook both rice and ramen. The day has mostly consisted of clouds with drizzle, however sunshine angles into the afternoon as I eat. After packing up and returning to the road by 3:00, I will walk 42.07 km to a church and cemetery where I will rest on a bench and enjoy a few cold pints purchased across the road at a local grocery store. The grounds of the cemetery extended quite far away from the road, and when I explored the extent of the grounds I found a perfect place to camp in the treeline just beyond the cemetery boundary. The tent is raised by 6:30, and by 6:45 I am journalling and decompressing from the day—a good day walking and realizing the benefits made from good gear recommended by knowledgeable people.

Today’s distance walked: 42.47 km    |    Total distance walked: 1,899.39 km