Day 25-26: Augustine Cove (0 km)

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Day 25-26: Augustine Cove (0 km)

Written by Eric Mathurin

Sunday, 02 July 2000

The cliffs at Cabot Park.

Thanks to the laws of motion (a body at rest...) I ended up staying a day longer than I had originally intended. The last two days have truly been a vacation from my bike trip. Gillian and I travelled by car from place to place, including Cabot Park where we walked along the cliffs into hidden coves, Cavendish where we sat on the beach amidst the sun-worshippers and Summerside where we watched a concert of piping, fiddling and dancing. (I couldn't help but feel that this kind of traditional entertainment is as old as the human race—like the fireworks, it transcends barriers.) We ate out, we ate in, we cooked dinner for her parents, they cooked for us. We lounged on the deck, we sat by the fire. We got bit by mosquitos, we got burnt by the sun. We kissed. All in all it was a wonderful time and the family unfailingly welcoming and generous.

A bridge through Cavendish.

Whenever we drove I hoped to see loaded touring cyclists so we could honk and wave. We did at one point—but I hadn't been paying attention and missed my opportunity. Although travelling by car was a relief, it also felt a bit like cheating: getting to all the various places TOO easy. I think, perhaps, it's the anticipation when travelling by bike that makes it rewarding: you're always straining to see what's over the next rise, behind the corner, what the next road will be like. By car it happens so fast and so easily, but by bike you have all that much more time to wonder and imagine. (And, of course, there are the huge disappointments—like the Confederation Trail—that you would just rather fast forward through. But again: pleasure is a relief from pain.)

Ah, the ocean.

All good things, however (especially freeloading) must end. I plan to visit the Magdalen Islands in a couple of days. (There used to be a hover-ferry running from Rustico to the islands and from the islands to Cheticamp in Cape Breton, but, alas, it only ran for a year.) From there to the ferry to Nova Scotia. And then I'll have to make my decision: fast track home via Truro, slow-track via the North coast of Nova Scotia to Moncton, or travel around the Cabot Trail and back to Halifax. (The going, you see, will be a bit easier since I've left all my cooking gear and a few other items to go back with Gill. He he.) But I'll cross that bridge ('ride that ferry') when it's time.

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