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Cradled on waves

Coast to Coast | Pedalling Around | Cradled on waves | Coaching Ways | Easy Riding | Media Stars | Ties that Bind | Rev Up the RV | Making a Quick Getaway | Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

"...as you draw closer, the trademark red cliffs come into focus, topped by emerald-green fields and lapped by sapphire seas, and you realize you're in for something special."

Driving toward the island across the awe-inspiring Confederation Bridge (the world's longest span over ice-covered water), the landscape looks unexciting. For starters, it's as flat as a pancake: the highest point, near the centre of the island, is only 466 feet above sea level. But as you draw closer, the trademark red cliffs come into focus, topped by emerald-green fields and lapped by sapphire seas, and you realize you're in for something special. By the end of your vacation, that will feel like an understatement.

The Mi'qmaq Indians, PEI's earliest inhabitants, called the island Abegweit, Cradled on the Waves. Equally poetic was the French explorer Jacques Cartier, the first European to "discover" its shores in 1534, who described it as "The fairest land 'tis possible to see". Indeed, the crescent shape of the northern coastline does resemble a child's cradle, and the accidents of prehistoric geology, siltation, glacialization, and soil composition have created a landscape that might well be considered unique. Rolling hills, abrupt red cliffs, endless sand dunes, shimmering tidal inlets: PEI is one vista after another. More than half the land supports agriculture, presenting a bucolic idyll of small towns, picturesque farms, grazing cattle, and graceful horses.

Urban centres are few, small and generally sleepy. Charlottetown, the capital with a population of 38,000, is a charming little city that has managed to conserve most of its historic colonial architecture. It hosts a lively commercial and cultural scene and summertime is thick with festivals -- everything from music to comedy to sports and parades: The jewel in the city's cultural crown is the Confederation Centre of the Arts, which houses three stages, an art gallery and a public library. Its 1,100-seat main stage is the hub of the annual Charlottetown Festival, which showcases Canadian musical theatre, notably the long-running and ever-popular Anne of Green Gables The Musical.

Also noteworthy: the four-day Jazz and Blues festival, in early July, when renowned national and international artists converge on the city. The Waterfront Summer Concert Series, whose name says it all. The Atlantic Superstore Festival of Lights is a three-day extravaganza of concerts and fireworks that celebrates Canada Day with a very big bang.

Old Home Week, in mid-August, is deeply traditional. This major agricultural fair features prize livestock, horse jumping, clever canines and gorgeous handiwork. The climax of Old Home Week is the much-anticipated Gold Cup, and Saucer Parade, featuring floats, clowns, helium-balloon characters. It's followed by the Gold Cup and Saucer Race, one of the most important harness races in North America. There's a bitter-sweetness to Old Home Week; it marks, essentially, the high point of summer, the beginning of the end, even as the days remain golden and languorous.

Charlottetown is not the only place for pomp and spectacle. During the summer months, all of PEI is a festival waiting to happen. Small and big, they're everywhere, from strawberry socials to country fairs and lobster dinners. At the world-renowned Indian River Music Festival, jazz and classical music lovers find nirvana in the perfect acoustics of St. Mary's Church. Fiddles wail and spoons clack at Rollo Bay's rollicking Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Festival.

If you can't live another minute without the skirl of bagpipes, grab your kilt and run, don't walk, to Summerside, where the Celtic Festival runs throughout the summer and features music, dance, competitions, and general Highland merriment. If, on the other hand, you're having an Irish moment, the place to go might be O'Leary, where the PEI Potato Blossom Festival is in full swing near the end of July. Check out the Potato Museum while you're there & you'll never look at a spud the same way again.

All of PEI's museums are a delight. They are generally small, manageable -- and utterly idiosyncratic. They're also not very expensive: the average adult entrance fee is $4-$5, with reduced prices for students and families. You can visit a historic house or a shipbuilding display, learn about fishing or railways, Acadian history, or indigenous art and culture. And you'll still have lots of time left for the beach.

The island's history is not just to be found in museums and heritage houses. Many of the rural side roads have barely changed in 100 years, and the tourism maps indicate these heritage routes with special symbols. Another way to get a sense of history is to wander the country graveyards, simple and picturesque. The weathered headstones offer poignant stories of an earlier time.

As one might expect of an island with a ragged coastline and changeable seas, PEI has no shortage of lighthouses. Perched on crumbling red head-lands, these simple wooden structures bear witness to the importance of the sea in island culture. Of special interest is the Cape Bear lighthouse (dating from 1881), whose Marconi Wireless Station was the first to pick up distress signals from the Titanic. Also very popular is the lighthouse at East Point, where the tides of the St. Lawrence clash with those of the Atlantic and the Northumberland Strait & quite a spectacle on a windy day, and an area of special treachery for early sailors. Famous for its "itinerant" history, the lighthouse has been moved several times due to poor positioning and land erosion.

The sea is indeed the element that defines PEI, beating relentlessly against its cliffs and flooding its tidal basins. Fishing is a way of life for a significant segment of the population, with lobster being the most lucrative catch, and the internationally craved Malpeque oysters probably the most famous. One of the truly awesome island experiences is witnessing giant bluefin tuna being hauled in at North Lake Harbour. Easily weighing in at 800 to 900 lbs, these super-predators are battled by individual fishermen using single lines and reels. Move over, Hemingway; PEI's heroes are for real.

The sea is also a major player in the province's park systems, all of which lie along the coastline. The most extensive is the Prince Edward Island National Park, a narrow strip of red sandstone cliffs, forest and marshlands that stretches for more than 20 miles along the north coast, from Tracadie Bay to Cavendish. Smaller but no less spectacular is Greenwich, whose immense and very rare parabolic sand dunes embrace the shoreline in sensuous curves.

Both parks offer beautiful public beaches, as well as guided and self-guided activities. You can explore ponds and salt marshes, birdwatch, and experience the dunes via protective boardwalks. A relatively new addition to the national parks system, Greenwich offers a state-of-the-art interpretation centre with interactive exhibits and multimedia presentations. PEI National Park is home to Dalvay-by-the-Sea, an exquisite Victorian mansion-turned-upscale-inn that boasts one of the finest kitchens on the Island. It's worth knowing that Dalvay serves a traditional afternoon tea, the perfect way to wind down an active day.

There's really no good way to leave Prince Edward Island, since you probably won't want to leave at all. But if you must, the best way is via the Northumberland Ferry to Nova Scotia. Ensconced in its comfortable lounge, you can raise a glass to the receding coastline until the Wood Islands lighthouse disappears from view. Before you reach the other side, you'll be making plans for your return.