I'm sitting at an al fresco cafe in Charlottetown enjoying my cappuccino when the woman at the next table leans over: "Are you from away?" she asks. I'd been on Prince Edward Island a couple of days and knew she was asking if I was from somewhere place other than PEI, as the island is commonly known. I told her I was from the UK and asked her what made her think I was "from away". She smiled kindly: "It's that's cow's breakfast you're wearing." She was referring to what was on my head. It seems that "cow's breakfast" is island slang for a big straw hat. I haven't felt the same about that hat since.
She was also able to give me a few hints about the section of the Trans Canada Trail that I was hoping to cycle around. After hearing about all the places I must not miss along the way, I realised I had to alter my plans if I wanted to see more of PEI than just the 300km or so of cycle trail. This meant hiring a car, sticking a bike on the back, and taking off to explore the trail in sections. It was a good decision.
Much of the trail is heavily wooded on either side, and although it's wonderful at first with the smell of pine in the air and the silence of the forest around you, after a while there's a feeling of wanting to get out into the open, especially by the water.
The idea of a hiking/cycling trail across Canada was first mooted in 1992 as a project to mark the country's 125th birthday. It is a huge undertaking but when finished, it will be the longest trail in the world at 18,000km, winding its way through every province, linking major cities, small towns and communities along its path. The land comes mostly from existing trails wherever possible, often using abandoned railway lines to join up the sections between different communities.
Prince Edward Island's section of the Trans Canada Trail is known as the Confederation Trail, named after the Fathers of Confederation who met in Charlottetown in 1864 to discuss the unification of all the provinces into the Canada we know today. In August 2000, PEI became the first province in Canada to complete its section of it, a feat made easier by the island being the country's smallest province.
All I knew about PEI was that it has red soil, lots of potatoes and lobsters and, of course, is the home of Anne of Green Gables, heroine of Lucy Maud Montgomery's novels about the little red-haired orphan girl who loved long words. Nowadays, Anne has her own musical, which has been playing in Charlottetown for 37 years. And, no, it's not corny. It is funny, beautifully performed, has great dancing, and is not to be missed.
The trail stretches across the island, from the eastern trailhead at Elmira to the western trailhead at Tignish. It covers 357km of pathway built on the island's abandoned rail line, which passes through more than 30 communities, including the capital, Charlottetown. There is no rugged wilderness on PEI: the trail winds through the heart of the province, weaving around small villages and ports, pine woods and rolling farmland.
Like most long-distance paths, the trail has its good sections and its boring bits. I did some forward planning and decided on the places I wanted to visit that could easily be reached by a bike ride from where I would park the car. I drove the 30km from Charlottetown to Mount Stewart and collected my bike at the Trailside Inn, where Doug Deacon runs a bike rental business as well as a B&B and small restaurant. I had a dinner here of fresh wild salmon with asparagus and wild rice for around £6.
Mount Stewart is right on the trail and a good starting point, as you can spend the night there and be up and off after breakfast. It's a pretty little village on the Hillsborough river. The bank is housed in a bright red cabin and opens just once a week. The trail runs close to the Trailside Inn, and I took a morning bike ride by the river before driving east to St Peters, a small town on St Peters Bay. I cycled west along the trail towards Morell, edging the bay most of the way. A speciality of this area are the island blue mussels - the nets for the commercial mussel farming can be seen stretched around the bay. Just a short ride, about 5km, from Morell, and you come to some of the best beaches on PEI, an almost unbroken strip along the 22km shoreline, part of the Prince Edward Island national park.
The island itself is beautiful in a gentle way. Its attractiveness lies in its deep-red earth, upon which bright green potato plants form pleasing geometric patterns, pretty red and white barns are outlined against the sky, and everywhere there are masses of multi-coloured wild lupins that fill meadows and line roads as well as the trail itself.
My next link-up with the trail took me to its easternmost point, at Elmira, a heavily tree-lined section. I cycled to Munns Road, where the 301 highway crosses the trail, and then headed down to the sea at Bothwell. Between here and Basin Head is a stretch known as the Singing Sands. A man on the beach told me the white sand was "right crusty", owing to the amount of silica it contains. When you walk on it, it squeaks. Or, if you have a good imagination, it sings.
The next stretch was from Albany to Borden-Carlton (on the trail all the way) to have a look at the Confederation Bridge - the end result of over 100 years of controversy. Ever since islanders travelled in open ice boats, people have been looking for a better way to get to the other side. When it was decided, in 1993, that a bridge would be built, there were many opponents. The result is that PEI now has one of the most beautiful structures of its type in the world. It stretches for 12.9km across the Northumberland strait like a sleek silver snake. If you arrive from Nova Scotia, via the bridge, your first step on to dry land will be on the Confederation Trail. To get the best view of the bridge, go to the church on the hill.
Headed on towards North Cape at the very tip of the island, parking at St Roch and biking on to the trailhead at Tignish where, in a field alongside the trail, a "horse run" was taking place. The whole town seemed to have gathered to watch teams of splendid draft horses being hitched to huge slabs of concrete. At a signal from their owners, they heaved forward, the object being to pull the concrete as far as possible in the shortest space of time. It all seemed a bit hard on the horses but the crowd was enjoying it hugely and the bets were flying. There are lots of little places like this on PEI, each with its own odd story, bit of history, or special event.
The Confederation Trail is suitable for any age, and you don't have to be in particularly great shape to do it - it's flat all the way. Don't forget to treat yourself to a lobster supper. Most small towns along the trail will have a restaurant offering fresh-from-the-sea crustacea at around C$15-C$20 (£7-£9) a head. Where else can one afford to eat lobster every day?
When I reached Tignish, and the end of my driving/cycling exploration of the trail, I wondered what I would have felt if I had cycled all the way - a sense of achievement certainly, and I did feel I had cheated a little by having the car. I'd like to return with enough time to cycle the whole trail, but with all there is to see and do en route, I'd definitely have to leave more time.
Way to go
Getting there: Air Canada (0870 5247226, aircanada.com) flies London-Halifax-Charlottetown from £596.
Where to stay: Delta Prince Edward (PO Box 2170, 18 Queen Street, Charlottetown, tel: +902 566 2222, deltaprinceedward.pe.ca) double rooms from around £61 pn.
Further information: Visit Canada (0906 8715000, 60p per minute, email visitcanada@dial.pipex.com). Information on the Trans Canada Trail can be found at tctrail.ca.
Country code: 00 1.
Flight time London-Halifax: 7hrs, 50mins; Halifax-Charlottetown: 40mins.
Time difference: -4hrs.
£1 = 2.19 Canadian dollars.
