PEI Island Walk - May 17, 2023, Day 1 Charlottetown to Dunedin

Daily Information 

Distance: 20.0 Kms

Walking time:  3h 45m 

Doddling time:  29m

% Doddling time: 11.4%

Avg walking speed:    5.3 Kms/hr

Elevation G/L meters:  156 : (144)

Total Daily Steps: 38,040

Ok so this Daily Information is what I intend to capture and start future blogs with. I know anyone reading this is dying for these stats…please don’t pretend otherwise! 

Today was a good 😊 day! Walking while mostly side of road/road walking was easy going. No major snafus or early oh oh moments from the old body. A few nice little stories but first…

Back to yesterday where after checking in to The Arts Hôtel I went out exploring for a while. First found the starting point to the PEI Island Park walk in Joe Ghiz park…800 meters away…perfect.

Next I went on a preliminary shopping venture as per granddaughter Elodie’s fervent wish. I found the perfect place “As Cool as a Moose”…went straight to the kids section…got some help…took a few pictures…some measurements were taken for sizes and then contacted the home front for advice.

Today after my walk scooted over there and voila grandchildren shopping ✅. Phew major stress point over and can face Rose and Elodie with a smile upon my return…Rishi will be cool with anything he receives…could have just as easily brought home a paper cup and he would be smiling ☺️. Super nice that I can leave this stuff at the hotel! Given that I am an impatient shopper this worked out very very well!

Back to the hotel after yesterday’s shopping scouting trip where I was picked up by Lilly (sister of Manitoba friend Doris) and Maurice. They welcomed me warmly in their home…had a really nice easy going chat about many things…time…at least for me 🤣 flew by.

Lilly and I share some common things…both from Manitoba, made moves to much larger cities…each have 3 daughters and 3 grandchildren who live close by. In Lilly’s situation she moved to Charlottetown at the start of COVID resulting in an extra challenge meeting people…how does one do that in the midst of a Pandemic? Most inspiring to hear Lilly describe her nursing work in a Long term care home…if everyone approached their work with this spirit and caring…what a difference that would make!

Maurice who is officially retired now works part time in a very large potato processing plant. He then laughed and admitted that he actually operates a high tech machine that takes 200+ images of potatoes as they move through all kinds of quality control checks…then into a number of quality rating queues. At the very end a few long time employees…in their 70s or so…pick out missed defects.

Incredible…had no idea potato processing was so mechanized…I did say to Maurice that I thought the minute I left he and Lilly would burst out laughing “Can you believe Guy bought that? What do you expect.. he’s from Toronto! 😂”. I was assured that would not be the case…I am pretty sure they wouldn’t do that…well sort of sure…oh well I will never know so all is good!

We then had fresh lobster supper as shown below…in the garage as Maurice hacked away at the lobsters…juices flying everyone…leaving only the lobster meat. 🙏 you for doing this Maurice! Having had the previous pleasure 😢 of trying to eat lobster and get at the meat myself with “lobster tools”…not a good look within minutes 😂

A delicious meal and great start to the Island Walk. As I was leaving Lilly mentioned that if I needed any help during the walk to let them know. Noticed a couple of e-bikes in the garage…I wonder…would be a lot easier…no one would have to know 🤔

Lilly and Maurice 

This morning got off to an “interesting” start…Why can’t shower operating mechanisms be standardized…it should be a legal requirement.

First there are two shower heads…I only need one thank you.

Then two shower levers…turned the big handle…ok water moves from one shower head to the other BUT the water is freezing cold. About to give up when I notice the small lever with temperature settings above…ah now I finally get it.

Ok now I know…unless I forget before tomorrow morning but why so complex? Not a Phd, Actuary or a System Architect…just someone who walks!

Notice slick camera work!

After receiving convincing feedback from peregrina Kiwi-Family…Rachael mother of 8…many of whom have walked long Camino routes…I set off this morning with the Packa rain gear.

It was chilly 3C -1C with windchill and a forecast

of 4mm of rain within next two hours😢. Layers worked well and….NO RAIN NOT A DROP! 

The Packa magic continues from the 2022 Camino Primitivo and San Salvador where no rain!

Tomorrow I leave all rain gear behind and take the Packa. Admittedly I have on occasion 🤔 had difficulty changing what I think works…takes me often too long to make the change leap sooo…quit waiting to try out the Packa…commit and then decide if it works for me. If not I won’t say a word officially…terrified of the repercussions New Zealand Way 😂.

Overall I would say that the walking itself was mostly uninspiring…no different than in Spain when leaving a city. Towards Clyde River scenery improved nicely as I entered rural areas.

Two incidents were highlights…

- Walking down the side of a fairly busy highway facing traffic of course I noticed a white panel truck slow down and stop on the other side of the road. Truck window rolls down and fellow yells out “Hey have you walked a Camino?” We tried conversing…too much noise…so I crossed over to chat.

“I saw you walking on the Confederation Trail in Charlottetown a couple of hours ago as I looked out the window of my house. I said to myself that fellow’s walked a Camino for sure!”

So we compared notes…he has walked 3…2

of which I have Portuguese and Frances…I have walked 8. He (darn we never exchanged names 😞) then countered that his son walked a southern Camino from Alicante. Next we talked about the PEI Island Walk and that he wanted to do it this year but deferred as a grandson was recently born. 

Just a friendly exchange over walking…fun…always amazes me! I left wondering why he assumed I had walked a Camino? Was it…

- the Tilley hat?

- snazzy HOKA shoes?

- trekking poles?

- backpack covered with the Packa?

- the Camino walking stride?

- all of the above, or

- just simply a lucky guess…if I see him again I will be sure to ask!

Second highlight…Bill’s Van Service was providing the shuttle back to Charlottetown once

I hit Dunedin WP #1. He mentioned yesterday that I should take my time as he could only get there for 2:15 due to prior commitments.

So I held off as long as I could this morning,,.got antsy…too excited…simply couldn’t help myself and left the Hotel at 7:45 and started the official walk around 8:15.

Stopped a few times but still got there (see picture below) at 12:30 😱. Sent Bill an fyi text…all is good…know you are tied up…no problem…will keep myself busy! Two minutes later Bill phones “It’s too cold 🥶 out there…my son and wife are not too far away…they will be by in 6 minutes…look for a white RAV 4!”.

So I messed up and they step in and joyfully (had a good chat to Charlottetown…Bill and Susan have 3 granddaughters 5 and 3 year old twins) drive me back saving me a couple of hours by the side of the road! Another special people moment.

Tomorrow Bill is picking me up at 5:30am! Forecast as chilly as today (thankfully threw in gloves last minute) but no rain 🙏. Big test 44 kms the longest I have ever walked…it should be a very long day…all will be good…all will be good…all will be good 😊 

A few pictures from the day..note some Hurricane Fiona tree damage…often see this 

Breakfast 

The Camino Look? Brother Marc always says « You look like a tourist 😂 »

The start 

Highway walking 

Award winning nature photography 

Fiona Damage

Lunch 

The start