North Cape Coastal Drive PEI (Northwest)

Even though it was a Saturday morning, I forced myself out of bed this morning to make the long drive to Tignish since they were supposed to be having the Tignish Irish Moss Festival this weekend. Unfortunately, since it was 2 hours from Charlottetown, by the time I got there, the morning festivities had ended and there didn’t seem to be too much happening, so I didn’t stick around.

It wasn’t a complete waste of time though. A quick drive brought me to North Cape, the northernmost tip of PEI. The area boasted one of the oldest wooden lighthouses in Canada, some amazingly red cliffs, a whole line of windmills, and an interpretation center.

I sat on the red rocks of North Cape for a picnic lunch before making my way to Jacques Cartier Provincial Park. Apparently, he had landed somewhere near this area so this park was named after him. I didn’t expect much – just another beach to sit and relax on, with some playground equipment nearby, but this ranks as one of my favourite beaches thus far. Now, I’ve been on PEI for a little while already, so red sand doesn’t astonish me anymore like it used to. But, here. Here, the sea was red! The pictures don’t even show quite how red the waters looked!

Needless to say, I spent my time wandering this beach barefoot, taking it all in. There was even a lifeguard to supervise swimming! Alas, it was too cold to go swimming in my opinion. Still a brisk 14 degrees Celsius.

The drive back to town was long, but the scenery was serene and the side of the road was filled with lupins, growing wherever they wanted. Such a pretty sight!

On the way back to Charlottetown, I stopped by Summerside’s Green Shore Beach to take a walk on wet red mud and dip my feet in the water. (Amazingly, the water is warm!) It’s so easy to access, just down the road from their main street and wharf, that I’m amazed that there weren’t more people enjoying it.

Oh well. Just meant that I got to be alone with my thoughts.

I also decided to splurge and order a lobster roll from JMK Fish Market. This turned out to be an excellent decision. For a measly $9, I had chunks of fresh lobster meat drizzled with lemon garlic mayo on a toasted garlic bread bun. Easily the best lobster roll I’ve eaten on the island so far.