Driving to Prince Edward Island

Today was planned to be a straightforward drive down to Prince Edward Island. Mainly tracing our steps back along many of the same roads, before driving up and over to the island. So we never expected much to report.

We awoke to a small dusting of snow outside!!!! Very exciting for us Kiwis. Canada, especially the Atlantic provinces, were caught in an unexpected front that delivered the first snow of the season. The forecast said we could expect up to 5cm snow in the high regions during the day. We've already driven over The Highlands yesterday so thought we'd be safe. Yeah right!

The snow on the car had partially melted and turned to ice, so we needed to scrape it off. A new use for the security card from our room. With that behind us, we paid our bill and headed on our way.

The drive started OK but eventually turned to drizzle, which turned to slushy rain, then sleet, then snow. The roads and surrounding area were white apart from tyre tracks on the road. Most of the road was very wet with melted snow, and there was a lot of spray especially from trucks. Unfortunately this prevented us from stopping to take photos, a shame because the snow contrasted beautifully against the red and orange trees.

It was a good couple of hours until we cleared the higher roads, and dropped down out of the weather. Although we were back into sun, there was snow on the roadsides, and it was a very cold wind, all the way to Prince Edward Island.

The drive onto the island is exciting, crossing the 12.9km long Confederation Bridge. Amazing that is nearly enough to bridge New Zealand's North Island and South Island. The island was sunny as we crossed over. But still very cold!

Once onto the island, we had a another hour's drive to Charlottetown where we are staying. Helen did a fantastic job driving, while I snoozed.

Once settled in we went out to find dinner on foot. The Hotel recommended a bunch of local restaurants, all printed on one card, and all owned by one company. And they're all in the same two streets. I imagined they are all connected by tunnels to a single kitchen, and all serving the same food. Actually they catered to  a variety of budgets and tastes and we settled on the Irish Pub for wholesome pub food. I finished with a dessert of "Sweet Nachos" which had nacho ships made of a chocolate biscuit, with the salsa being strawberries and the sour cream being whipped cream. So yummy!