Loading ...Beautiful PEI
Prince Edward Island – “The Gentle Island”
It’s tiny: just over 2000 square miles – but there’s so much packed into this island province you can stay awhile and truly enjoy. PEI, the smallest province in Canada is known for red sand beaches and potatoes, Provincial Parks, sand dunes, lighthouses, engaging little communities, and fabulous golf courses. ‘Out east’, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, PEI almost kisses the coast of New Brunswick along the eight mile curve of the impressive Confederation Bridge, the longest in the world.
Charlottetown is delightful with all the mod cons of city life, a vibrant harbour, and stunning architecture.
A series of four of the American TV morning shows, Regis & Kelly, is hosted in Charlottetown in July from 12 to 15. We can only hope that they bypass the humdrum ‘Anne of Green Gables’ tourist trap, and focus on the absolute beauty of this calm place, the stunning coastline, and the tranquil welcome of the capital city Charlottetown, the Birthplace of Confederation. That kind of North America-wide TV coverage for this beloved province can only help to expose some of the delights of Canada to a massive audience.
Easy to get to from Toronto with 2-hours or so regular scheduled flights into Charlottetown airport, it’s a must for your summer travel schedule, especially if you have a golf fanatic in the family. PEI has distinguished itself as Canada’s number one golf destination twice in a row.
There are close to 30 courses, all beautiful, most with a stunning (and distracting) view of the ocean from at least one green. From the air, PEI probably looks like one massive golf course with rolling greens, woodlots and water traps. I’m not a golfer, but The Dearly Beloved is, and he couldn’t help but be impressed by the quality and the reasonable cost of a pleasurable round with a buddy.
We avoided ‘Green Gables’ completely and deliberately, instead enjoying lunches by the sea in quaint hamlets, scenic drives, a pleasant morning poking around Victoria Harbour (marvellous coffee, delectable chocolate), lobster suppers (even the Subway sandwich shops have a lobster sandwich), and a good sing-song to live music in one of Charlottetown’s vibrant Irish Pubs. What a friendly lot they are! There are B&B’s aplenty – we stayed in one overlooking a horse farm. The entire PEI pace – tempo, in fact – is delicious.
Yes, PEI is gentle, and we shall return for more. (next page for more photos)
Cook Islands: Rarotonga
Celebrating New Year in Rarotonga – as close as you can get to the international date line
What better way to spend New Year’s Eve than in a place so close to the International Dateline that you are completely confused about the time let alone the date? En route to Vancouver from Australia and New Zealand, Rarotonga is a little rock, insignificant in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, yet the vibrant center of the Cook Islands.
Its almost a circle, about 34 km in circumference, dominated by surprisingly high mountain peaks and home to lush rain forests that cascade to a palm-fringed shore. The island is almost completely encircled by a reef, with a lagoon of clear turquoise water between you and the reef drop off, marked by a colour change to deep blue. The lagoon is delightfully calm, offsetting the backdrop of waves that crash against the reef edge in a hypnotic cycle. Swimming, kayaking, snorkelling and small craft sailing are prominent on the menu of aquatic activities.
Arriving late at night on a massive Air New Zealand 747, it was hard to imagine a vast vessel landing with any space to spare at Rarotonga’s International Airport on the North Coast. But land it did, and skillfully so. It was dark and had been raining, but all visitors were welcomed with friendly smiles, music and live crooning, and the mandatory leys: but of fresh flowers, not plastic imitations.
Accommodations: There are plenty of places to stay in Rarotonga. Staying at the premium Muri Beach Club Hotel on the south east edge of the island assured a chauffered ride in a late model, luxury import (BMW perchance) and efficient check-in. It’s a privately owned boutique style resort, not a chain, and had a surprising list of amenities including free Internet access, a boon when really feeling the remoteness of this little island from ‘the rest of the world’. The restaurant is great, there’s a large swimming pool, shopping and business services, and a spa – all the amenities we’d hope for.
Commercial centre: Avarua is the main town on the island and is the commercial centre of the Cook Islands. You’ll find a good selection of shops, banks, cafes and visitor facilities. It is also the main port and where you can find many cruising yachts docked.
Getting around: This is a small yet fascinating place, and getting around is easy. Two main roads circle the island on the Ara Tapu coastal road, through villages and past beaches; or you can take the older inland road, which winds through fields of taro, pawpaw, bananas and local farmlands. The island bus is inexpensive to ride, runs multiple times each hour, in both directions (one circular roadway, so you go either clockwise, or anti-clockwise). Car rentals are available, but many visitors rent motor scooters, as we did for four of our five days there. What fun that was – it provided complete flexibility and made the entire island accessible on demand. You have to pick up a licence to drive one in Avarua, but it’s an easy process.
HIGHLIGHTS
The people: Rarotongans are charming without being effusive. They are never ‘in your face’ and rarely intrude on your privacy. However, show a Rarotongan some genuine interest and they will respond with beaming smiles and friendly warmth.
Home comforts: There’s a brilliant cafe opposite the international airport, owned and operated by a New Zealander, we entered coffee nirvana with excellent baked goods. The patio became a daily haunt. The food was delicious throughout the island, with the hotels such as the Pacific Resort (near our hotel) reaching international standards while also tempting us with traditional island dishes.
Tahitian pearls: Before discovering the convenience of scooter rentals, and stranded in Avarua waiting for a bus in the rain, a local pearl farmer and family kindly rescued us in their pick-up truck. On the way back to the hotel they stopped to pick papayas from their friend’s papaya plantation, and insisted that we took some for ourselves, each timed in sequence to reach the peak of ripeness on each successive day of stay: the best papayas ever. Better than that, they opened their pearl store on new year’s day for a private shopping moment. They have their own island from which they farm oysters, and know the provenance of each beautiful pearly offering. The two pearls we chose were sized and graded, offered to us at amazing prices, and came complete with an official provenance. There’s an entire science to pearl buying, and their depth of knowlege was truly appreciated by us.
New Year celebrations: The entire island came alive. Starting with cocktails at Trader Vic’s in Avarua and an appetizer or three – the place was humming – then, at sunset, heading back to the Muri Beach Club Hotel for champagne. We kicked off our shoes and strolled along the white sand beach to the Pacific Resort for dinner al fresco along with, it seemed, the entire tourist population on the island. It was packed, it was noisy, and the music was loud. It wasn’t really a fifty-plus scene, though pleasant enough, prompting us to head back to our hotel to herald in the new year, just the two of us, with more bubbly on the sand outside our beachside suite – cosy, yet exotic at the same time.
Local culture: Saturday is market day, and it’s a must-see event. Exotic produce, colourful textiles, ‘fast’ food and cultural items abound, including characteristic wooden carvings (that clearly had Viagra users as models). Apparently the whole island came to market day, and the music, sights, smells and mingling with the locals was a heartwarming cultural experience. Touring the island by hiking into the peaks, driving the inner roads, or wandering through the farms gets you off the tourist track instantly and allows you to appreciate the geography and the people.
For something off the beaten track, a little out of the ordinary, and a stop-off point on the way to or from Australia or New Zealand, it would be a shame to miss the Cook Islands.
