This summer, my parents took a trip to Eastern Canada. They had never been and had decided it was time to further explore the country they both immigrated to, lo those many years ago.
I asked them to document the trip, take some pictures, jot down some notes and tell the world about their journey East. They took over the Natty P instagram and Twitter, and enjoyed the beauty and charm of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Here is their adventure as told by my fabulous Mum, Heather Preddie:
Heather & Russell Go East
Russell wanted to see Eastern Canada and decided to ask me along!!
I always like to travel with insurance so we began by searching for our best option. We ended up using Lowest Rates, a Canadian insurance search engine, to find a travel insurance plan that made us feel secure, well covered and ready to go!
We left Toronto from Billy Bishop Airport on a hot Sunday afternoon. What a great little airport: so easy to maneuver. We arrived at Halifax Airport after a stop in Montreal, about 6ish and collected our rental car. Our welcoming weather was cold and rainy. The two hour drive to White Point was through tree-lined roads after tree-lined roads, in the rain.
White Point Resort is the best of all worlds: I could sit by the lake, peacefully watching the world go by with a chipmunk coming to say ‘hi’ and the birds chirping in the nearly trees, or I could walk by the river where people were fishing, or walk along the sand with the cold, Atlantic Ocean waves lapping over my feet and the sound of the water crashing onto the shore. It all brought me back to nature and grounded me after a long year at school (I’m an elementary school Principal). It was a perfect place to begin our trip.
The food was wonderful. In fact, our first meal of halibut was the best of the whole trip. The scenery was beautiful and the people were lovely. Heather & Russell Go East
The second night we wanted to explore further so we went to the little town, Liverpool. We had a meal at an old British style pub, ‘The Lane’s, Privateer Inn’, set beside the Mersey River. There was reggae music playing and we felt at home!
On Tuesday we were back traveling again, on towards Halifax. Our first stop was the historic town of Lunenburg, home of the Bluenose. What a pretty town: colourful buildings, a port with beautiful ships and restaurants with patios overlooking the water.
Parking was challenging but we met a lovely older lady who came out to tell us we could park in front of her house if we would like. We listened to her history in the house and then continued on our exploration, loving the friendliness of the people we met. We spent longer than we had planned in this town as there were so many quaint shops and galleries to wander through.
It was late afternoon when we were back on the road.
This time we decided to take the scenic route to Halifax that went by the famous, Peggy’s Cove. We joined hundreds of people on the spectacular rocks. (Well maybe not hundreds but at least one or two hundred!) I didn’t realize the extent of the rocks or how much fun it was to go climbing. The waves crashed against the rocks at the bottom demonstrating how powerful they can be and how dangerous it is to get too close. Even though there were warnings everywhere, there are always those that try to defy the danger and walk on the dangerous ‘black rocks.’ Heather & Russell Go East
Peggy’s Cove village looked like the picturesque fishing villages you see in pictures, with the lobster traps piled high, the boats pulled up on to the rocks, the quaint houses and the white painted church. 
We spent a quiet few moments at the memorial for those that died on Swissair Flight 111. It was mind-boggling to see the expanse of water and imagine the plane descending in the cold depths of the ocean.
With a new perspective on how precious life is, we continued into Halifax to the Westin, a great hotel with a beautiful room that overlooked George’s Island. That evening we found an excellent restaurant with the second best food of the trip -(first being at White Point).
Henry House, looked like it was a haunted house set in Victorian England. The inside was similar except for the ‘fairy’ artwork that looked somewhat out of place. My salmon and pasta was to die for and Russell’s halibut was exceptional. Heather & Russell Go East
Our time in Halifax consisted of eating in many of the restaurants, walking along the harbour front, exploring the old town and looking for gifts to take home for our family. The Halifax Jazz Festival was on which was a great way to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon. It was free to listen to some local bands.
We decided to take a whale watching trip. It should have been a sign for us when we were waiting at the assigned dock and no one showed up. After asking Murphy’s booking agent why no one was there, we were informed they decided to use another boat which was at another dock.
The trip was informative. The two guides told us about the snakes on George Island, (somewhere that I don’t want to go!); about the animals and sea creatures we may see and the history of the area. Holding a lobster just taken from the ocean was the highlight of the trip, although Russell wasn’t too sure.
Our eyes were glued to the waters all the way there and back but I think all the creatures had either gone on their holidays ‘West’ or were having fun watching us!
We left Halifax on Friday morning and headed to P.E.I. We drove through New Brunswick but decided we didn’t have time to visit Moncton…next time. I would definitely like too have seen more of Nova Scotia too but again…next time. I thought of my daughter as we began the drive over the 13.4 Km Confederation Bridge into P.E.I. She would have had her eyes closed for a long time!
The red sand and rocks are the first things you notice as you drive onto the province- So different yet so beautiful.
In Charlottetown, we settled into our room at the Delta Prince Edward downtown. It had the best bathroom of the trip- (Bathrooms are important to me as they have to be clean, all aspects working well, toiletries available and clean). Heather & Russell Go East
The view of the old buildings downtown was a great view from the window. The receptionist was lovely as she explained the island on a map and how there were four main routes to drive to see the different sections. With only one day left we made up our own route where we got to visit Green Gables, walked on the soft warm sand of the northern beaches and followed a trail at Greenwich Conservation Park. All stops were memorable as we relished the amazing green scenery, with iconic white churches and sparkling water.
The walk along the trail took us through woods, on a boardwalk meandering over a lake and then to a sandy beach over the massive sand dunes. It would have been perfect until a dark cloud dropped buckets of water over us while we ran back over the dunes, over the lake and to the woods. The storm stopped when we reached the shelter of the trees but the damage had been done. We were both wet through to our underwear! Walking back to the car in the sunshine passing sensible people who had sheltered through the storm was amusing as they gave us pitying looks.
I was in my element in downtown Charlottetown as it was full of small charming touristy stores and lots of restaurants with patios and music. The best meal we had there was at the Merchantman Fresh Lobster and Oyster Bar. It was my third best meal although Russell said it was his second best. Anyway, it was good.
Very early Sunday morning we were driving to the airport to take the car back wishing we had a few more days. The journey back was uneventful, which was good. Heather & Russell Go East
This adventure was great trip East and gave us motivation to go back to discover more stunning Canadian scenery and meet more friendly Canadians.
Next time we want to bring our family too!