Stanley Bridge to North Rustico 18 km

The Stanley Bridge

Our itinerary showed today's route as 20 km. We walked the road to Cavendish.  Soon we came across the Revolver bakery/cafe.  I think this was the only time on the trip we walked by an open cafe! It was buzzing with people who'd attended the music festival over the weekend (headliner Alannis Morissette).  There was a 15 minute wait for coffee so we just had muffins.  There was also a 15 minute lineup for the restroom.

They'd put up a barrier on the road for pedestrian festival goers.  We walked and walked along the main road past attractions, amusement parks and the Green Gables historic site.

It's a lot more commercialized  than it was 35 years ago.  The house itself is hidden behind a big parking lot and a big interpretive centre.  We did walk by the nearby Green Gables bungalow Court, a relic from the past.

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Finally, we reached Prince Edward Island National Park, shut down tight as drum, and the Gulf Shore Parkway with a bike/pedestrian walkway along the shore.  Unfortunately there was forest between the sidewalk and the beach so not many views but at least we were off the road.

We found access to the shore at McNeill Brook Beach and ate our lunch there.

Then it was back to walking along the sidewalk.  There were lots of people on rented ebikes; no doubt a better way to cover the miles.

At some point we realized our itinerary was wrong and it was actually 27 km to our night's accommodation.  There was no way we were going to walk that far.  We decided to stop in North Rustico.  Walking into North Rustico just past the Catholic Church we met Noel, native PEIer, observant Catholic and resident of the church's seniors residence.

We phoned our shuttle and were driven to Shaw's Hotel, at Brackley Beach.  It's a lovely old family run hotel, in business since 1860.

From the veranda there's a view of Brackley Bay and you can walk 600 meters in the other direction and access Brackley Beach on the ocean.