Big wheels rolling & a rocky start

Our paths today turned up island via the big wheels of a van. The tour company picked us up, far too bright and early, but it was because we shared the trip with another couple who had 40 kms to bike versus our stay and “play” day. We started at the North Point Lighthouse and worked our way south. And hey I actually had my directions today.

The rocky part of the title literally comes from the rocks on the beach at Tignish Shore. The beach did not disappoint as it’s so red! I was quite shocked at how warm the Gulf of St. Lawrence water was. The day itself wasn’t toasty enough for a full dip but I certainly stuck my legs in. The rocks were so fill of unique shapes and colours, weathered by sand and water. The sound of the waves and the smell of the ocean were delightful but seems I am no L. M. Montgomery I can’t wax poetic about how stellar it was

We then explored around Tignish Shore. Turns out it started settlers life as a company town and was called Myrick Shores. This area was fished by the Myrick Co from the 1850’s to the 1930’s. Fisherman literally owned nothing; wages went into the company pot as a credit and that’s where you shopped for basics. There is a somewhat unique “run” that leads to Tignish Harbour which meanders a distance back.. The boats below looked like they were headed to beach at full speed and then neatly ducked into the rocks and were gone. We saw them unloading their cargo and packing it with ice.

All told it was a 16 km easy peasy bike with time also to explore around Tignish. This land was home to the Mi’kmaq “Mtagunich” and the word Tignish means “paddle”. The village was founded by 9 Acadian families escaping persecution by moving north to remote areas. A few decades later they were joined by Irish settlers. These two groups co habitated this area peacefully and descendents of those families remain. The community, starting in 1859, built a massive Roman Catholic Church. It’s quite astonishing in size and scope. Ron estimated it would seat approximately 1200. In a village of 750. It’s in excellent shape as is the cemetery, the grounds and the Nunnery. Which is where we are resting our head tonight after sitting in the garden drinking a beer and reading books this afternoon. Highly ironic that it was a pumpkin ale called Gravedigger.

Tignish was once the western terminus of the Prince Edward Island Railway. Rail service to the town was abandoned in 1989. Which is what became the Confederation Trail. Where tomorrow we will start putting on some serious kilometers. Today was a rest day before the start. Rather an interesting concept and perhaps just what we needed. Certainly made it easier to find time to blog.

KM 0 here we come.

Bernie