Day 8: Sailing to Prince Edward Island
then an island tour
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A highlight of this holiday was
the excursion to the Anne of Green Gables Heritage
Place. There were also some unexpected treats.
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Overnight and during
this morning, we sailed 208 nautical miles between Gaspé,
Quebec and Summerside, Prince Edward Island (PEI). |
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We took things easy
in the morning. Later in the morning, the coast of Prince
Edward Island emerged out of the cloud. |
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A pilot came aboard and
escorted the ship into the port. |
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The port at Summerside
seemed to be very quiet. We were told later that cruise
ships mainly use the port at Charlottetown,
which is the capital city of PEI and has a large cruise
terminal. It is quite rare for passenger ships to call at
this port. |
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It was lovely to see
that one of our tour managers, Natalie, had plaited her
hair to reflect the "Anne of Green Gables" look!
We had travelled with Natalie on our "Patagonian Odyssey"
cruise in March 2024 and really liked her. When things didn't
go according to plan, as they did on that holiday, she remained
calm, friendly and helpful throughout. We didn't know it
yet, but those skills were going to be tested again later
on this trip! |
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It soon became apparent
that our arrival in Summerside was a pretty special occasion
for the port, beginning with the piper who played for us
as we disembarked. |
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The special treatment
continued as we walked through the port building. A quite
unexpected feast had been laid on for us! The most delicious
lobster rolls... |
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...particularly fine
oysters... |
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...plus beer on tap,
which Geoff said was really very good. Nobody expected this
or the very friendly welcome we got from the people serving
it all to us. Had we known beforehand, we might have skipped
lunch on the ship! Furthermore, there was no time to linger
and talk to the locals because our coaches were lined up
waiting to take us off for our excursion. Bruce managed
to take an extra lobster roll and wrap it up in a serviette
to eat later, but we felt really sad because most of the
feast had to be left uneaten! |
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As we only had an afternoon
to spend on the island, we set off quite quickly on our
92km round trip. |
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There were three planned
stops were on the schedule. The first one was at the Green
Gables Heritage Place for a fairly long visit, then on to
a lookout point at Cavendish Cliffs and finally a refreshment
stop at the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company. |
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The Green
Gables Heritage Place was the first place we visited.
For many people, including Geoff, it was a major highlight
of this holiday because it is a place that his mother Joan
always wanted to visit, having read all of the "Anne
of Green Gables" novels that were set here. (Some
of the text decriptions used in the picture captions below
were taken from this Green
Gables Heritage Place website). |
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Green Gables Heritage Place has become
famous around the world as the inspiration for the setting
in L.M. Montgomery's classic novel, Anne of Green Gables.
The house and its surrounding landscape inspired the setting
of Montgomery's story, in which Anne, an 11-year-old orphan,
is sent to live with two middle-aged siblings, Matthew
and Marilla Cuthbert, after they requested a boy to help
with work on their farm. The original farmhouse has been
carefully restored and decorated to reflect the details
included in Montgomery’s novel and the period in
which it was set, right down to the furnishings in the
rooms.
The approach to the house
is from the back. Visitors are directed to the left and
enter via the front door.
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The house, viewed from
the front. |
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On the ground floor,
the parlour was reserved for receiving important guests
like the minister when he came for tea and it is furnished
in a more formal style than most of the house. This was
not a room for Anne to use for entertaining. |
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The dining room, used
for serving special guests. It had decorative furnishings,
including the formal dinner table and best china. This is
where Anne would have entertained Diana for the tea that
had disastrous results. |
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This was Matthew’s
room. Matthew had a heart condition that made climbing the
stairs difficult, so the ground floor bedroom was used by
him. Kitchen bedrooms were not uncommon. Close to the warm
wood stove, they were of benefit to the sick or even for
expectant mothers. |
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The dairy porch, one
of two working rooms located off the kitchen was used for
messy chores like the making of butter or cheese, doing
laundry and washing dishes. This is where Anne would have
helped Marilla with indoor chores. |
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The pantry is the second
working room off the kitchen. It was used for storing dry
food, clean dishes and cooking utensils. Located close to
the wood stove, it was a practical working room that could
be used for preparing food and other chores as well. |
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The
kitchen was the hub of the Victorian home. The wood stove
located there provided heat and hot water for chores, cooking,
baking and bathing. The family ate most of their meals here
and the most common workspaces were here or very nearby.
Marilla’s “old-fashioned Waterloo stove”
was rather luxurious for the late 1800s. This New Waterloo
No. 2 was manufactured in Sackville, New Brunswick. Wood
burned in the bottom compartment, heating the cooking surfaces
and baking oven (top) and provided heat for the home. The
kitchen was the biggest space on the ground floor and the
most popular as it was also the warmest. Matthew and Marilla
would also host close friends like Rachel Lynde here for
tea. |
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Upstairs, this was Anne's
room. As described in the novel, the room is the “east
gable room” at Green Gables where, after she moved
in, the whole character of the room was altered to be far
more cheerful and lively. |
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The guest or spare room
was decorated to please special guests and “out of
the question for such a stray waif” as Anne upon her
arrival. Anne was later honoured with a “very sparest
spare-room bed to sleep” during a visit to Diana’s
great aunt Josephine Barry’s home in Charlottetown. |
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Marilla’s room
is as prim and proper as she was, with her modest possessions
and sensible decor. She was very satisfied with the basics
and believed that “bedrooms were made to sleep in”
and not for clutter. |
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The sewing room was
used to sew clothing and other household items. Some of
the basic mending or patchwork that Anne had to do may have
been done elsewhere, such as in the kitchen where it was
warmer. |
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This room is where the
hired boy would have slept. After the Cuthberts decided
to keep Anne, they still needed someone to help Matthew
with the farm work. Although just a simple room, it was
certainly better than sleeping in the barn! |
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With time to spare,
we walked along the lane behind the house which is the start
of the Balsam Hollow Trail. In Anne of Green Gables, Anne
speaks of the beauty of the path she calls “Lover’s
Lane”. In reality, this place was one of L.M. Montgomery’s
most favourite in the world. A path she visited and revisited
throughout her lifetime when she needed a quiet moment of
peace or comfort from the healing hands of nature. Lover’s
Lane was also one of her most photographed spots. |
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With one final look at
the house, it was time to return to the coach and to continue
our tour of the island. |
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After a short drive,
we stopped at the lookout point at Cavendish Cliffs. |
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Another 25 minutes on
the coach and we arrived at our refreshment stop, where
we were served a late afternoon tea and encouraged to buy
their fine looking produce in the shop, most of which was
made on-site. We didn't buy anything, mainly because it
was quite expensive, but also because we have some equivalent
and equally good products available at home. |
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By the time we got back
to the ship, it was dark and heavy rain had started to fall.
Luckily our coach driver was given special permission to
drive right up to the ship's gangway. Unfortunately, some
port officials were waiting for us and wanted to see our
passports before allowing us to board the ship. We tried
to explain that our passports were all on the ship, with
the ship's reception department and that all we had were
ship entry cards. This didn't seem to be acceptable and
so we stood in the rain until somebody from the ship intervened
and convinced them to let us embark. After that, we were
given our passports back for subsequent excursions. |
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