PEI

It's fairly obvious to me that huge numbers of people are working in areas that just don't suit their temperaments. I'm searching in earnest for a public service vocation that's more dynamic than the spirit-crushing desk-bound work I'm used to. Then there's the old lady that 'welcomed' myself and my travelling companion Muksumi into her B&B at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island the other night. Upon arriving she roughly informed us that the room we thought we'd reserved didn't exist and all she has left was an apartment next door, which would be more expensive. After we hauled our bags to the apartment we were rudely accused of being 'blind' because we couldn't find the right room. "No we're *not* blind. I think we'll go elsewhere" I steadfastly informed her (and through herclean effort held back adding "you black-hearted old cow.")

The business of inviting exhausted backpackers into your home seems like an odd line of work for somebody who may not exactly like people (and it reminds me of a tour guide I had once on an Australian outback adventure who creeped out all the foreigners; they'd keep coming up to me and asking why he was so mean to them!) Muksumi had a similar situation at the first B&B she stayed at on PEI a few days before, so in a town of only 32,000 you've gotta wonder if this is an accurate cross section of the people...

It don't think it is. Prince Edward Island, my latest stopover in Atlantic Canada was generally awesome and the people were laid back and friendly. PEI is the smallest province in Canada, accessible by the lengthy Confederation Bridge (12km long), which is the longest bridge in the world to straddle water that's frozen in winter. It's hard to picture this idylic and currently warm atlantic paradise, in the midst of a blustery and snowy winter. The capital Charlottetown is the birth place of Canada's federation. I visited Province House where the founding fathers did their thing at the conference of 1864 and I was blown away by the beauty St Dunstan's Basilica church. There are no old gothic-styled buildings like this one in Western Canada.

My first day on the island was quite emasculating(?). I'd stayed the night before in a nice old lady's B&B with lots of 'frilly things'. I then spent the day driving a hire car to Cavendish with some Japanese girls to see the house that LM Montgomery, author of 'Anne of Green Gables', grew up and wrote her works in (apparantly 'Anne of Green Gables' is very popular in Japan and I spotted whole bus loads of Japanese girls around central PEI). "What am I doing?" I thought. "I should be back in Halifax, knocking back beers with some old sea dogs in a grimey seaside pub!? This is too...quaint for an angry young man!"

I spent the afternoon brooding at the wheel while the girls giggled and had a grand time in the back seat, until we finally came upon a seaside B&B to spend the night. It turned out to be such a fabulous place that we stay two extra nights. For the first time in a very long time I pretty-much just relaxed (guilt-free), went biking, took photos and stolled along the red sandy secluded beaches. I devoured a biography of Robert Kennedy and an old Canadian junior high text book on Engish history. The best part is that we'd arrived right at the tail end of the holiday season so rooms were cheap and there were no nasty consumers anywhere!

I must come back to that guest house one day. If I'm ever going to write the 'great Australian novel' it's going to be at Andy's Guest House, PEI, Canada, staring out into the North Atlantic, a loooong way from home.

MG