Amélie Hikes the East Coast Trail – DAY 42

WATER COVE TO PORT KIRWAN’S BELLE MAISON
(minus Kingman’s Cove Rd.)

Heather was teaching today, so I (Sébastien) decided to do an easy hike with the girls. Since the northern section of Bear Cove Point Path is a solid ATV trail, I felt it was a great place to go. This is a BEAUTIFUL woodland section of the ECT. By far one of the best ATV sections on the trail (no bogs, no ruts, no loose gravel – just a good, hardened footpath), Amélie’s little legs had no issue with the trail.

Despite the fact that it’s late October, there were still enough blueberries on the entire length of the trail to keep Évangéline happy. And because it’s so late in the season, these are perfectly ripe – the sweetest blueberries we’ve found all year!

When we got to Joes River at Water Cove, I decided to turn around, since this is where the ATV trail turns into a footpath.

Amélie DID NOT want to turn back.

AT ALL.

She was having too much fun playing “I Spy.”

Despite the fact that she really doesn’t get the point of the game.

AT ALL.

I managed to convince her by promising her to play “I Spy” on the way back to the trailhead and a treat when we get to the corner store. When we got to the corner store, Amélie still had tons of energy, so I decided to do the community link up to Port Kirwan. This is a lot farther than I anticipated. What the road sign says is 2km is really 4.5km.

Port Kirwan is one of the hidden jewels of the Southern Shore. It’s a beautiful place, with tons of well-made stone retaining walls, great folk art, traditional architecture, all neatly contained in a rugged landscape. By the time we got to “downtown” Port Kirwan, all three of us were tired and hungry. Spotting a sign that said “Belle Maison – Dine and Dream,” we knocked on the door in the hopes that the restaurant was open during the shoulder season. Turns out, this isn’t a restaurant at all – it’s a B&B!

The wonderful couple who owns this magical place immediately offered Amélie a snack which she happily gobbled up. Offered a tour of the place, we can attest that it bears its name of “Belle Maison” very well (“beautiful house”).

What an awesome place!

And what awesome people – true archetypes of coastal community generosity. Alvin & Sharon: Thank you for your hospitality! We’ll definitely stop by again!

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AMÉLIE’S PROGRESS

ect-progress-day-42

  • Amélie’s total progress: 109.5km/316km
  • Distance walked by the adults today: 13km
  • Total distance walked by the adults: 207.4km

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