Driving from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island … I’ve now visited all the Canadian Provinces

Canada is huge … in fact, Canada is the second largest country in the world. Here’s some interesting Canadian travel facts that might interest some Trinis

• For the single men …  for every 100 men, Canada has 104 women … while in Trinidad, for every 10o men, there are 94.5 women … What!!!
  • The provinces where the imbalance is greatest are Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia; both have more than 105 women for every 100 men.
• Canada is the world’s 2nd largest country, behind Russia, while Trinidad is 174th in the world.
• The largest Island in Canada is Baffin Island. Its area is 507,451 km² (195,928 sq miles) while Trinidad  has an area of 4,828 km² (1,863 sq mi) … for the math geeks … it’s 105 times bigger!
• The 12.9 kilometre (8 mile) long Confederation bridge connecting Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water … the distance between Trindad and Tobago is about 25 km.
• Canada is home to the largest freshwater island in the world : Manitoulin Island with an area of 2,766 km² (1,068 square miles) – yep an island inside a lake is almost as large as Trinidad!
• If you want the best road trip, you can drive the longest national highway in the world – the 7699 km Trans-Canada Highway from St. John’s, Newfoundland on the East Coast to Victoria, British Columbia on the West Coast. It takes about 5-6 days to drive the entire route in Canada each way!

Now, although I’ve officially visited every province in Canada, I have not visited any of the Territories … Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. When driving from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island, the distance between Moncton, NB to Charlottetown, PEI is about 2 hours and it’s a nice little drive but you do have to cross the Confederation Bridge.

While the Confederation Bridge is one of Canada’s engineering marvels, you also have to pay through the nose to cross the thing … basically 44.50$ for a car. You only pay when you leave PEI … here are the 2013 prices

• First 2 Axles     $44.50
• Pedestrian     $4.25
• Cyclist     $8.50

Personally there is no way I would want to walk the bridge but I wouldn’t mind cycling the bridge though. I walked and cycled across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and that was definitely a highlight of any trip I’ve made to San Francisco. As for cycling the Confederation Bridge … I don’t know if I would trust the high winds that blow across the bridge and definitely not in the winter!

Once you cross the bridge … I did take the world most boring bridge cross video while doing it … you have the option for a couple of scenic drives around PEI – I borrowed the following links from Tourism PEI. It’s a great resource to use while you’re there.

• 350-kilometre North Cape Coastal Drive

• 253-kilometre Central Coastal Drive

• 475-kilometre Points East Coastal Drive

For the Trinis … you can actually drive to Crapaud … *snicker snicker”. While in Crapaud, you can visit the Crapaud community center or play in Crapaud Park or send mail from the Crapaud Post Office.

If you’re going to PEI, I actually suggest that you watch Anne of Green Gables on DVD or download it. It definitely will inspire this first trip to PEI. The rolling hills, blowing grass and all the hay in the world … it’s called the Green Province for a reason!