Day: 23 of 35

Date: Saturday October 1, 2022

Segment: 21 of 32
Segment Start: St. Peters Bay
Segment End:  New Zealand

Actual Distance:  25.70k
Start Time:  10:07
End Time:   17:02
Elapsed Time (hh:mm): 6:55
Walking Time (hh:mm): 4:47

Average Moving Speed: 5.4 kph

Average Moving Pace: 11:10 min/km 
Total Ascent:   236m
Total Descent: 293m
Average Temperature: 23.8C

Interactive Route Map  (Walked Segment 21 clockwise but individual pieces in counter-clockwise)

Thoughts

Today we were able to do the first 3.5 km on the Confederation Trail because it had been cleared. However, the trail beyond this point was closed due to fallen trees. We had to cobble together our route as we went and I must say, were pretty successful. We found quiet, quaint roads that run close to parallel to the trail and only extended the projected route of 23 km to 25 km. A kind woman offered us a ride close to the end of our walk; when we declined and expressed our gratitude, she seemed surprised that we would pass it up. 

We are always grateful when we finish our walk and we look forward to dinner. Because so many restaurants are closed for the season we have been frequenting 2 restaurants in Summerside and becoming recognizable in both places. It is fun to have the same wait staff on repeat visits. We are also becoming very familiar with both menus and are able to order pretty quickly. 

Tomorrow we will almost reach the northeast tip of the island before beginning the descent to the southeast corner. We will officially be 2/3 way through our hike!

Contributor: Jane Huiskamp

Challenges

If the challenges of walking 700k over 32 days weren't enough, hurricane Fiona has challenged us by issuing her own.

From a tactical viewpoint, accommodations became a problem. With Fiona's imminent arrival on Sep 9th, we felt unsafe in our AirBnB cottage, so moved to a hotel in Summerside for 3 nights. This turned out to be a fortuitous decision as the hurricane winds caused a tree to fall on the spot where I normally parked our vehicle. Upon moving to our accommodations in Charlottetown, we discovered the hotel had no hydro, the city had little fuel and communication (Internet, phone) was iffy. We hightailed it back to Summerside where we remain.

Fiona's north winds caused many trees to fall, including those alongside the Confederation Trail which runs mainly east to west. This meant that all trees that came down crossed the trail perpendicularly making navigation difficult. Our first day on the trail after that weekend caused us I estimate an extra 1 1/2-2 hours to traverse. Several days later, authorities closed the trail. We handled that challenge by creating our own route circumventing the trail whenever the route called for the Trail. 

Given hydro, fuel and communication were spotty at best in Charlottetown and the east side of the island where we were headed, while Summerside in the south central returned to normalcy quickly, we made the strategic decision (from an Island walk perspective) to make Summerside our base going forward for all remaining walks, instead of using Charlottetown and Georgetown. This decision was key in giving us a chance of completing the walk. Without it, we'd be home by now.  

Each day we drive to the route's start and return to Summerside in the afternoon. Today for example, Summerside to New Zealand was a 270k round trip, not including the walk itself. To date, that decision is paying off. If we finish this walk, being flexible and willing to pivot will have been our key partners in this journey.

Contributor: Jerry Huiskamp

The Start (St. Peters Bay)

Found the Waypoint We Couldn't Find Yesterday

The Walk

St. Peter's Bay March

Marsh

View South of New Zealand

The End (New Zealand)

Another Satisfying Day