Green Gables

Part of the reason why my Aussie friends wanted to drive out to the countryside was to see Green Gables. I'd never heard of Anne of the Green Gables or Lucy Maud Montgomery and apparently I've missed out on a childhood treasure, similar to being ignorant of Winnie the Pooh.

Green Gables is a restored house where Lucy's cousins lived. The character of Anne and her surroundings are based upon the author's childhood visits to this farm.

There is a serene, wooded walk on the grounds where Lucy drew inspiration for her novels' setting.

The Anne series of novels has given impetus to the development of the tourism in PEI. It seems that the novels are very popular in translation in Japan. Sort of fits in with the Japanese penchant for fictional characters that stand out (Anne was a redhead, Pippi Longstocking was another). Sociologists can have a field day comparing this with the conformist nature of their society.

PEI can be divided into 3 regions and we were in the middle. We took the Blue Heron Drive. The red soil is a remarkable feature of PEI landscape. It's due to iron oxides.

To the north near Cavendish is a national park, set up to protect the dunes that protect PEI's soil from being blown away.

It was very windy but the jagged coastline was very scenic.

Fort Amherst historic site tells the story of the struggle between the French and the English in the early 1700's.

The poor Arcadian farmers got caught in between the two warring powers and their subsequent expulsion became a cause célèbre. American poet Longfellow based his epic poem Evangeline on this historical event.

Some Arcadians settled in Louisiana and became Cajuns but many later sneaked back or were allowed back into the maritime provinces.

Arcadians have been separated from France for so long that their language retains features that have died out in standard French.