Art gallery

We spent time in an art gallery recently, though not a traditional one. This gallery is in the Evangeline region of Prince Edward Island and is called the St. Chrysostome Wildlife Management Area. Almost 1000 acres of wetlands and forest are protected, with Ducks Unlimited involved. To the east, a few cottages line the coast but we walk west.

There aren’t any trails or boardwalks here, a beach which has driftwood and seaweed but otherwise is clean and wild. 

On first look, there appears to be grassland between the forest and the ocean but as we continue, a pond comes into view a few meters inland.

And ducks, one looks almost too perfect to be real.

The pond has a small beach and as we approach, hundreds of small fish dart away from the shore into the grasses.

The artist takes her time creating her pieces and they stir the imagination. 

We see an octopus, 

an alien hand,

a dinosaur’s tibia,

and the skeleton of a jellyfish-like creature.

I stealthily capture a picture of Medusa.

In another location, branches reach out of the grass. 

From another angle they look entirely different.

As we continue along the beach, we notice a river which wends its way through the wetland 

and another pond or the extension of the previous one. It is impossible to determine from our location. In this pond, ducklings follow their mother.

Lunch is on the beach, as the wind plays music in the tall grass of nature's gallery.

Evangeline

We recently visited the Francophone area of Prince Edward Island, the Evangeline region, just west of Summerside. The area is home to Acadians, 

 

French speaking descendants of the original French settlers to the island, who survived the expulsion at the hands of the British from 1755-1764.

Headed to Evangeline, my husband and I stopped first at a nearby provincial park at Linkletter. Here, at high tide, walking on the tons of seaweed was akin to walking on sponge.

 

The Confederation Bridge is visible in the distance as is the Indian Head Lighthouse at the entrance to Summerside Harbour.

 

Further along the south shore, we dropped by the park at Union Corner where the bridge is visible again but appears as a mirage in the middle of Northumberland Strait.

 

The layers of sandstone in the shoreline here are thinner than any we've seen elsewhere. 

 

Nearby, the shoreline was lined with cottages, some of which were fortified against erosion.

 

The lobster fishery begins in the summer on the south shore so the wharves are not busy as they are on the north side. In Evangeline, boats are still high and dry, waiting their turn at the lobster. We did spot one retired boat, which had seen better days. 

 

A cultural center in Abram Village is the site of summer musical performances in the Acadian tradition. 

 

Those musicians on the Galerie walls will be joined by those inside playing Acadian music. And of course, there is the food!

Acadian festival

Further along the coast, in the community of Egmont Bay, a beaver was busy in the Jacques River which flows out of Arsenault's Pond.

 

She, like the other beavers we've seen on the island, was impossible to photograph, as she disappeared under water when we tried a closer look.

The Jacques River has a fish ladder which allows trout, salmon, smelts and Gaspereau to swim up-river. Both the river and the pond above are licensed for sport fishing. 

 

Gaspereau, the Acadian term for alewife, is a type of herring which swims from the ocean inland to spawn, as do smelts. The ladder makes it easier for the fish to get into the pond. 

We were familiar with fish ladders from our days living near the Exploits River in central Newfoundland. There, Atlantic salmon, much bigger fish than smelts and alewives, use the ladder at Grand Falls-Windsor to swim up-river. We didn't see any fish negotiating the ladder in Egmont Bay.

We enjoyed our exploration of part of Evangeline and will return soon.