My friends from Nova Scotia School had been going on annual golf trips for the past 3 years. With one of them departing to exile in Yellowknife, there was suddenly an opening for a replacement.
That's where I came in & suddenly I was attending my 1st annual (and their 4th annual) Nova Scotia School Golf Trip.
Nicole gave me a lift down to the ferry while the weather changed from nasty and rainy fog, to a beautiful sunset.
I've seen so many pretty sunsets while driving south to Port-Aux-Basques, that I'm certain Mother Newfoundland never wants me to leave.
For dinner, Nicole helped me towards my goal of eating Chinese in every small Newfoundland town.
We were pleasantly surprised as the Tai Hong wasn't too bad.
For the first time in all of my ocean crossings, I decided to splurge on a sleeping bunk - which I never realized were only $19.
It ended up being one of the best crossings I've ever had (although it was startling to wake up to a guy in the other bunk, after I went to bed with an empty bunk beside me).
I woke up when they made that damn announcement that they were an hour away from arriving. I was able to sleep a bit longer, but decided to get up when they made their second announcement that we were a 1/2 hour away.
I walked up to the peaceful deck to get away from all of the loud people who gather and wait for 45 minutes before being allowed down to their cars. Up here on the deck by the early morning light, as I approach the mainland, this is something that always puts a smile on my face & warmth in my heart.
Unfortunately my mood soured a bit, as I realized how hilly North Sydney was while I pulled my luggage & beer for 4km to the Avis Car Rental0.
I couldn't get very far off the beaten path, as I had to meet GW in 5 hours for the ferry crossing to PEI (it's a 4 hour drive from North Sydney to where the PEI ferry leaves).
Thankfully we got off the Trans Canada Highway in PEI - taking the local Secondary PEI Route 23 instead. The settlements were hardly bustling metropolises, but it was better than driving the Trans Canada again.
We eventually met Nick in Charlottetown and headed west to his house. This night was pretty quiet, as we drank beers and were amused with his cat Bogey.
Bogey would sleep on his back in that same position as well.
The next morning, on the way back from breakfast, I asked GW to stop at an abandoned building I noticed the previous day.
Looks to be a schoolhouse!
Away from a washroom, what you see in this picture is what there was in the schoolhouse.
I would later find a real estate listing where you could have this building for $17000! Your own abandoned schoolhouse in Springton, PEI!
James would join us eventually & it was finally time for some golf.
The nice weather had accompanied James and we were happy to have it at Eagles Glen.
Swing oil.
This was a day of firsts for me - first time drinking beer while golfing, first time playing 18 holes, first time renting carts...
It was also my first time golfing since my teenage years and I quickly learned about the quality of my competition.
I was happy to shoot my 139...and I was still 40 strokes behind James.
GW shot something ridiculous like 77 or 81.
We sped home & headed out for trivia night in the nearby small town of Kinkora. At one point, they were asking single questions like "What's the 7th best selling car in the history of the world?"...well anyway, I shut it down when they asked the colours of the Botswana flag - "Blue, Black, White." 2nd person to guess. Boom!
Afterward, we returned to Nick's for some more beers. Nick's cat managed to get out of the house & six of us took to looking for poor Bogey the house cat.
Personally, I started up the road and noticed some eyes in the woods. I broke into the woods and pish-pish'ed the cat over, until I was close enough to snatch the animal up.
Walking back to Nick's house, his wife's brother drove up & was excited that I apparently found Bogey. The thing was though, was that the cat certainly didn't like the big truck & started freaking out. Now as the cat started scratching me, it suddenly became crystal clear that this wasn't Bogey...Bogey is de clawed!!
Sorry random PEI cat!
(Nick would find eventually find Bogey hiding beneath a shrub in the morning).
The next morning I was able to add "golf in the pouring rain" to the list. Since we had rain gear & because the rain ended after only 4 holes, it was more amusing and nice than anything (it was nice in that we had the course to ourselves).
Anyway, this day we golfed Green Gables and even played a hole beside the Anne of Green Gables house.
I impressively dropped my last shot from 120 yards away, to hole out with my steady, consistent score of 139.
After golf this day, we still didn't go out in PEI as it seemed to be more hassle than it was worth. All of the people I wanted to see were in Nick's tiny hamlet, so why go anywhere else?
Nick & James went to bed early, then GW & I took to messing with James by trying to get Bogey to annoy him. I laid out chips for Bogey to follow, but he licked a little salt off one chip & then lost interest.
We finished up the golf trip with 18 at Andersons Creek. While the other courses were nice but not overly impressive - Andersons Creek stepped it up and showed us some nice country.
I golfed a little better to finish the trip with a 129.
407 total strokes over the weekend. Ha.
Unfortunately, the end of the weekend had come soon enough.
GW and I left for the PEI-NS ferry at Wood Islands, PEI. The crossing would be uneventful as we were both tired from drinking and early golfing.
We parted ways after arriving in Nova Scotia.
(By the way, that lighthouse is Wood Islands Lighthouse - which I still don't count as seeing because I've never had the time to go over and inspect it up close. I've always had to get on the PEI-NS ferry quickly.)
It was a tired, but enjoyable drive, as the rental car had satellite radio & I heard Rick Ross' Blowin' Money Fast several times.
I think I'm Big Meech! Uh! Larry Hoover!
Anyway, the drive & ferry went fine & I was soon back in the car headed towards Corner Brook. Since Nicole had never seen the Cape Anguille Light, it seemed a good idea to stop as the sun was setting.
I can't wait for the next golf trip.