It’s no surprise that the first place we chose to travel after 18 consecutive months in Ontario was Atlantic Canada. Early in the pandemic, the region formed a bubble, including Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland Labrador. Hotspot populous provinces like Ontario and Quebec weren’t welcome last summer. This summer, however, was a different story. And as of July 18th, 2021, those from outside the Atlantic Bubble were finally allowed to enter PEI. Provided, of course, they were double vaccinated and were willing to undergo a Covid test upon entry. The timing luckily corresponded to the reopening of Ontario, our home province. In fact, up until early July, we couldn’t leave our county of residence, Essex/ Windsor. Once we knew we could move beyond Ontario, we quickly applied for provincial passes to enter three Atlantic provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Entry into each was pretty quick and painless.
There were two fast moving lines processing travellers as we crossed into New Brunswick.
New Brunswick required travellers to identify a specific point of entry for a particular date. Because we tend to fly by the seat of our pants, we did have to apply again for a second pass since we couldn’t make it to the border on the first date. Both PEI and Nova Scotia left the point of entry and date wide open, which suited our style of travel. PEI was the only province of the three that required a Covid test. Being an island with 157,000+ residents, we appreciated their desire to keep the virus off the island. We both tested negative; yay! Having received no fewer than 53 Covid tests in the past year (Julie), I can say the PEI test was both thorough and gentle, and I cannot say that about too many of the tests which preceded that one. So, A+++ PEI!
Once we crossed the 13km bridge across the Northumberland Strait we were guided into one of 12 lanes for screening and Covid tests.
Gateway Village in Borden-Carlton, PEI illustrated just how profoundly Covid has affected tourism.
We entered Nova Scotia by ferry, showing our NS Pass once we had exited the ferry.
Travelling by camper van during a pandemic in our country was different than pre-Covid travel in that it required a little bit more planning. Overall, our manner of living in a pandemic era is pretty much the same whether we are stationary or moving about in our home on wheels.
Next up: Best of Prince Edward Island.