Fredricton to the Magdalene Islands and back to Fredricton!

We decided to make the trip to the Magdelene Islands on Saturday so we would have a bit of time to look around on Sunday. Our ferry was set to leave at 2pm so we left at 8am and made the five hour drive in order to arrive an hour early.

As 3 pm rolled around and we were still stuck in our van in the pouring rain in the lineup waiting to be let onto the ferry, James suddenly had the inspiration to ask someone why we were still waiting. Apparently they had decided to wait until 6 to depart and had conveniently neglected to mention that important fact when James had called earlier to ask if the ferry was still on schedule.

Of course, they weren't about to let us onto the ferry before then because, as we were told, it's "not a motel" (by the way it basically is the closest thing to a floating motel that there is), so we had to sit in our van for four hours staring at the ferry as it mocked us from meters away. Luckily we had some company in the gigantic moose carcass strapped to the trailer directly beside us like some absurd parade float.

Again James had an inspired idea, this time it was to have a pizza delivered to our van as we waited. 20 points for James!

Eventually they did let us on, and we bid farewell to our decomposing new friend, and made our way to the relative comfort of the ferry lounge area readying ourselves for a peaceful journey.

Unfortunately about 20 minutes in to the ferry ride it became apparent that we were in for a wee bit of a bumpy ride. I later likened it to being on roller coaster that didn't stop for five hours. Upon our arrival Charlotte (who spent almost the entire ride trying not to move and looking rather green) was heard to remark "that was the worst experience of my life".

But in the end it was all worth it, and kind of fun in a ridiculous way. We had the Sunday to tour around the islands (archipelago?) and let me tell you they (it?) are (is?) beeeeeoooootiful, although unbelievably windy. We then had two shows on Monday in Grosse Ille, which included our first performance of I Don't Like Mondays in two weeks. The audiences were very attentive but also the quietest audiences I've ever not heard.

It was a little weird for us, but afterwards the kids were genuinely appreciative. We even got to be interviewed for the school yearbook by the graduating class which consisted of two students. It was too bad we didn't have more time to spend there but we had to get the ferry back on Tuesday. Luckily the ferry ride back was much smoother and we spotted what we decided was a dolphin. Then it was back to Fredericton for 7 shows in three days.

- Adam