Our first night is spent in a large, impeccably restored Victorian house in the town of Souris. The Matthew House Inn has a parlour, lampshades with long fringe and a porch in the shade of huge linden trees. In the dining room we re served dinner by candlelight. Our next day s paddle takes us into the Fortune River at low tide. We have just enough water to paddle before reaching the shore line of the Inn at Bay Fortune.
Wheat fields stretch to a ridgetop behind the inn.
A fishing wharf is a short walk down this road. At 5 pm, it is empty and still. Great blue herons stand on the tidal flats in the river. Lobster traps are piled by the shore near the bait shacks. In the menu at the inn, chef Michael Smith says he tries to maximize the flavour and aesthetic potential of his ingredients, many of which are grown or raised on the island.