Skip to main content

Bonjour East Coast - Part 2 - New Brunswick

New Brunswick welcomed us with vast forests and moose warnings on the extremely wide highway. We decided to stay safe and avoid driving at night. The highway was fenced on all sides, but there was still a risk.

Image curtesy of https://smokingbrakes.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/p1050018.jpg

Image curtesy of: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-TQlHIkIhQM/hqdefault.jpg

We first stopped at the information center to find out what the province has to offer.   First item on the list was change of the time by one hour forward, then we reviewed the New Brunswick tourism guide and marked items of interest.  

We also picked up the next month tide information for the Bay of Fundy for reference.

Because of the time difference we had to postpone the visit to Grand Falls until we make the return trip. (More on Grand Falls later)


We stopped in Fredericton for tasty dinner at Palate Restaurant and headed down to our accommodation in Gage Town.  Shortly after we left Fredericton we came across a road sign that said something like: Gage Town CFB Base, stay on a highway.  We were passing the active military exercise field.  The actual Gage Town is a small town on the St. John river about 10 km off the highway. 
At arrival we were greeted by our hosts and their over enthusiastic dog Annie.

Our agenda for the next day was to stop at Hopewell Rock Provincial Park.


When you arrive to Moncton and start the drive along the river, it is hard not to notice the muddy Petitcodiac river that empties to the Bay of Fundy.  It is called Chocolate River by the locals, but you probably do not want to drink from it directly.  Because of the daily bore, it is a mix of fresh and salty water, and it is not considered a source of water for the surrounding towns.


We arrived during the high tide at the Hopewell Rocks park and took some pictures from the view points.  It was also a very windy day that they had to cancel the kayak attraction. Apparently you can kayak on the nice day around the rocks during a high tide.




From there we stopped at Octopus;s Garden Cafe and off to the Fundy National Park where we went for a walk and enjoyed the different types of ferns.  We identified the ostrich ferns, and what we later learned were the cinnamon ferns.  There were few more but we did not know their names.

In St. John we stopped at Big Tide brewery for a quick dinner and head off back to our accommodation.

Before the end of the first visit to New Brunswick we also stopped at the Magnetic hill which was a cool experience to ride up the hill.

On our trip back through New Brunswick we stopped again at the Hopewell Rocks park during the low tide and were able to walk on the ocean floor.





Here is the comparison of low and high tides:



Then we had a nice scroll on the banks of the chocolate river and dinner in Moncton.

On the way back out of New Brunswick we stopped at the Grand Falls and enjoyed the sight of the stone formations and the very deep gorge.



We barely escaped the incoming thunderstorm, that caught up with us on the way to Quebec.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Alps - Mississauga Festival Choir Europe Tour 2014

From Vienna we drove into the Alps.  It was fun watching the mountains growing in front of us. Even with a glare on the bus windows I tried to take some pictures of the experience of driving through the Alps and its fabulous lakes. The destination of our trip was Hallstatt.  A tiny town with absolute stunning views!  Our short visit to Hallstatt included singing at the Lutheran Church of Hallstatt which is a well known landmark with its tall picked roof rising above the town. We then continued our trip to Saltzburg.  Here are some additional mountain pictures that I was able to capture on the way. Hallstatt is one of the places I plan to visit again and stay for at least a week if not more relaxing, looking and hiking at the mountains and enjoying the peace and quiet of the place.

Venice - Mississauga Festival Choir Europe Tour 2017

First stop Venice.  This city of 118 islands. It feels like every inch of the land and the lagoon reclaimed space needed to be utilized to the fullest. Narrow water passages and even narrower walkways creates the unique atmosphere of Venice. Probably the only place on earth were bus is a boat, police is traveling by boat, and even ambulance is a boat. One of the things to notice about Venice, is the absence of trees and greenery.  Besides the numerous balcony gardens, there are no parks we were able to see in Venice.  The town is flooded numerous times during the year and any green space turned to swamp or a mud puddle.   Fun fact: The ground floor of all the buildings do not hold any living space. Fun Fact: At any given day, there are more tourists in the city than there are residents. A lot of the people that work in Venice come each morning from the mainland.  The requirement to transfer all the goods from mainland to Venice, is also raising ...

War on Christmas

What is Christmas? Exerts from Wiki: The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of   pre-Christian , Christian, and   secular   themes and origins.   Christmas  is an annual  festival  commemorating  the birth  of  Jesus Christ ,observed primarily on December 25 ... Popular modern customs of the holiday include  gift giving , completing an  Advent calendar  or  Advent wreath ,  Christmas music  and  caroling , lighting a  Christingle , viewing a  Nativity play , an exchange of  Christmas cards ,  church services , a  special meal , pulling  Christmas crackers  and the display of various  Christmas decorations , including  Christmas trees ,  Christmas lights ,  nativity scenes ,  garlands ,  wreaths ,  mistletoe , and  holly .  So let's think.. Gift giving - Not forbidden ...