Oh, Canada!

 7/3 - 7/9/2022 - Calais, ME to St. Andrews, NB, 22 miles, stayed at Oceanfront Camping for 6 nights, c $58/night

7/9 - 7/12/2022 - St. Andrews, NB to Moncton, NB, 154 miles, stayed at Stonehurst Golf Course and Trailer Park for 3 nights, c$172.50

7/12 - 7/7/14/2022 - Moncton, NB to Glenholme, NS, 100 miles, stayed at Elm River RV Park,for 2 nights, c$60/night

7/14 - 7/18/2022 - Glenholme, NS to Hammond Plains, NS, 68 miles, stayed at Woodhaven RV Park of Halifax, for 4 nights, c$60/night

7/18 - 7/22/2022 - Hammond Plains,NS to Amherst, NS, 120 miles, stayed at Loch Lomond RV Park for 4 nights, c$50/night

7/22 - 7/28/2022 - Amherst, NS to Kensington, PEI, 76 miles, stayed at Twin Shores Camping Area for six nights, $610.10

7/28 - 7/31/2022 - Kensington, PEI to Amherst, NS, 76 miles, stayed at Loch Lomond RV Park for 3 nights, c$50/night

7/31 - 8/3/2022 - Amherst, NS to Hopewell Cape, NB, 66 miles, stayed at Ponderosa Pines Family Campground for 3 nights, c $170

Our First Month

One month down, and one month to go. Seems like we’ve been here forever, yet time has flown, and we’re halfway through our trip through Canada. Of course, it would take many months to see all of it, but we have focused on the Maritimes and the drive along the St. Lawrence River to Port Huron, since we were already on the US east coast.  The people are lovely, the scenery is breathtaking, the weather is cool(er), and I’ve had my fill of seafood, even 🦞!

 I’m sitting now, overlooking the Bay of Fundy, which has the biggest tide change in the world, from high to low tide, up to 53 feet, twice a day.  

We started in St. Andrews, a wonderful summer seaside town on Passamaquoddy Bay, just minutes across the border from Calais, Maine. We stayed for a week, exploring the waterfront and walkable little town, with its white-steepled churches and cemeteries, lighthouse, gardens and changing tides.  The only thing that stays open year-round is a school for special needs students.  Like many places, this used to be a playground for the rich.  After completing the Canadian Pacific Railroad, Sir William Van Horne built his summer home here on Minister’s island, which is only accessible when the tide is out.  Even FDR’s summer home, Campobello, is on a island in the bay, accessible only by boat. It’s funny to me that an American President had a home in Canada. Our RV Park was right on the water, so we could watch the tides go in and out every day.  

 

 

 

 

 

Next we moved to Moncton, which has several parks with observation areas to see the tide coming in.  It’s called a tidal bore, and looks like a small tidal wave, the water comes rolling in SO fast.  The soil is reddish brown, and the tide is always churning it, so it looks like chocolate milk.  Brave souls will ride the wave in rafts or kayaks to get the full effect.  We also drove to Shediac, the self proclaimed “Lobster Capitol of the World”

Near Halifax, we visited two beautiful places.  First, Peggy’s Cove, which only has about 40 permanent residents.  The tiny town is picturesque and known for its lighthouse on the rocks, which is used EVERYWHERE as the symbol of Nova Scotia.  It used to be a post office that visitors could go into, but now is closed, and stands majestically against the sea with tourists climbing all over the rocks.  On the way, we stopped at the Memorial for SwissAir flt. 111 that went down off the coast in 1998.

 

The next day, we drove to Lunenburg, a UNESCO World Heritage site, founded in 1753, and is today the best preserved example of a planned British Colonial settlement in North America. It was founded on fishing and canning and is still Canada’s largest secondary fish-processing plant. The Bluenose II, a replica of the original fishing schooner and racer, is based there, and visitors can sail in the harbor on it.  The streets are narrow and hilly.  The houses are colorful Victorians with black and white churches, and the day we were there, artists were creating art at various locations around town, drawing inspiration from their surroundings, en plain air, and selling them at the boardwalk.  Lovely!

 

 

 

 

Our next big stop was in PEI, where LM Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables, was born and raised.  We travelled around the island to several of her historic sites, and marveled at how rural this island still is.  They are known for their potatoes, and since Vodka is made from potatoes, they have a distillery.  Charlottetown is their biggest city, but we stayed across the island near Cavendish, and enjoyed the red-sand beaches and cliffs, lighthouses, gorgeous sunsets, and a traditional lobster dinner at New Glasgow Lobster Suppers.  I had a one-pound lobster with all-you-can-eat mussels and seafood chowder.  Bill had ham.  

 

 

 

 

Yesterday was New Brunswick Day, a provincial holiday, in which all the parks have FREE admission.  So we visited the Hopewell Rocks both at high tide, around 2:00 pm, and low tide at 6:30 pm.  At low tide, visitors can walk on the sea floor around and through the sea caves and carvings.  They have fun names like Elephant Rock, ET, and the Flower Pots.  But you have to watch out for the rising tide! There’s no warning , and you don’t want to get stuck out there.