Down East with the Cousins

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Jeff

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Down East has several connotations in Maine and the Atlantic provinces of Canada. Sailing ships from Boston that plied the eastern coasts of the US referred to sailing to Maine as sailing "down east" with prevailing westerly winds and the northeast heading required when leaving Boston. For the easternmost Canadian provinces they are "Down East" in reference to other parts of Canada "up" the St Lawrence River.

In any event we have arrived Down East in every sense of the word as we crossed into Canada at Perth-Andover NB from northern Maine yesterday morning and followed the Queen's Hwy, Rte 2, down to Fredericton, New Brunswick where we are spending a few days. We are parked at the Woolastook Park, a former Provincial Park that is now a private campground overlooking the St John River.

Jeff's maternal grandmother came from the Fredericton area and his great great grandparents probably have descendants here but there is not time for any more genealogical research this time. While she was definitely Canadian (eh) she may well have ancestors from the US as Fredricton was settled for the final time by Loyalists fleeing to Nova Scotia from the American Colonies at the end of the Revolutionary War. These colonists petitioned the King to create a separate province that was named New Brunswick and Fredricton was soon named it's capital.We had time Thursday afternoon for the changing of the guard and a tour of the restored military barracks that protected Fredericton since the late 1700's. The people here are unbelievably helpful wherever you go so being a tourist is a delightful experience.

Friday started out raining and let up enough for Jeff to wash a few weeks grime off the m/h before heading to town to see a movie and dinner this evening.

Tomorrow we will visit King's Landing, a historical village depicting the early settlements of New Brunswick including a paupers auction this weekend showing the sale of the destitute 200 years ago. Sue is also planning on being at the Boyce Farmers Market Saturday morning that opens at 6:00AM, a longtime tradition of Fredericton.
 

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Thanks for the report Jeff. We sure enjoyed New Brunswick when we visited, and experienced some of that openness and welcoming of visitors. People would see our California plates and come up to us in a parking lot, asking about our trip and making sure we felt welcome.
 
The lighthouse that barely shows on the left side of your first photo is interesting inside with numerous photos of the area as it used to look.  They did a nice job of ramping inside so you don't have to climb a ton of stairs.  You also can take a nice little tour boat on the river.  It's a pretty area.

ArdraF
 
Historic New Brunswick

Today has been a relaxing day; this morning we headed back into Fredericton to see the Boyce Farmers Market where Sue picked up some fresh homegrown vegetables and we had a late breakfast. The Market has been in existence for over 50 years, is open year around, and is a Fredericton tradition. Fortunately it is under cover as we woke up to a foggy morning with a steady drizzle that lasted into the early afternoon.

We returned to our campground, dropped off the vegetables and drove up the St John River four miles to King's Landing, a Historic Village that depicts live in New Brunswick in the mid 1850's.

In addition to the normal displays the day's event was a Pauper's Auction, an annual event in the area until near 1900. The group included a opposition group lobbying loudly that the auction, a local copy of the British answer to poverty, was thinly disguised slavery.

The sun came out late this afternoon and we are enjoying a beautiful evening. We leave in the morning for Cape Hopewell Rocks and Fundy National Park to the south of Moncton.
 

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Jeff Cousins said:
...We had time Thursday afternoon for the changing of the guard and a tour of the restored military barracks that protected Fredericton since the late 1700's. The people here are unbelievably helpful wherever you go so being a tourist is a delightful experience...

So what are the two guys that look like they are wearing aprons and carrying shovels over their shoulders?  ???  ???  ???
 
Kodiak:

We were told the Guards wearing the aprons and carrying axes represented the pioneer infantrymen who wore the aprons to protect their uniforms and carried axes and other tools for heavy work.
 
We got an early start this morning and drove through the Fundy National Park to Alma, New Brunswick where we are spending the night. Alma is a quaint seaside town at the entrance to Fundy National Park that is home to a lobstering fleet and is a tourist mecca during the summer months.

After setting up this noon we drove up the Bay a few miles to Cape Enrage to visit the Cape Enrage Lighthouse and see our first instance of the 40 foot plus Bay of Fundy tides, the highest in the world. We will spend the next couple of days following the NB side of the Bay north and will see the Nova Scotia side and the lower NB coast after returning from Newfoundland in late August.

Cape Enrage must be a wild scene during a winter storm blowing up the Bay but is a great way to spend an afternoon in July. At the point of demolition after the Lighthouse was automated in 1980 the Coast Guard facility at the Cape was saved by a group of Moncton High School students who took on the job of restoring the buildings and grounds and ownership was formerly transferred in 2004 from the Canadian Coast Guard to Cape Enrage Adventures, one of two organizations set up for the student management.

Currently up to 20 students operate the facility including a restaurant, gift shop, zip line, kayaking, and rappelling area down the cliffs to Fossil Beach on the bay. Donations are requested from guests and income from the concessions pay operating costs.

While climbing down to the beach to watch the beginning of the receding tide we watched an 85 year old celebrate her birthday as she has for the past four years by rappelling down the 150 foot high cliff. As soon as Sue saw her successfully reach the bottom she wanted to check on the zip line ride. Before long Jeff was snapping photos of grandma zipping across the gap not once but twice before she had had enough!

We returned to Alma to watch the tides approaching ebb and to enjoy a walk around the peaceful community. The day ended with a delicious lobster dinner at the Driftwood Inn.Tomorrow we head further up the Bay to Hopewell Cape to see the Hopewell Rocks and more of the tidal bore.
 

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Jeff, we left the cottage in Shediac yesterday for home in Dartmouth and won't be back until Friday.  By the sounds of your itinerary we won't overlap on this part of the trip.  I thought that you were starting with the Acadian Peninsula and working your way down the coast. 
 
Jeff:  In a few days I will be posting some New Brunswick shots at Picasa.  My main computer refuses to get online and no one seems to know why.  I am currently using a backup computer.
 
Ed:

I'm afraid you may be right. We are planning on heading over to Shediac on Wednesday and planned to leave Friday AM for PEI. Will have to see if we find enough to do to stick around.
 
As soon as Sue saw her successfully reach the bottom she wanted to check on the zip line ride. Before long Jeff was snapping photos of grandma zipping across the gap not once but twice before she had had enough!

Jeff, does this mean we can now call your ever-lovin' "Zippy Sue"?  Way to go, Sue!

ArdraF
 
forcast is rain for Wednesday, and the beach isn't much fun in the rain.  We were planning on being back Wednesday, but unfortunately we had a friend pass away and the funeral is Thursday, so won't be back until late Thursday.  As for going to PEI, you would be best to take the coach to Shediac, and go to the Island from there, the Bridge is only about a half hour run, and you're backtracking about 70 miles one way.
 
When you visit the Maritimes plan on some wet weather! After two weeks of glorious weather it started raining early this morning and continued until mid afternoon. We stayed in Alma long enough to run down to the docks and pick up a couple of pounds of fresh scallops this morning and take a picture of the full ebb tide.

Our drive today was a short 40 miles up to Ponderosa Pines CG next to Hopewell Rocks where we spent a lazy afternoon. In the morning we will go down to the Rocks before low tide at 9:00AM and watch the tide return and hopefully have more photos tomorrow.
 

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Jeff,

Nice photos of the boats high and dry tied to the dock!  I particularly like them because you just don't see tides like that out here.

JerryF
 
Jeff and Sue,

Sure hope you enjoy Hopewell Rocks as much as we did!  It's a fascinating place.

ArdraF
 
Today we climbed down to the ocean bottom twice, and climbed back up once! We are camped next door to the Hopewell Cape Ocean Floor Exploration Site, a beautiful Bay of Fundy  landmark that really demonstrates the power and depth of the tides here. From the visitor?s center it is a 15 minute walk downhill to the steps that lead down to the beach at low tide and allows visitors to stroll among the Flower Pot Rocks that have been formed over time.

The rock here is a conglomerate of sand and gravel that has been compressed and cracked by volcanic action over the last few hundred thousand years. Because the rock is relatively soft the tidal action erodes the cracks in the rock causing large fissures that separate the standing rock formations from the cliffs and then proceed to erode the bases until they collapse. In the meantime new formations are being formed. If you won?t get here for awhile don?t worry, they estimate that there is enough material left in the cliffs to last another 100,000 years or so!

We then climbed down the steps to the ocean floor and strolled down the Bay seeing the different formations at low tide this morning at 9:36AM. After our stroll it was time to climb the 5 levels of steps and the 15 minutes climb back UP the path to the visitor?s center!

We then drove up to Moncton to stock up at Costco, have lunch and visit Magnetic Hill, a Moncton landmark that is probably overrated but seems to be on everyone?s list of must-see sights. The hill gives the illusion of driving down the hill for a few hundred feet and then, with the car in neutral, pulls the car back ?up? the hill.

After lunch we worked our way back down the bay to Hopewell Cape again, this time at high tide at 3:47PM. We walked down to the steps and took photos showing the difference in low tide this morning and the Bay full of water this afternoon. Tide today was 41 feet.

After walking down twice and climbing back up this morning we decided to ride the tram back to the parking lot. We then decided we hadn?t had lobster for two days so it was off to a local restaurant advertising a Lobster dinner for $21.95-MISTAKE! The lobster Jeff had was small and tough, another lesson that you get what you pay for! Oh well, we have another 7 weeks or so to find some more good ones; our next stop is Shediac, the Lobster Capital of NB and then PEI and Newfoundland who are both known for their great lobsters.

We returned to The Ponderosa Pines Campground next door to Hopewell Rocks, not one of the better campgrounds we have been in. The crowded campsites are too small and covered with trees that prevent us from using our satellites. They have constructed new campsites that are out in a meadow overlooking the Bay but have not raised the money to have the local utility run new power lines to the property.

But that is not a problem either, we leave in the morning for Shediac, NB.
 

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Jerry & Ardra:

It was a great day! The tides here are awesome and deserve the attention they get from everyone in the area. Up at Moncton is a large dam to prevent tidal damage above the dam if it wasn't in place. Flooding in reverse!
 
Since it looks like we will miss you in Shediac as we won't be back until Thursday night, how long do you expect to be in PEI.  Where are you booked in Shediac and in PEI?  We have been talking about going to PEI but there too, it won't be until Tuesday at the earliest, likely after you've left.
 
Ed:

We arrived at Etoile Filante this morning leaving Friday morning.

Have not booked a campground on PEI as I am getting frustrated with the campgrounds we end up in because of deposits so was planning on just heading over and see what we can find.

We will probably be somewhere on PEI until Monday or Tuesday when we take the ferry over to NS.
 
Depending on what time we get back Thursday night, we may stop by to say hello.  I'm sure you saw my afterthought in Betty's string, one of the lobster pounds I referred to is a quick walk/drive across the Fosch Bridge towards town, from where you are camped.  The cottage is about a five minute drive from you, at Parlee Beach.  As for the Island, I think they are saying there is lots of availability.  The Cavendish Area has lots of campgrounds, and is near the Anne of Green Gables cottage.  If you are into golf, the course there is reasonable, but Dunder Rave or Crowbush are very challenging.  We seem to be having difficulty in getting together, but that's the way it goes. 
 
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