New Brunswick (revisited), Canada - Aug 29 - Sep. 6, 2007

We headed north from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia on August 29th bound for Ponderosa Pines Family Campground in New Brunswick.  The park overlooks Fundy Bay and is only one mile from Hopewell Rocks. 

Hopewell Rocks boast the highest tides in the world and we were fortunate to visit during their nearly maximum tidal change of 46 feet.  This place is truly amazing.  In the morning we visited the Rocks and walked on the bottom of the sea, around the base of towering cliffs and pinnacles.  After lunch we returned at high tide and observed kayakers paddling around the tops of the pinnacles.  The rock formations are called the 'flower pots' because they are terra cotta red with trees and other vegetation on top.  This is really a 'must see'.

After two nights at Ponderosa Pines we moved south to Century Farms Family Campground in the charming village of St. Martins.  This is a fabulous park located on the Bay of Fundy.  We took long walks on the cobbled beach; walked through the village and past the harbor, leading to two covered bridges.  One bridge led to sea caves and the Fundy Trail beyond, the other to a peaceful forest road.  One morning we attended a pancake breakfast at the St. Martin community hall and dined with Mayor Jim.

Our first afternoon as we were strolling along the beach admiring the loons just off shore we noticed the very calm surf was bubbling like a newly poured glass of champagne.  In the late afternoon sun the bubbles had an effervescent shimmer.  We concluded there were a host of little sub-sand critters blowing bubbles for our amusement.

During our stay at Century Farm we met Bill and Cheryl Fitch, fellow full-timers.  They were also completing their Atlantic Provinces tour and were heading back to the US.  We joined them at the St. Martins Country Inn for dinner on their last night in Canada.  During our conversation we discovered we would all be staying in the same park in Ellsworth, Maine and planned to meet-up there.

Century Farm was just south of the scenic Fundy Trail Parkway.  After we biked it we decided it really should be called a mountain goat trail.  We had never biked in such steep terrain - we actually lost traction on our rear wheels while trying to climb the hills.  The downhills were heart stopping.  But we did it; we're proud and are currently awaiting our "I Survived the Fundy Trail" t-shirts.

We made two excursions into Saint John to wander around this historic city settled during and after the Revolutionary War by colonists loyal to the crown.  While in Saint John we visited the crowded Old City Market and the Famous Reversing Falls on the Saint John River.  Isn't everything 'famous' when presented in a tourist brochure?

The Reversing Falls were interesting, but we would call them rapids.  On the outgoing tide the rapids flow violently toward the sea, on the incoming tide they flow upstream, between tides the river is flat calm.  The best rapids were at low tide and they were quite impressive.  And, of course, you could take thrilling boat rides through the rapids... we didn't.

Alas, it was time to return to the States to collect two months of mail, call friends and family and leave the metric system and high fuel prices behind.   So on September 7th we bid a fond farewell to Canada, hitched up Kermit and made a run for the border.