New Brunswick, Canada Part I

We left Acadia around noon and arrived outside the border of New Brunswick a little after 2:00 pm.  We filled up the tanks knowing the gas would be higher in Canada then crossed the border.  The roads were so bumpy from Acadia to New Brunswick that everything bounced off the couch and some of the doors opened...it looked like we got ransacked!

We thought we would get inspected but it was a piece of cake coming into Canada...the border guard asked a few questions then said welcome to Canada.

The view was pretty from the highway as we continued to St. Martin.

We passed through the outskirts of St. John which we planned on coming back to one day to explore.

We arrived in St. Martins close to six o'clock but there was still plenty of daylight left to set up and have dinner.  Once we checked in, a man named Baird in a golf cart escorted us to our campsite.  We had a great spot looking right at the caves. 

The view of the caves on the Bay of Fundy from the campground were beautiful.  The town of St. Martins was not very big at all and I was surprised at this since this was a really beautiful sight.

It was somewhat windy and chilly but the beach was clean with red sand and lots of rocks.  

I asked Baird where the dog walk was and he said all along the Marsh near the beach.  It was a really nice path with lots of birds.  

This was the campground view from the Beach....there were a lot of seasonal campers with permanent decks on the far side of the beach and the transient campsites were on the oceanside.  There were a lot of people sitting outside around their campfires.  

We got in the car and drove through the very small town, over to the caves and through this covered bridge.  We then went back to the beginning of town to the one and only liquor store around.  

In low tide the boats sit on the bottom of the harbor

We then drove up the road a little and when we were ready to turn around the GPS told us to go left.  We did so even though it was a dirt road but we continued on for a few miles.

We finally got back to the main road but decided to check out the lighthouse we had seen off in the distance from the campground.

We then headed back to the campground for the night.

The next day we ate breakfast at a restaurant in town then stopped by the small grocery store.  We needed more than what they had to offer so we decided to head for the closest grocery store in a town called Hampton about 30 miles away.

It was Canada day and there were festivities going on in this town as we drove through after going to the store.  I was kind of shocked at the prices, much more than we were paying back in the US.

On our way back we came across more covered bridges like this one which was quite long.  People would beep so you knew they were coming since they were one lane only bridges. 

  We had the GPS on and missed a few turns to get back to St. Martins and since we had it on shortest route it took us to an unpaved road.  As we continued to drive it got bumpier and more holes and rocks in the road.  We passed some guys with ATV's who looked at us kind of strange.

Before we knew it we had gone about 9 kilometers and decided it was best to keep going instead of turn around.  The road was getting worse so we put in detour on the GPS and it took us left.  Well I don't know if it was better or not but it sure was not great.  We came to several "puddles" like this one.

Ty was stressing to the max as he hates any kind of bump in the road and this was non stop.  At one point I got out of the car with him and walked behind since we could not go over 5 miles or so an hour.  We came upon this older model Toyota Corolla which Bill had to laugh about saying this could be us!

A few ATV'ers went by and again looked at us strangely but waved.  I got back in the car and we continued on until another ATV came along.  This was an older gentleman with mud all over his face, body and ATV.  He said they don't see too many cars out here and figured we probably had made a wrong turn.  We explained about the GPS and he said that is not the first time that had happened out there.  This was a snowmobiling and ATV trail and if we continued on the fork, don't go straight, turn right and we will see the farm on the left continue going straight and it will take you out to a paved road.    That was the best news we could have heard at that point!  A return journey that should have taken us less than 45 minutes ended up taking over two hours!  Bill was ready to throw the GPS out the window but we were just glad to get back to the campground.  

The campground was getting filled up pretty quickly as it was Friday and Canada day.  By the time it was dark at 10:15 pm the fireworks started on the beach.  Nothing like the US where you have to be so far away from where they are setting them off.  There were also some down by the caves as a whole bunch of people had gathered there as well.  The rules were no walking around with drinks and everyone abided by this rule.  I saw nobody with a drink in their hand during the festivities.

 After the fireworks they lit the big bonfire they had built on the beach earlier in the day.  There was a big spool from electrical wire in there as well as some other wood items.  By 11:00 pm quiet time, most people with kids had retired for the night.  A few still had campfires going but they were very quiet.   Our neighbors that we had met earlier in the day were from St. John's but spend three months a year down in Clermont, Florida....they knew the make of our RV since Born Free has a dealership there.  Their daughter, son in law and grandchildren had come for the days festivities and even though they were teenagers seemed to have a great time hanging out with their family.  

The next day the weather looked good so we decided to head to St. John's to see the reversing falls and the city itself.  Right away I was in awe of the river and the flow.   We decided to do the speed boat ride on the river and signed up for the one that was at 1:40 pm.  High tide was 12:00 pm about the time we got there.

This is what you wear just to keep you warm.....not dry......

I bought a T-shirt and changed into that so I had something dry just in case I got wet.  We then waited and watched the current passengers speeding up and down the river.  It looked like fun!

These kayakers where going over the rail here to paddle against the current....crazy and illegal if they catch you.  You take your life in your own hands here in this country......

This was one of the many harbor seals we saw in the reversing falls

You could even zipline over the falls if you wanted

                                           There were hundreds of birds, some of them floating down the river
                                              in the current.

Our turn was finally here and what fun it was.  I was the only one screaming and the driver, Andre had to make a joke about it.  He was full of jokes and we laughed the whole time.  You have to be crazy to do this job for 16 years like he has.   They liked to joke about getting wet and sure enough we did....At one point we had to watch for the kayakers and the seals but it was a great ride on the river and we were glad we did it.

After we got back and got out of the yellow jackets and pants and changed into our dry clothes, we headed up the hill to a nice park they had built overlooking the river and the city in the distance.  

Here were some more harbor seals on the river

We then drove over the bridge to the visitor center

There was a park above the visitor center that you could drive up to or walk up this stairway

We walked up where you could see a view of the city from the top as well as the reversing falls

We then drove down to the city of St. Johns and parked by this park at King's Square

We walked across the street to the indoor farmers market

We then walked around for a few blocks taking pictures

We ended up in The Big Tide Brewing Company where I had an Chili Club Sandwich with salad and Bill had Poudine (Pu-den) and Scotch Eggs.  The food was awesome as was the beer.  We were the only ones in there as the weather was nice and sunny and everyone else was down by the waterfront.  We talked to the owner for a while before we headed out.

We toured the town some more

Pink tour buses

It was around 7:00 pm and we knew the tide would be changing and decided to go back to the falls to see them reversed.  

It was a spectacular view of the river at that time and the current was so strong we were just amazed.

We stayed for a while longer then while heading out came upon Fort Howe.  It was high above the city and a nice quiet place to view it.  

We wondered how this cup got up on the pole

When we were deciding where to stay, this park called Rockwood was one of our options.  It was located on a hill above the city and was a nice park but we were glad we chose St. Martins and headed back there.

We had to stop for gas and this was the price....converts to $4.50 US...yikes...

The next day we took a bike ride up towards the caves.  

Look at the boats now....it is high tide

 We had to go up hill quite a bit and I wasn't quite ready for that!  We found a path that led towards the water and followed it down.

Here we are above the caves

We saw these kayakers earlier by the fishing boats

See the caves below us!

This was the path out of the top of the caves

We biked back down to the bottom of the caves

Got this picture of the fog coming in

The caves close up

We went up into the lighthouse where there was a good view of the harbor

These kayakers are following us!

This was a salmon catch area

Another covered bridge

One of several gift shops along the rode by the caves

We headed back towards the campground as we could feel a rain storm coming in.  We got back in time to put the bikes up and got some dinner on the stove.   It got windy but the storm blew through quickly.  I was tired from the bike ride and retired early.