The Maritime Provinces ~ Conclusion

We have completed our Canadian Maritime Provinces travels! Once we made it to the Canadian border, we spent 30 days here in total. We are not sure how many miles/kilometers as we lost track, and our odometer in the car reset when our battery died (twice) and we purchased a new battery (once😉). 

We stayed at ten different places - some Airbnb's, a couple B&B's, and two ferry cabins - which actually had the most comfortable beds! Speaking of the number 10 ~ that's how many lobster dishes (mostly rolls) we enjoyed.  Well, 20, since it's times two. 😋

Nova Scotia we have visited before - nearly 25 years ago - and we were never big fans.  We spent time there only as it was on the way to Newfoundland and we left ourselves an extra day in case we ran into car trouble as we had a ferry reservation. (Who knew we needed that extra day later in the trip!)

Newfoundland was much more remote than we knew, and the food (for the most part) was just okay. We struggled to find non-fried food in many places and actually got bored of eating French Fries. (Who knew that was even possible!) We did enjoy a few parts of The Rock (as it is called), and if we knew then what we know now, we would have rented a small RV, wild camped, and made no reservations. 

Prince Edward Island felt like home ~ we fell in love and wished that we had more time there. Someday we will return. 💗

New Brunswick was a disappointment for the most part. There actually was not a lot to do here (that interests us), yet we are glad that our travels ended at Fundy National Park, so we could end on a high note and do some hiking, which eluded us for much of the 30 days, which was also a bit of a surprise.

We rated our visits as we left each area, each without influence from the other:

• Cape Breton, Nova Scotia ~ Suzanne 6; Brad 7
• Gros Morne Nat'l Park & the area, NL ~ Suzanne 6; Brad 7
• Twillingate, NL ~ Suzanne 8; Brad 8
• Terra Nova Nat'l Park & the area, NL ~ Suzanne 6; Brad 6
• St. John's area, NL ~ Suzanne 7; Brad 7
• Charlottetown & area, PEI ~  Suzanne 10; Brad 9
• Miramichi & area, NB ~ Suzanne 2; Brad 3 
• Fundy Nat'l Park & the area, NB ~ Suzanne 8; Brad 7
  

 

Prices were not as high as we expected, even gas. We will miss the USD/CAD exchange rate ~ it was nice to purchase something for $30 and only see a $23 charge on our credit card bill. 😁

Until next time..........

 

New Brunswick ~ Day 8!

The claim to fame for Bay of Fundy is the highest tides in the world and today we decided (among other activities) to be sure to be at the bay at low tide (7:44am) and high tide (1:50pm). During low tide, we walked 0.57 miles (0.91km, 0.49 nautical miles) from the high tide mark to the the water's edge. Brad has an app we use when backpacking (so we know our route) and we "dropped a pin" at the low mark and again at the high mark......

 

Here are some more pictures to show the drastic variations of the tide......these are from pretty much the same vantage point

(Yes, when the tide is out, the boats rest on the bay floor.)

 

In this picture, Brad is standing at the high tide mark. See the red arrow - that's a buoy at the low tide mark....

The town of Alma (right outside Fundy National Park) from the low tide mark.......

After our walk and some breakfast, we headed out for a few shorter hikes in the boundary of the national park ~ our goal was to walk along some coastal trail to enjoy the bay views, however every hike we went on, it was mainly in the trees. We finally came up Matthews Head and had some nice views...

(That's Nova Scotia in the distance.)

A very nice way to complete our last full day in the area. 😊

New Brunswick ~ Day 7!

We went to the Sentier Fundy Trail today although it was quite foggy for much of the time. Our first stop was the Suspension Bridge....

 Where Brad hung on for dear life.....

 

And Suzanne simply posed......

We then drove over to Long Beach and took a short walk on the beach....

We took a short 1km walk to the Flower Pots....

 

Then went to see Fuller Falls.....

We eventually made our way over to the Walton Glen Gorge overlook......
 

 

It was an okay experience - Brad enjoyed it a bit more than Suzanne - and it probably would have been more awe-inspiring had it not been so foggy and we could see more of the wide expanse of the Bay of Fundy.

New Brunswick ~ Day 6!

We finally (finally!) went on a real hike today in Fundy National Park by connecting two trails - the 4.5km Moosehorn trail with the 2.5km Laverty Falls trails for a 6.9km (4.3 miles) circular hike. 

The first part of the Moosehorn Trail took us (at times a bit steeply) to the Broad River. There were quite a lot of roots and rocks underfoot.

Then the trail (also part of the Trans Canada Trail) followed the Broad River where there were some boulders to cross, some wet trail, and some enjoyable views.....

 

We arrived to Laverty Falls and enjoyed a quick lunch of PB&J just before about a gazillion people showed up! 😮

It was a fairly steady climb to the parking lot from here, for a total of about three hours of hiking - or probably more like 2 1/2 hours of hiking with about 30 minutes spent chatting with another couple from Florida and a couple from Switzerland, oh, and lunch.

 

Once showered and clean, we headed to The Alma Lobster Shop and Restaurant (just outside our Airbnb - can see it from our patio) for, yes, another lobster roll.  Now here is where we went off-script a bit. They also have what is called Lazy Lobster, which is 1/2lb of lobster meat, melted butter, and a roll. We went for one of each! 

Since we ordered the Lazy Lobster warm, we ate that first, and it was amazing. It was, actually, a bit over-the-top; super rich, especially with all that yummy butter. Eating the lobster roll next was a bit unfair to the lobster roll, since we were a bit "lobstered out." We debated the placement of each, and finally ended with the lobster roll coming in 4th, with an honorary tie for 1st place for the Lazy Lobster, since it's not really a lobster roll, but came with a roll......

Lobster Rolls in order of Best to Meh

Considerations: bread to lobster ratio, taste, and price

1. Richards, Victoria, PEI & "Lazy Lobster" Alma Lobster Shop, Alma, NB

2. Doyle Sansome & Son, Twillingate, NL

3. Chelsea's Fish & Chips, Lewisporte, NL 

4. Alma Lobster Shop, Alma, NB

5. The Seafood Shack's Straight Up, Morell, PEI

6. The Seafood Shack's Classic Catch, Morell, PEI

7.  Water Prince Corner Shop, Charlottetown, PEI

8. Lenny's Take Out, Shediac, NB

9. The Freight Shed Waterside Bistro, Baddeck, NS

 

We decided that that best overall meal (as of now) would be to split the Lazy Lobster, with a side of potato salad, and two rolls.  

We then wandered town a bit where Brad met up with both a lobster

 and a moose.

New Brunswick ~ Day 5!

We left Mirimichi mid-morning and our first destination was Shediac, apparently the "Lobster Capital of the World." There was no parking by the giant lobster - it is quite the tourist attraction - so we had to do a drive by............

We figured that since we were in the "Lobster Capital of the World" that this was the place to get the best, most amazing lobster roll yet. Brad did the research and found that Lenny's Take Out was the place to go. 

The judges say......NO! Did not even taste like lobster and definitely not a good lobster/bun ratio. After a lot of deliberation, Lenny's takes the #7 spot, beating the now #8 Freight Shed due to the Freight Shed's teeny-tiny amount of lobster and very expensive price.

Lobster Rolls in order of Best to Meh

Considerations: bread to lobster ratio, taste, and price

1. Richards, Victoria, PEI

2. Doyle Sansome & Son, Twillingate, NL

3. Chelsea's Fish & Chips, Lewisporte, NL

4. The Seafood Shack's Straight Up, Morell, PEI

5. The Seafood Shack's Classic Catch, Morell, PEI

6.  Water Prince Corner Shop, Charlottetown, PEI

7. Lenny's Take Out, Shediac, NB

8. The Freight Shed Waterside Bistro, Baddeck, NS

 

We made it to our last Airbnb of the trip in Alma, NB, just outside of Fundy National Park. 

Some pics:

Once settled, we decided to make a dash for Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park as low tide was around 5:30pm and the rocks would be at their best during low tide. It was okay - a little Disneyland-ish with tons of people and having to follow certain paths, etc... It was also not inexpensive and quite commercialized - the most commercialized experience of the trip.

 The tides are part of the phenomenon of this area - to read more, click here.

 

We are looking forward to our first full day exploring the Bay of Fundy area tomorrow.

 

 

New Brunswick ~ Day 4!

If we were giving these posts better titles, this one would be "Nothing Day." We woke up to cold and rainy weather, and eventually made our way to about a mile walk in the next town to a place called French Fort Cove Nature Park. 

The walk was in the woods for the most part.....

There was a walk over water......

Views (being generous with our words here)......

And a covered bridge.....

 As we said, it was cold & wet......

We ate lunch at a local Irish pub where we were clearly the only tourist as everyone turned to look at us as we entered The food was okay.

We then just spent the day puttering in the Airbnb reminiscing of the days (pre-pandemic) when one could travel by the seat of their pants and not have to make all reservations ahead of time, to ensure a place to stay. We probably would have left a couple places in Newfoundland a day early (we do tend to go through things quickly) and definitely have stayed in PEI longer. We would have left the Miramichi area a day early, as well as Nova Scotia - taken the ferry to Newfoundland a day earlier. We stopped in St. John, NB on our way up for one night and quickly cancelled our plans to be there for three nights on our way back to the US - it's a very tired town with not much to do. We do have one more stop on our travels - Fundy National Park - and from what we have read and heard from people, this is a highlight of New Brunswick. Fingers crossed!! 😀

New Brunswick ~ Day 3!

We drove up the Acadian Coast in New Brunswick today - the guides all tell about quaint French-speaking fishing villages and we were looking forward to enjoying the villages, getting some French pastry, meandering the shops - all that stuff. Nope - not so much. It was about a 90 minute drive to the top of the Acadian Peninsula to the tip of the Acadian Isles to a town named Miscou and we saw zero cute villages, zero French bakeries, zero shops - nada.  There is a lighthouse at the end of the road

 With some views 

 Even some views of Quebec

There was a beach

With people fishing

We even saw quite a few seals (but did not get any decent photos). 

We struggled to find a place for lunch - everything was in French - which is fine as Suzanne can understand French a bit, and there is always Google translate, but we actually walked out of two restaurants because they wouldn't help us understand the menu at all. We've been to Paris and had better service and help with understanding the menu/ordering - keep in mind, Paris has a terrible reputation when it comes to Americans, so that says something about the Acadians up here. One would think that considering that these businesses rely on customers to make a profit, and it's been a couple tough years with that whole world-wide pandemic thing we've had/have going on, that they would be a bit more open/willing to help out a customer with cash in their pockets. Guess not. 

Overall, we are super disappointed with the Miramichi area. We have another full day here and aren't sure what we will do - wish we had planned more time in PEI and less time here. In  fact, we were talking to a clerk at a local store and asked about the Moncton area (about 90 minutes south of here) and if it was worth going to and she actually said, "You'd be better off going to Prince Edward Island!" 😄 (We were supposed to meet friends in NB, who cancelled their trip, so that's part of the "not enough to do" issue; we had planned downtime with them to chill, play games/cards, etc....)

So what we'll do tomorrow......who knows????