July 14 Bay of Fundy

Tides in the Bay of Fundy reach an incredible peak of 16m - a phenomenon that provides unique opportunities like walking out on the ocean floor at low tide or viewing the tidal bore at high tide. July 14 was dedicated to exploring the New Brunswick shore of this natural wonder.

Hopewell Rocks at low tide, 2017

Our first destination was Hopewell Rocks, where you can wander around the iconic 30 foot flowerpot rocks at low tide, and return at high tide to witness them largely submerged. The tides are key to fully appreciating this site, and fortunately on the 14th they couldn't have been more perfectly timed - approximately 10:00 am for low tide and 4:00 pm for high tide.

Hopewell Rocks at low tide, 2017

This allowed us a fairly leisurely start to the day with a lovely drive from Moncton to Hopewell Cape. Along the route we enjoyed the scenery of mud flats and river beds exposed by the low tide, taking mental notes so we could assess the changes at high tide.

Hopewell Rocks at low tide, 2017

The Hopewell Rocks is truly a magical place, and it is easy to understand how they've become so iconic. That said, visitors need to be prepared to share this experience with hundreds of other people. Although it can be challenging to get people-free photographs, there is generally enough space to explore without feeling like you are in a crowd. The kids had a blast running around the rocks, getting muddy and searching the seaweed for hermit crab habitats.

After exploring the rocks for a couple of hours, we headed to Fundy National Park, making a stop in the town of Alma for sticky buns from Kelly's Bakery. The stretch of highway 114 between Hopewell and Alma is primarily inland, and not overly scenic. In retrospect, we should have taken the less direct, but more scenic road 915.

The majority of Fundy National Park is actually inland, with many hikes to lakes, waterfalls and forest. The kids, however, had their minds set that they wanted to continue to explore the ocean, so we decided to go to Point Wolfe Beach. After a stunning drive, and short, but steep hike we arrived at the sheltered cove and rock beach.

After the boys had played in the water for some time, we began to notice that areas that were dry when we walked down, were now under water. We started watching the waterline closely, and within 10 minutes saw it rise 2m. Before long the ocean threatened to overtake our spot on the beach, which was at least 15 feet from the water when we sat down. We decided this was a pretty good indication that it was time to head back.

Point Wolfe Beach, Fundy National Park 2017

Hopewell Rocks at high tide, 2017

We made a brief stop back at Hopewell Rocks to view the high tide. We would have liked to explore this more thoroughly, perhaps renting kayaks to paddle around the rocks, but it was getting late in the day, and we still had to drive to our accommodations in PEI. So a walk back to the stairway and some pictures was all we could afford. None the less, it was worth the stop to see the drastic change.

We ended the day driving back through the now-full mud flats to Moncton, to the Confederation bridge and across to Prince Edward Island.

July 13 Quebec City to Moncton

Our arrivals into Winnipeg and Thunder Bay had taught us a big road trip lesson. In both cases, we spent the morning exploring our starting city before heading out on the road for an eight-hour drive to our next destination. While I have no regrets about taking the extra time to see things we would otherwise miss, our late start coupled with crossing a time zone meant we rolled into our destination city after 9:00 pm - leaving us tired, hungry, and with few options for dining and fewer for exploring. So with another long drive and time change ahead of us, we decided to get an early start and left Quebec city first thing in the morning of the 13th.

Lac-Temiscouata Quebec, 2017

The tactic seemed to work well as the morning progressed quite peacefully without restlessness or complaints about being hungry or needing to use the washroom. This was fortunate, because while the drive is quite scenic (and downright beautiful outside of Lac-Témiscouata), there seemed little opportunity to stop and do things without deviating significantly from the highway. 

The highway through New Brunswick is fantastic - twinned, double-laned, and newly paved with little traffic. It made driving easy, but doing anything else more difficult as towns were bypassed and there was little signage indicating anything other than major turn-offs. Thankfully, we had done our research and knew a few places to stop.

Hartland Bridge, NB 2017

Our first stop (other than gas and refreshments in Edmunston) was the Hartland Bridge. The bridge, which crosses the Saint John River from Hartland to Somerville, is 1,282-ft. long - making it the longest covered bridge in the world. It was constructed in 1901 and covered in 1922 amid controversy that it would corrupt the morals of the youth. It's now a National Historic Site.

Aside from the bridge itself, there is little to see in Hartland, but we found a nice spot along the river for a picnic lunch that included locally-made Covered Bridge Potato Chips. I highly recommend the loaded hot dog flavour if you have a chance to try them out.

Changing of the Guard, Fredericton 2017

Our next stop was Fredericton, and after a few wrong turns, we made it to the downtown area.  At first, we were a bit underwhelmed - it was a quaint city, but not unlike many others we had been to. Nonetheless, we decided to stretch our legs and walk around.

As we approached the  Fredericton Historic Garrison District, we were greeted with the sound of musket fire... we had stumbled upon a re-enactment of 1883 Changing of the Guard ceremony- complete with pipers, drummers, axe-welding soldiers and of course, muskets. An unexpected treat as we missed the changing of the guard at the Quebec Citadel.

Fredericton Regional Museum, 2017

We spent the next half hour or so exploring the grounds of the Fredericton Regional Museum, and learning about the formation of the Canadian Army in 1883 with the establishment of the Infantry School Corps, Company 'A' in Fredericton - a piece of history neither Jay nor I knew about.

Manuka Restaurant, Moncton, NB 2017

Our drive ended in Moncton - our resting place for the night. To cap off a day of finding unexpected treasures, we dined at Manuka Restaurant. Located in a quaint yellow house on a quiet residential street, and with a creative menu using locally-sourced ingredients, it was a perfect mix of ambience, great food and outstanding, friendly service. It felt like eating at a friend's house, only that friend was a Michelin-starred chef. Both Jay and I walked out feeling like we'd had one of the best meals of our lives.