New Brunswick

Land of Living Skies

September 2016

Five hours after we left Quebec City, the French street signs gradually change to English, and we knew that we have arrived in New Brunswick. Looking at those English street signs zoom past our car window, we ecstatic to see one that says Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! township along the NB-2E highway; for this is the only town in the world that has two exclamation points in its name.


Hubby first haircut since we left California, of all places, is in Edmundston New Brunswick. After stating that he wants size-6 all around, and scissor 3” off the top, the pleasant barber shows his size-4 clipper attach and smile “This is what we have!”. Slump in resignation and not wanting to find another barber. After all, at least 2 local men sworn that Salon Chez Marcel is the best in town. 8 minutes later, he holds the mirror on the back of the hubby head and said “ok?” Hey, that looks pretty good! Until the barber said “eyebrow?” to which the hubby replied with the longest no ever “oh nooooooo!”. Is it customary for Canadian men to do their eyebrows after a haircut, we’d never know.

A barber shop in Edmundston New Brunswick

New Brunswick Botanical Garden is only 5 minutes away from our motel. Greetings our arrival at the garden were the mosaicultures in the shape of farmers, bison, birds, and the incredible edible garden. Gracing the garden, one can find vegetable and herbs are being grown as ground cover. Our nostrils can detect none of the fertilizer smell, but everything in the garden is absolutely healthy and fresh… and looks crunchy.

Mosaicultures and the edible ground-covering can be found throughout the park

All figures are mosaicultures which gardeners (or horticulturist) carefully cultivated into people or animal shapes with different succulents, flowering, or foliage plants that make up clothing or hair. Strolling around the various beautiful, exotic botanical themes with delectable vegetable surrounding, it took significant self-control to not bury our faces into that fresh lettuce, crunchy kale, minerally spinach, sweet cherry, juicy tomatoes, chard, yummy pennywort, and flavorful artichoke… And we are not even vegetarian. I don’t think we ever have that strong yearning when we are strolling around goat farm, do we?

Multitude of gazebo styles strategically placed throughout the garden
Khronos the stone circle
The cutest chicken coop we found thus far

Five hours south of our Ponderosa Pines Family Campground, we reach Hopewell Rocks in Lower Cape. Highway 2 to Lower Cape is scenic drive through small and quaint towns like River Glade, Berry Mills, Lower Coverdale, Hillsborough.

The Hopewell Rocks formation at low tide is amazing sight
These formations stand 70 ft tall, while million years of tidal force carving its base into very unique shapes
Looking up at those ancient fantastic forms, one can appreciates of 50 ft differences between low tide and high tide
As with any ocean floor, it can be quite slippery
This formation resembles Arches National Park's Balance Rock

Come back to our campsite with an appreciation of dramatic tidal action, and millions of years rock-shaping into what we have seen today. Very happy, indeed!

The river view from our Ponderosa Pines Family Campground

Nearby, a UNESCO site called Mary’s Point offers a different view than Hopewell Rocks. At low tide, we stroll on a sandy beach and standing dumbfound at the huge 4.6 square miles of mud flats which local and migrating birds alike take advantage of the abundance of specific tiny aquatic species that strive here. Each year, 2.5 million Arctic Sandpipers feed on the abundant of mud shrimps before their annual migration to South America from May to July.

4.6 square miles of mud flats at Marry's Point
It was easy walking on hard packed mud and sand up here
Arctic Sandpipers feeding ground before migrating south

After a visit to the town of Alma for lobster lunch, we head to Fundy National Park an only short distance away to visit Dickson Falls and for beaver sightings. The hike to the falls is less than a mile round trip on elevated boardwalks and stairs. There wasn’t much water this late in the season, but the trail still quite scenic.

One of Fundy many wooden covered bridges

At the pond, we spotted two small beavers dragging tree branches in their mouths back and forth to their nest. We were astonished a small beaver takes only 5 bites to cut down a branch that is the same size as your arm. Some part of the pond, huge trees have been chewed clean right through and have fallen down into piles on the pond edge. The phrase “busy as a bee” needs not to apply to the beavers, they kept on cutting down trees, strip its branches then drag back to reinforce their lodge couple hundredths times a day and from sunrise to sunset.

Dickson Falls trickles down steep ravine with the elevated boardwalk on the right
Ship Haven at low tide and was in operation at one point
Alma lobster lunch (front) and lobster roll (back)

You see the claw rubber-bands on that lobster after cooked? That means this joint is just average boiler shack. The best lobster shack will remove the rubber-band before cooking to avoid the tainted rubber smell.

New Brunswick visit has been an educational trip for us. From horticulture garden to spectacular Hopewell Rocks, from the helpful locals to the busy beavers, we realized the more we learn the less we know, but we are glad that we are here and now.

GPS Coordinates

  1. Salon Chez Marcel – 47°21’51.4″N 68°19’42.9″W
  2. New Brunswick Botanical Garden – 47°26’18.2″N 68°23’35.6″W
  3. Ponderosa Pines Family Campground – 45°49’00.1″N 64°35’35.1″W
  4. Hopewell Rocks – 45°49’04.1″N 64°34’41.9″W
  5. Mary’s Point – 45°43’38.6″N 64°40’23.7″W
  6. Fundy National Park – 45°35’44.0″N 64°57’03.2″W
    • Beaver Pond – 45°35’36.6″N 64°57’09.1″W
    • Dickson Falls – 45°35’13.6″N 64°58’26.0″W

References

  • Destination details were extracted from respective literature, brochure, website, and Wikipedia
  • Coordinates are from Google map in Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds (DMS)