See Ya When We Get There!: New Brunswick Again (June 18

June 18th we drove from Harrington, Prince Edward Island to Shediac, New Brunswick. The roadway was good. That's worth mentioning because many of the Canadian roads are sometimes really lousy. Up to this point of our travels we have occasionally heard the locals speaking French but as of Shediac, it seems to be the predominate language. It's charming. We camped at the Parasol Campground which is nice.

The owner, Jean Claude (how French) is a hip, personable, lively character. In 3 days he and I had several animated conversations. So after getting set up we cruised town some and eventually made our way to Walmart. At the risk of whining, food is more expensive here and the cost of fuel makes grown men weep! Then we chilled.

Allegedly Shediac is the lobster capitol of Canada.

They even have a statue to support their claim.

So we started our morning with a stop at a lobster store where they process (I think that means take meat out of shell) and sell fresh lobster. We bought a pound. $25. Nothing but tail, claws and knuckles. That evening it was delish!

But for the day we were headed to Hopewell Rocks.

This is along the southeastern coast of New Brunswick. The star of the park are HUGE rocks they like to call flowerpots that reveal themselves as the dramatic tide recedes. We spent a couple hours (the window of opportunity I think is about 6 hours) walking the ocean floor revealed with the tide out and gawking at the rock formations. It was good.

We then went home but were back out in the evening for a unique event in Moncton, New Brunswick. The mountainous tides of Fundy Bay produce numerous oddities which includes a "wall" of water in a coastal river as the tide returns. So off we go to Moncton to see the Tidal Bore.

I now know that the locals refer to it as the Boring Tide. Due to factors like the collection of sediment and the building of a causeway, the "wall" is now only about a foot high. Last night I met a woman about my age from Moncton and she tells me that when she was a little girl the wall was 20-30 feet high. Alas, those days are gone. Nonetheless, it was fun.

"Boreless" River

Can you see it coming?

Closer

It's here

That's it.

June 20th we drove up the east coast of New Brunswick to Kouchibouguac National Park (pronounced "koo chee boo quaack" all French like with some flair!)

The plan of the day was to ride bikes along a coastal trail.

Well off I go with "Louise Armstrong" on her trusty "Lazy Boy" bike.

Her real name is Deborah Louise. We did 19.5 miles. Louie was fussing because it wasn't 20. We wrapped up our visit with a very pleasant walk out a boardwalk to the beach. As a desert dweller I always conclude that there's a lot to be said about the seaside environment.