HOPEWELL ROCK, NEW BRUNSWICK VISIT

Before heading back to New England, our last sightseeing stop was to Hopewell Rocks in Hopewell Cape, NB.  Also called the Flowerpots Rocks, for obvious reasons, the rock formations are caused by tidal erosion in The Hopewell Rocks Ocean Tidal Exploration Site.  They stand some 40-70 feet tall.

When the tide is in, one can kayak over the top of the rocks and when the tide goes out, you can walk the floor.  Pretty cool if you ask me.

We went after hours and saw the high tide.  Then the next morning we paid the $10 entry fee and got to explore the ocean floor, the interpretation center and had a nice big breakfast before hitting the road.

High Tide

Same spot, low tide

View with breakfast

Glad we stopped here.  It was a drizzly day but we brought rain coats and umbrella and kept dry.  Thanks for stopping in to say hi.

VISITING THE MARITIMES

This is our first visit to New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.  It is also the first time we got a complete search of our motor home at the Canadian border. They made us open up our slides and went through every storage bay, cabinet and drawer looking for God knows what.  Forty-five minutes later we were released and visited Fredericton.  Fredericton is New Brunswick's Capital City and has many lovely historical buildings.  We spent a few hours there, had a very tasty Korean gluten-free lunch before driving a couple of hours to a lovely campground called Crystal Beach on PEI.  We were greeted by huge man-eating insects and a gorgeous sunset.

City Hall National Historic Site located
in the Historic Garrison District

The Justice Building located in Barracks Square

Barracks Square Historic District National Historic Site

NB Sports Hall of Fame - Historical building
 opened in 1881 as a post office and customs house

Fredericton Region Museum - Officer's Quarters

Statue in Officer's Square named one
of the top 10 public spaces in Canada

Lord Beaverbrook opened the doors to
this art gallery in 1959

Legislative Assembly Building

Crocket House - Oldest private art
gallery in New Brunswick

Christ Church Cathedral National Historic Site

Our first visit to PEI - driving over the
causeway was beautiful

We arrived at the campground around
7PM and this is what our front window
was facing

Thanks for stopping in to say hi.  We woke to cloudy skies but the sun is starting to peek out and we need to discover the wonders of Prince Edward Island.

Saint John

Best seafood chowder at Saint Johns Ale House

 Saint John City Market - I'll be back

I don't know much about rocks - but 980 million years old is is pretty impressive 

Rockwood Park is one of the largest urban parks in North America... it's huge.  With a zoo, lakeside cafe, campground, stables, horse & buggy rides, golf course, interpretation center and pavillion.  Unfortunately, the campground was closed but we discovered that the park is a Stonehammer Geopark site with billion year old rock formations.  We hiked along the Trans Canada Trail and enjoyed a beautiful sunny day.  What made it fun was the children dressed in Halloween costumes and carving pumpkins. 

Because we were visiting Saint John off-season, we were able to park across from the reversing rapids for the night.  Reversing rapids is a natural phenomenon which occurs when the highest tides (48 feet in six hours) in the world flowing in and out of the Bay of Fundy through a narrow rocky gorge force the St. John River to reverse its flow.  We got to see all three stages, high tide, low tide and reversing rapids.  With every tide, 100 billion tons of water enters or exits the bay.  Extremely cool.

We checked out the Charleton Martello Tower which is a National Historic Site of Canada.  The tower was built in 1812 by the British and played a pivotal role in conflicts up until the Second World War. 
I wanted to go to the Saint John City Market but it's closed on Sundays, too bad, because it is unique and offers diverse shopping with clothes and foods from around the world.  Personally, I think Denis was happy that it was closed because it probably saved him money. 
We did stop for a cup of the best seafood chowder I've ever tasted at Saint John Ale House overlooking the Bay of Fundy.

Charleton Martello Tower

Saint John River

Driving along Scenic Route 1 we stopped at Saint Croix Island Historical Site.  The visitor's center was closed but we learned that Pierre Dugua Sieur de Mons and his company of 78 men attempted to establish a French settlement there in 1604.  The settlement was short lived with disease wiping out over half of the men and then moving to the shores of Annapolis Basin in Nova Scotia.  This is the first international historical site in the National Park System.

Tonight we're at a Walmart in Ellsworth, Maine just 30 minutes from Acadia National Park where we're going tomorrow.  We decided to stay here because it was getting dark, we were hungry and tired after driving down Scenic Route 1 for 130 miles of  one-lane, twists, turns, ups and downs.  And, guess what, it wasn't very scenic... won't be doing that again.

Just happened to be along the way

Full size statues in the park

St. Croix Island with Canada mainland in the background