Travels with haRVy

I took my usual early morning beach walk and later we both walked around the wharf near where we spent the night. The fishermen greeted us with questions about whether we were going kayaking or biking, which started some friendly conversation. They are currently catching lobster and herring. There are several huge metal barns near the wharf, which we learned are facilities to smoke herring. The final product is shipped to Haiti as one of their primary sources of protein since most people living there have no electricity for refrigeration. We saw many of these buildings along our travel route later in the day, several of which looked quite new. This must be a lucrative business, but I don’t know who in Haiti is paying for all the herring.

While driving the scenic by-way we spotted another unexpected roadside attraction. I will let the photos describe it as I’m not quite sure what to say about it. The creator was mowing his lawn as we checked it out, but he paid us no mind whatsoever.

We didn’t get more than a couple blocks further down the road before we saw two more artistic endeavors. The sculptor at the last one was delighted that we stopped to admire his work and explained that they had been made with the surplus building materials from his home.

This area along the Acadian Coast of New Brunswick is quite charming with very well kept homes and tidy yards. The French influence is apparent with the Acadian flag flown everywhere and many bi-lingual (or just French) signs.

We visited a couple of huge, sandy beaches that could easily be in New England with long stretches of sand, beach grass, and huge parking lots. They are all but deserted now since the season is long past, but the beauty is still apparent.

We have heard many stories about “ghost ships” in the Canadian Maritimes. Today we actually spotted one as we came over the crest of the bridge in Rexton…

You just can’t drive this part of New Brunswick without stopping in Shediac to see what they claim to be “The World’s Biggest Lobster,” and yes, we even had to take photos of ourselves on the silly thing…

At Kouchibouguac National Park, we are among about a dozen campers in a campground with a capacity for 311! The park is so huge that it’s a 12 kilometer drive to the campsite from the visitor center near the front gate. It offers 60 km of bike trails, dozens of hiking trails, 2 rivers, a creek, a bay, a beach and the ocean. If the good weather holds, we should have plenty to keep us amused here. Not yet sure how many nights we will stay, but this is likely to be our turn-around point as we are starting to think about heading back to the states.

Mostly sunny becoming mostly cloudy, low 60’s, with evening light rain. 113 miles