Travels with haRVy

The Miramichi River Valley is the fly fishing capital of New Brunswick and they were lined up on the river this morning.

WOW was the word of the day with phenomenal foliage all along this route displaying more hues and tones than I’ve ever seen. We decided it was like “Vermont on steroids.” The colors drape the rolling hills as far as the eye can see with farms dotting some of the hillsides and the wide blue river running through it all. I hope some of my photos can do it justice.

A small roadside sign directed us to a small covered bridge while another led us to a long suspension foot bridge originally erected in 1938. Traveling relatively slow as we are allows such mini-excursions, which really add to the experience. The suspension bridge was actually a bit hard to find, but when we did we decided it was a nice lunch spot too. We went out onto the bridge but did not cross it entirely as it felt a little too scary with the wind blowing and the river rushing by below.

Lunchtime view

Our intended campground near Fredericton was so disappointing that we redirected ourselves (northerly again!) up the St. John River Valley. This time the campground we drove to, advertised as being open until October 15, was closed. Luckily, we found an even better private spot right on the river just down the road.

Mother Nature put on another fine show tonight with sunset rays upon colorful foliage, beavers busily swimming back and forth, and a beautiful moon rise reflecting on the calm river surface. We feel extremely grateful to be having such rare experiences.

Some sun, some showers, cool. Blackville to Wicklow, New Brunswick. 177 miles

The weather was quite violent last night with gusty winds and heavy rains, which kept me awake much of the night. My mind was working overtime creating all sorts of unlikely scenarios like the tide rising to abnormal heights and washing us away due to the full moon and substantial rain. Yeah, right…

Last night’s campsite was in a very nice waterfront campground, but other than taking showers, using their WiFi and dumping out, we were unable to enjoy the location as it was still very wet this morning. Did I mention that we were one of two campers here? Except for all the closed campgrounds, attractions, and restaurants (and NO ice cream!), this is a great time to travel.

We headed back out the peninsula via the northern coast route. All the French we’ve observed put me in the mood for a croissant and we lucked out in finding a lovely little Boulangerie, “Grains de Folie” where we enjoyed chicken salad on croissant and cappuccinos for lunch. Between the ambiance set by the café and all the French being spoken around us, it felt just a little like being in Paris.

Today we found peak fall foliage colors near Bathurst, our northernmost destination in New Brunswick. Unfortunately, the rain prevented me from taking photos today. At that point we turned south to cross the middle of the province. If we could drive slow enough, we could keep these beautiful hues within view all the way home.

By the end of the day we were in fly fishing country along the Miramichi River. Since there would be no more ocean view camp sites for a while, Al was determined to get us a place near the river. He took a chance just south of Blackville by driving down Cains River Road where we found a parking spot next to the Upper Blackville Bridge. We had a nice quiet night in this spot that is obviously used for river access by the fisher folk.

No photos today due to the rain…sorry, especially after teasing you with today’s title. Will make up for it tomorrow.

Mostly rainy and cool. Miscou Island to Blackville, New Brunswick. 175 miles

Our surrounding view this morning was so peaceful and beautiful we just sat and watched it change as the morning progressed. What a lucky find this place was!

We headed into nearby Miramichi for provisions, diesel fuel, and to do laundry. Then we decided to drive around just one more peninsula before heading back across New Brunswick to Maine. I don’t know how many points of land we’ve driven out to on this trip, but it must be dozens and the northern tip of Miscou Island is likely to be our last. So far, the Acadian Peninsula has been more settled than we expected, but it is interesting, particularly because it is so French. Virtually all the signs are in French only and many of the folks we’ve met don’t speak English.

Tonight we are, once again, camped just a few feet from the ocean. No sunset or full moon though, as it was raining.

Cool, cloudy with intermittent showers. 133 miles

Today we rode our bikes in the opposite direction and hiked a boardwalk trail through a large bog area where more eagles flew overhead. We also saw a small black bear, luckily he was a safe distance away.

Lunchtime view from bench along trail

Later we drove a bit further north towards Miramichi. As they day drew to a close we tried another “end of the road” venture in search of a waterfront boondocking spot. We were richly rewarded with a 270-degree dinner view, plus an amazing full moon rise at sunset. We must be doing something right!

Click on this shot to see our full dinner view from haRVy’s settee

Sunny and cool. 65 miles

Today was an absolutely gorgeous sunny, although quite cool (high of 60F,) day so we decided to do it all!

After a blueberry pancake breakfast we got on our bikes and road several miles on the park’s perfect (flat & well maintained hard pack gravel) bike paths. Along the way we also hiked a boardwalk trail across to an island then on to a very long barrier beach. We watched two eagles fly relatively close by and then land further away with at least ten others.

We returned to the campsite for a quick lunch before taking a short drive to launch our kayaks into the Major Kollock Creek. The creek was not navigable upstream for long so we also paddled out into the bay, which is protected by the aforementioned barrier beach. There are actually three long skinny barrier islands that protect this lagoon. Grey heron were all around us as we paddled. It’s amazing how many of them are here. I guess the fishing must be really good.

We really enjoyed ourselves in this beautiful park today. It suits our needs perfectly. We may even return someday when we can take better advantage of the beaches. Of course, at that time we won’t enjoy the solitude we did today. Nobody else was on either the bike trail or the bay and we only saw five other people on the boardwalk, the most popular hike in the park. We felt like we had this vast natural amusement park all to ourselves!

Fall foliage is beginning to appear

Gloriously sunny but cool. 8 miles

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