As the weather becomes cold, rainy and wet; yet not unpleasant; I find myself thinking back to the last time I was out and about in these sorts of conditions and it was when we went to New Brunswick and Fundy National Park.
FUNDY NATIONAL PARK
The park is situated right next to the fishing village of Alma NB, and about hours’ drive from Moncton. Driving from Annapolis Royal was about a 4-hour journey. For this trip, we stayed in Moncton and made day trips to many famous local attractions such as The Hopewell Rocks, the village of Shediac and of course Fundy National Park. We were there during Victoria Day long weekend for my wife’s birthday, so camping was ruled out to avoid the wet and cold nights.
Fundy is a fairly large park considering its location, and one of the few all-seasons parks in the Maritimes. The first thing I noticed was the sheer volume of hiking trails, and the amount of more challenging routes. We ended up hiking the Coppermine trail, mostly because I wanted to see the remnants of an old copper mine supposedly at the halfway point of the loop. There isn’t much to see in terms of an old mine but, the way back provided some excellent lookout points and coastal views. For me though, the best part of this trail was the upper wooded portion, at about km3.5 we crossed a small stream that was cut very deep into some rocks, but were surrounded by moss covered ground and dense forest and it got noticeably darker and colder and quiet. We had to take moment to sit and appreciate this little corner of trail, and I could really see in that moment how people 200 years ago could have come to a place like this believing in forest spirits or fairies or whatever else because it was otherworldly.
https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/nb/fundy
We also hiked the Point Wolfe Road trail and point Wolfe beach trail, both lovely around low tide. One of the main attractions is passing through the oldest covered bridge in New Brunswick, and near the bridge is an excellent vantage point of a river feeding into the Bay of Fundy that was created in part by the glaciers that formed the unique tidal basin.
I would be remis if it didn’t mention that the park also has a nine-hole golf course in it. A precursory glance at the yardage card and one of the holes tells me that this probably isn’t the most challenging of courses, but a part of me wants to somehow bring my clubs for next visit just to say I played golf in a National Park.
HOPEWELL ROCKS
This is a Provincial Park, about 40 min drive east of Fundy National Park. A lot of tourist information that is out there, made me think that the rocks were IN Fundy Park, not so and it requires a separate visit fee since it’s a different park system. Although we did get lucky, we tried to come in with about 20 min left before closing time and were informed that they would not charge us this close to closing. None of the facilities like the shuttle down to the beach or washrooms would be open, but we came to see the rocks and walk on the ocean floor, so that didn’t matter to us.
Dogs are allowed into the park but not on the beach or basin floor, but they had no problem with me carrying our little dog while we were down there so that is what I decided to do.
Walking from the front gate down to the rocks is quite a long way, longer than we thought it would be and tough in rubber boots. If you go during park hours, there is a shuttle that operates to drive people down and up (no pets on the shuttle unfortunately).
For reference, the rock formations are about the size of a three- or four-story building, and the park is set up in a way to allow good viewpoints at low tide and high tide. At low tide you can don rubber boots and walk around the basin floor, some 20ft below the water line. At high tide you can see those same rocks as little islands with some trees and grass, kayak tours exist to paddle around this area. The unique part about your ticket and admission fee, is that it is valid for two consecutive days, so that you can see the area at its highest and lowest tide points, as both do not usually occur during “visiting hours”.
https://www.nbparks.ca/en/parks/33/hopewell-rocks-provincial-park
SHEDIAC
Shediac is a small lobster village about an hour southeast of Moncton. With us travelling home to Annapolis, it ended up only being a slight detour. The village is small but picturesque and home to the world’s largest lobster statue. There is also a provincial park with a very nice beach reminiscent of PEI” s sandy beaches, but beaches in NB are not dog or pet friendly, as we had learned in other places but was reinforced when they saw our little dog Totopo. I made sure to bring the cooler on this trip in order to stock up on lobster and we found a great place called The Shediac Lobster Shop to fill our boots.
All in all, New Brunswick was excellent, friendly people and TONS of lobster, lots to see and do and definitely worth a trip back. Perhaps next time we will take the ferry from Digby to St. Johns and see what they have to offer. So long for now!!
The Maritime Adventure 