Collins Clan. Day 73. Lobster Galore.

(Cate) 

Today we rested our legs in Shediac; it is our last day in New Brunswick. We awoke and had a delicious breakfast of omelets, prepared by papa Mungo. Shediac is home of the World's Largest Lobster, so we visited it this morning. We did a bit of shopping downtown for lobster paraphernalia, snacked on lobster-flavoured chips and then set out to visit the Hopewell rocks. We drove alongside Chocolate River from Moncton down to reach the park. It was named because of its colour- very brown and unappetizing to swim in. If you ever see photos of the Hopewell rocks with blue water, it was either a reflection of the sky, or more likely photoshop. They are called 'flower pots' because of their shape and they sit out in the Bay of Fundy. During low tide you can walk out around them,  but since we visited during high tide we could only look from the stairs and from the cliffs. We had a picnic lunch at the rocks, walked around the park and then drove back to Shediac. Parlee beach is a popular destination in Shediac; we spent our afternoon swimming in the Atlantic, reading and making sandturtles. Captain Dan's was suggested to us for the best lobster dinner in town. Courtney and I tackled one together, and it was delicious. Being the Canadian lobster capital, it felt right to enjoy a lobster while in town. 

World's biggest lobster. 

Shackled in Shediac. 

Hopewell rocks. Beautiful, brown water. 

Bay of Fundy panorama. 

Shediac's Parlee Beach. 

Courtney and the sea turtle!

Lobster at long last. 

My first lobster! 

Day 73: Moncton to Murray Campground

(Kelly) We took off from Moncton today, officially our last full day in New Brunswick!!! We headed up to Shediac to see the worlds biggest lobster and our first view of the Atlantic!! Officially coast to coast!!!!! (And don't be a Debbie Downer, I know we've still got a couple provinces to go). Then we biked to our campsite and got a whole afternoon of ocean frolicking. Then we had a fire (which was well put together by our own Danica Wilkinson), watched a beautiful sunset, and passed right out. PEI tomorrow!! Whoop!! Whoop!!!

Kelly the mermaid 

Weights 32 tons!

Day 70: Fredericton to Grand Lake

(Kelly) So we weren't really sure what to expect when we got into Fredericton but the Highland games got us. We slept in until 10! Got up, slowly made our way out of the hotel room, and onto the highway. We only took one wrong turn (onto a horrible bike path/jungle trail). Then 15km down the road we stopped for a glorious breakfast and recap of the evenings events. By the time we got back on the road it was almost 2 but we still managed to squeeze in 90km before 5 and Laura's flat tire. The flat tire that almost killed us. We had to change it twice because the first one pinched AND Laura's tires HATE us and are impossible to get on. It took an HOUR to change the thing!!!!! All in all though it ended well and we made it to our campsite in one peice, completely pooped.

Breaky place

Bridge

Tire change 

Grand Lake. Biggest in New Brunswick 

Moncton Rest Day ~

Rest Day in Moncton!

(Danica) As Kelly and Laura needed a major sleeping day I took one for the team and explored the biggest town in New B alone. Moncton is famous for the tidal bore that comes in on high tide. Basically it's a wave (ranging in 3-60cm high) that comes up the river when the high tide reaches the Bay of Fundy. It's really interesting on how the river changes direction, wave goes up, then the river continues to flow up stream until it is full. All because the Bay of Fundy has the biggest change of tide in the world! But I'll get back to that Bay later. So after riding around Moncton, seeing the adorable downtown, going up and down the river, accidentally going to the next town over Dieppe twice, Laura was finally up (3pm) and ready to go to the Bay of Fundy with me!! We hired this random guy George to drive us to the Hopewell Rocks. The rocks are famous as they were left over from years of erosion around them leaving them standing like tall flowerpots. Hard to describe so see the pictures below. They says the rocks got formed from lava and that is why they haven't eroded away as fast like everything around them. When the tide is out you can go walk around them on the ocean floor. This is why we went so late afternoon to see the full effect of the 60 feet high tide!! World famous!!! George also showed us the oldest covered bridge in the area. Afterwards he dropped us downtown where we went for Lobster! Just the two of us sitting at the table wondering how to use the different lobster utensils. I thought I'd explain we were from sask and needed a quick lesson. I started with "We have an awkward question..." When she cut me off saying "honey I worked at a gay bar for twenty years, nothings awkward." HA! She thought we were on a date!" So I asked for a photo and carried on! Laura honey even picked up the check!

River before tide comes in

Wave!

Anyone see the surfer!?

Laura!

Rocks from above

Us in lovers arch

Day 68 world famous /pictures

The start of out detour. 

The washed out bridge 

Not quite the longest covered bridge 

Hartland!

Our rail trail 

Looking out from the bridge

The world famous bridge

It's huge!

The view of nb 

Rail trail

Our campsite 

Day 71. Here we come big city!

 

Today we took off with our sights set on the largest city in nb, beautiful, world famous Moncton. Staying on the trans canada the whole way, with one of the biggest shoulders since Saskatchewan  we made it into Moncton in no time at all. Passing the magnetic hill, which now comes complete with a zoo and amusement we opted not to see the poplar optical illusion of Moncton. 

We got to our campsite and set up our tent. Danica still full of energy, headed down into Moncton to find a bike shop.  Kelly and I did some bike maintenance showered and relaxed until all meeting up for a lovely seafood dinner. 

Our campsite 

Sorry for the lack of pictures. Little bit overcast and not a whole lot to see. 

Collins Clan. Day 70 Rest Day

Rest day Bathurst 0km

(Courtney) We had decided that today was going to be a relaxed, do nothing, sort of rest day and I got it off to a flying start by sleeping in untill 10:30. The morning consisted of a few games of cards at our yacht club campsite before Sherri and Dad picked us up for a bit of exploring. 

Our first destination was the thrift store in downtown Bathurst. Cate and I bought a few items - Cassidy has kindly agreed to lend us some space in her suitcase so we don't have to carry them all the way to Newfoundland. Main Street was lined with all sorts of old and new cars for the Bathurst car show. There were some pretty sweet old cars in mint condition and a few that looked like they must have been pushed there. After we'd had our fill of old cars and tourist shops we picked up a few things for a picnic lunch and headed to Dad and Sherri's motel. 

The sun was out and motel had some very comfy lounge chairs. Dad taught us how to play shuffle board. We proceeded to kick his butt - well he says he was letting us win. After we'd played enough shuffle board to work up an appetite we headed back downtown to check out a local restaurant, cafe gourmet, that specialized in local seafood. Ordering was the hardest part of the whole day! I wanted one of everything. It was delicious!

The only thing we hadn't managed to get around all day to was swimming. So when we got back to the campsite we went for our first ever skinny dip in the Atlantic Ocean. A refreshing end to a lovely day. 

 

One of my faves 

Shuffleboarding it up. 

Collins Clan. Day 71. In the trees.

(Cate)

Bathurst to Miramichi. 110 km.

Since dad arrived, our wildlife sightings have been particularly uneventful besides the poor birds, skunks and porcupines which came in the way of traffic. Until today. We were biking past a swan early this morning and thinking that it looked very majestic. All the sudden, it let out a vile series of honks and we realized it was in fact a goose. Okay, so that was a little bit anticlimactic. Courtney and I were commenting on how inland New Brunswick is prime moose territory. That looks like a moose lake, a moose field, a moose swamp and so on. But then there was a moose in one of the swamps. We watched her in her natural habitat for a few minutes and then attempted to scare her away so we could watch her most ungraceful moose gait. We stopped for lunch at a pullout along the highway. Cassidy and Sherri met us to enjoy roadside wraps. We were joined by a bright green snake. He was harmlessly trying to sunbathe when I provoked him by stroking his side. Fortunately, he felt as if he could take me on, and gave me his scariest slither, hiss and open-mouth stare. About 5 km before we reached downtown, dad broke his third spoke of the trip. His wheel was wobbling like crazy, but we made it into town. We arrived in Miramichi and went for appies at a restaurant overlooking the river. All of the bike shops were closed, so Court and I biked the 15 km to the campsite alone. But this wasn't just a regular campsite, we chose to forgo our tent for the night and branch out and rent a treehouse. The treehouse was over 20 ft up in the trees, and had bunks for Courtney, Cassidy and I. Had you seen it, you wood have been jealous. We had a barbecue dinner at the campsite (far away from our treehouse to ensure our lodgings were not at risk.) We made s'moreos for dessert, which I'd been waiting all trip to make. Roasted marshmallows in an open Oreo- you can't go wrong! We snuggled into bed in our treehouse. It poured overnight so it was a huge tree-t to have a roof over our heads. I'm pining to tell you about one last animal encounter. While we were soundly sleeping in our magic treehouse, a raccoon came and snacked on mine and Courtney's lunch wraps. Fortunately, he left our breakfast muffins and other food alone. 

Moose in her natural habitat. 

Our snake friend!

Downtown Miramichi. 

The magic treehouse. 

S'moreos... Make them!