Sadly, Dave and I are finishing our last week on our tour of Eastern Canada and the Canadian Maritimes. We were fortunate to hike to the beautiful falls pictured above on our last day. It’s been a fabulous visit and we can’t wait to return for even more exploring. Dave even chatted with a few locals about what it takes to become a Canadian resident (in the summer that is!).
We returned to New Brunswick (NB) on our way towards Maine, stopping at a campground named “Scotia Pines”. As you can see by the picture, there were beautiful pines throughout. We found a large dog park where Murphy had a blast with his new friend Bruce and, of course, they found the “watering hole”. The next day we explored Victoria Park, a beautiful 1,000-acre park with walking/hiking/mountain biking trails and lots of activities. Unfortunately, the waterfalls were relatively dry but we still enjoyed a beautiful hike. In the late 1880’s, 25 acres surrounding the waterfalls was donated to the town and thereafter, many contiguous parcels of land were donated which enabled the creation of this wonderful park right in the middle of the city of Truro, NB.
We then headed for Fundy National Park. It boasts over 125 km of hiking trails, with incredible vistas. One of the entrances to the park is at the Bay of Fundy, which has the world’s largest tidal ranges, anywhere from 11 ft to 54 ft twice a day (an average tidal range along most shores is 3 ft). Where we were, the tidal range was about 40 ft. At this location is the small town of Alma, NB with a 2021 population of 232. I guess not much happens there that everyone doesn’t know about. Lobster fishing is one of its main industries, so we ate at Alma Lobster to enjoy fresh lobster. Alma runs their own fleet of fishing boats. We learned that during the off season (their lobster fishing season run from March to July and November to January), they place the already caught lobsters in holding tanks with a water temperature of 36 degrees so the lobster hibernates. No feeding needed! So even though we visited during off season, we were able to have fresh lobster. Pretty cool.
We enjoyed two hikes, one to a river that often runs underground and one to Dickson Waterfalls. After quite a bit of rain on our second day, we returned to the waterfalls the following morning to see if there was more water rushing over. We could definitely see a difference.
Alma also has Kelly’s Bakery, which is known for their “world famous” sticky buns. We bought two, along with two donuts, a few brownies, and a few pieces of cake. Although the sticky buns were good, they could have been a bit more “gooier”. However, Dave and I loved the cake donuts. They were light with great flavor. So…when Dave needed to go into Alma the next morning to fuel up our truck before heading to our next destination, we just happened to stop into Kelly’s Bakery (again). We bought two more sticky buns (since they are world famous), six donuts (we ordered four but we were told you can get six for the same price), and a Molasses cookie (Dave’s dad loved Molasses cookies). I had a donut after lunch, one for dessert after dinner and one the next morning with hot chocolate. So good!
Our very last stop in Canada at a very nice campground Hawkshaw, NB right across the river from Nackawic, NB. Nackawic is home to the World’s Largest Axe, so after setting up our campsite we headed over. The axe symbolizes the importance of the forest industry to the past, present, and future of New Brunswick. And wouldn’t you know it, there was a Big Axe Brewery just a few miles down the road. And wouldn’t you know it, the owners have labs! Portia, a 7-month-old chocolate, was downstairs in the brewery helping out dad with the brews. Portia’s mom brought her up to see Murphy and they had fun getting to know each other. I think Murphy was a bit smitten with her.
During our last full day in Canada, we hiked to a gorgeous waterfall and visited the Longest Covered Bridge. Off to Maine we go!
Thanks for following along on our summer RV travels.
Sad to say so long to Canada Brenda, I’m going to miss this place Dave, and Can we go see Portia again Murphy.
Wow, what a breath of fresh air! Thanks for the pics of beautiful NB and the Maritimes.
I could tell Mr. Murphy didn’t want to leave (his girl friend) 😉
Enjoy! – and welcome back to the (dis) united states.
Wes
Sorry your time in Canada came to a close, but thanks so much for doing our homework for us! 🙂 Looks like all three of you had an amazing time!