Meandering through New Brunswick

Where is Janna in downtown St. John?

After our departure from Grand Manan Island we headed straight towards the city of St John on the mainland. Still a bustling seaport and transportation hub, St John has a grand history of shipbuilding and commerce. We were welcomed to boondock at the very scenic Costco parking lot and parked free all the next day at Harbor Station. Just across the parking lot at Harbor Station was a hockey arena and entrance to the “pedway,” a fantastic indoor tunnel system linking all the major downtown buildings. Although Liz insisted on comparing it to a naked mole rat maze, we were impressed by the accessibility of the whole city and it greatly contributed to a really nice day. 

We proceeded up the pedway to the New Brunswick Museum where we enjoyed private tours from three enthusiastic young docents. We also explored the municipal library, the farmers market and enjoyed a late afternoon swim at the Canada Games Aquatic Center (FANTASTIC). Later that evening we found ourselves boondocking at the Irving Nature Park on the Bay of Fundy.

St. John River year-round cable ferry and visitor center

The next day we wandered north along the St John River on one of New Brunswick’s designated scenic drives. We were amused to find three different brochures for the same “River Valley Scenic Drive”, one for birders, one for motorcyclists, and one for people interested in arts and crafts. What wasn’t offered was a brochure for RVers, but it turns out there are good reasons for that. We traveled three of these designated scenic drives in New Brunswick and found them all challenging. Several times we had to back away from low-clearance or weight-restricted bridges, and the roadbeds were often in need of repair. We advise our RV friends to stick to the main roads and use their toads (towed vehicles) or bikes to explore these lovely byways.  

Fredericton Welcome: Pride flag and RV parking!

Our next stop was Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick.We boondocked on the outskirts (thanks, Home Depot) and took a city bus to the Saturday morning market, which was fantastic and a destination not to be missed. We were too early in the season to experience the historic barracks in the center of town, but we did enjoy a free family fun day at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and enjoyed wandering through the shops downtown.

Continuing north, we followed the famous salmon river (the Miramachi) to the Gulf of St Lawrence and the city of Miramachi. Here we found the most amazing used book store of the trip (and we have visited many). The proprietor, John Hughes, tagged us a couple of suckers, and had us rooting through stacks of books to find a few treasures. Fortunately it was raining so he wisely refused to open up any of the dozens of bins of books in the parking lot.(see below). After a refreshing swim courtesy of a friendly desk clerk at a Howard Johnson’s Hotel, we headed southeast to  Kouchibouguac National Park. 

Another 50-60 bins ringed the parking lot

Situated on the mouth of the river of the same name, the Park is well loved by the citizens of New Brunswick. In fact, the few vehicles camping in the park had New Brunswick license plates. We found it the perfect bike riding park with wide groomed trails radiating in every direction from the spacious campground. As always, we were ahead of the season and pretty much enjoyed solitude. On the fourth day crowds of black flies arrived, so we packed up and continued south. Our next stop was the beach at Shediac, then the city of Moncton, another university town and happening place. We enjoyed the Saturday farmers market (more food stands than farmers) and watched the “slowest bike” races  at a bicycling appreciation event.

Hopewell Rocks on the way to Fundy

Now we are back on the Bay of Fundy at the national park everyone refers to (even the roadway signs) as “Fundy”. This park is perched on the cliff up above the tidal flats and our spot looks over the tiny village of Alma, formerly a logging town and now (since 1948) the gateway to this vast and beautiful park. This morning we delighted in a sunny hike along the Trans-Canada Trail and this afternoon explored a bit of the park by bicycle.  We feel totally blessed to be enjoying this amazing landscape and are quite sold on National Parks in Canada. While Kouchibouguac was flat open spaces and sandy beaches, Fundy is mountainous with acres of beautiful forest. Both are very well maintained and provide everything we need (such as great showers, good bike paths, adequate electricity, water and sewer.) Fundy even has good internet. Tomorrow, if the wind stays calm, we'll drive the eight mile bridge to Prince Edward Island. Lilypad doesn't really like bridges, but that's another story. Suffice it to say please hold us in your thoughts.