Canadian Contemplation

Art Installation at The Rooms – St. John’s Newfoundland

After travelling through all 10 provinces (and one American state), I still don’t think I have been further enlightened on the idea of Canadianism. When I started this trip I questioned the idea of Canada, and I think I was right at the time, it can mean anything.

I wanted to share some of the memories that stick out for me when looking back on the journey.

St. Johns Newfoundland – the city was really, really cool. I now wish we had spent more time on the island and seen some other places. I went there expecting it to be old fashioned, and it simply wasn’t. There were a lot of young people running trendy businesses and the sense of history matched any town in the UK. It was also memorable for having to spend 4 days in the same clothing while trying to track down my luggage….fun times.

The Maritimes – a weird and wonderful place, but don’t go there expecting large metropolises or much action. It is a pretty sleepy area. Most of the cities we visited in the region would certainly be classed as small towns in other parts of the country. I think our favourite attraction had to be the Magnetic Hill in Moncton, rolling the car backwards up the hill. And the blueberry beer.

The Hopewell Rocks – This was one of my top sights to see on the trip. Not only are the rock formations a stunning sight, but to see the waters of the Bay of Fundy retreating from land and revealing miles upon miles of seabed was extraordinary.

Heat, heat and more heat – I have never sweated so much in my entire life as when we were in the Toronto/Montreal area. It is so hot and humid there in summer. I appreciate that most people travel to work in air conditioned cars or subways, spend all day in an air conditioned office, and then spend the evenings outside after the sun goes down. But when you are being a tourist, it is torturous. You are constantly looking for air con or shade whenever you are outside. I would stand in the sun for 5 minutes and feel myself burning. Not good for a pale, red head….. but I can now say I have experienced the central Canada summer. And no, I’m not going back to experience the winter.

The Rocky Mountains – My pictures demonstrate why they are far and away the best part of the trip. I have a feeling we’ll be making a return trip as soon a we can. The whole area was captivating.

Rural Alberta – Very interesting place. We were lucky to stay on my Aunt’s cattle farm, and visit the Hutterites, the Badlands and Vulcan. There is a lot to see there, and we really only visited a small part.

Detroit – I know, a bit of a weird detour, but I’m glad to have seen a bit of the city – good and bad. The Detroit Institute of Arts is first class, and the burnt out houses are third world. Detroit and Windsor face each other across a narrow waterway, but are worlds apart. Fascinating.

Niagara Falls – quite possibly the strangest clash of natural beauty and man made frivolity (big waterfalls alongside garish casinos) but nature wins out and the falls are a must see when visiting Southern Ontario. It’s a stunning sight.

The blog is called Mounties and Moufettes, but we never saw either on the trip. Ok, we saw RCMP officers, but none in the bright red jacket ceremonial dress. Not even in Ottawa during the Three Amigos meeting. As for moufettes….well they are notoriously shy and nocturnal. We certainly smelled many, but no sightings yet. The biggest disappointment was not seeing a moose. We drove through so many moose ladened forests, but didn’t see any. I thought that would have been a guarantee in the Canadian wilderness.

And now some thank-yous to all the people that helped us along the way –

Robert and Diana in Toronto –  your generosity allowed us to see the city in such detail. Thank you so much for letting us crash in your basement and loaning us the Tesla for the trip to Niagara.

The Winnipeggers – Uncle Gary, Auntie Deed, Leanne, Kelvin, Allan, Heather, Uncle John and all the cousins. We had such a good time seeing you.

Auntie Carolyn and Uncle Cliff – it was amazing to finally see your farm, your meaty suppers were legendary, thank you.

Uncle Bill, Auntie Maxine, Daryl, Anita and more cousins – thanks for your hospitality and help with the car rental. It was so nice to see you all again.

All the people that encouraged us to keep going – Our family and friends around the world that took interest in our travels across a country that is stereotyped as being a bit boring.

We made it through the 10 provinces, but there are still the Northern territories to explore. Perhaps we will make it to the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut next.

Canada may be a clumsy mish mash of cultures, languages, regions, strange laws, confusing road signs and poutine…but it’s also beautiful, diverse, laid-back and generally full of nice people. Lovable indeed.

 

 

 

 

Curious New Brunswick

As we left the Confederation Bridge from Prince Edward Island, we entered the fourth province of our trip – New Brunswick. And I have a confession; prior to planning this trip, I really didn’t know anything about New Brunswick.

Ok, so I knew the basics –  Fredericton is the capital city, and the southern shore of the province is on the Bay of Fundy, a huge tourist attraction for both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. We formulated a plan – spend the week in the southern part of the province where most of the towns and cities are concentrated and hope for the best. It turns out New Brunswick was quite a surprise for a number of reasons.

New Brunswick is the only province that is officially bilingual. Canada itself is officially bilingual, but the reality for its citizens is quite different. If you are still reading this blog in a few months this will become apparent. But in New Brunswick, we certainly heard English and French being equally spoken in bars and cafes and all signage is in both languages.

We chose to stay in Moncton first, the reason being that there is a sight nearby called the Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy, which after seeing a picture in the guidebook, looked like a really cool thing to go and see. The Bay of Fundy is famed for having the highest and lowest tides in the world and the fluctuations in water levels can be seen in many areas of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

There is really nothing notable in Moncton at first glance – the guidebook didn’t offer much help either. It’s a bit of one street town with big box stores on the periphery and the whole place looks like it has seen better days. However, after some poking around, it turns out there are some bizarre things in Moncton.

Firstly, Moncton sits on the Petitcodiac River, which empties into the Bay of Fundy. Because the Bay of Fundy has these huge tides, a tidal bore occurs twice a day in the river and a sudden wave of water rushes past Moncton and takes the river from being low and placid to swiftly moving in a matter of seconds. If you have never seen a tidal bore, Google it. Very strange phenomenon.

Secondly, Moncton boasts something called the Magnetic Hill. Basically, if you put the car in neutral, it will roll up the hill. Again, Google it. We did it for a laugh. And we did laugh… mostly at ourselves for going to do something so ridiculous. Then we found something better –  a local brewery called the Pumphouse serving blueberry beer. A few sips of that and everything was right in the world.

The tide is starting to go out at the Hopewell Rocks

And the tide is still going….

The Hopewell Rocks, about an hour south of Moncton is definitely worth making a trip to. Ideally you want be there at both high and low tides, but the phase of the moon will dictate what you can see and when. We were lucky to arrive just after high tide and watch the water recede at a brisk pace. After a while, you are able to walk the sea bed and admire the strange shapes of the rocks. Viewing platforms in the park also allow for a bird’s eye view of the receding bay, and we watched this huge mass of water continue to move away from the shore and funnel itself into the horizon. It was quite amazing to watch and we spent hours there.

After Moncton, we drove further West, to a resort town called St. Andrews right near the border with the United States. Again, I knew nothing about St. Andrews, except that it was meant to be nice. It’s not nice. It’s LOVELY. St. Andrews is by far and away the nicest town we visited in all of the Maritimes. I realize that it is very much a resort town, catered towards tourists, but the main street is right out of a movie, with Cape Cod style buildings everywhere stretched along the seafront, and a beautiful old railroad hotel overlooking the town.

There are a lot of interesting attractions in this part of New Brunswick, but only having a couple of days we decided to go and take a look at nearby St. Stephen, a border town with the US state of Maine. The town itself is not much to look at, but was quite interesting in that there are many small border crossings (didn’t see any line ups) and you can sit on the bank of the St. Croix river and look across to Maine – a different country in a different time zone!

Main Street, St Andrews

Back in St. Andrews, we also visited Minister’s Island, which is only accessible during low tide. You can drive your car across the seabed and then onto the island, which was owned by William Van Horne, the man who oversaw the construction of the transcontinental railway in Canada. The main house and all the outbuildings are completely accessible to visitors, as well as hiking trails and beaches. The house itself is a treasure trove of artefacts and history, and the grounds and trails are beautiful with wildflowers in bloom and butterflies dancing through the air. It is a very peaceful place to visit. We had to drag ourselves away before the tide came in, otherwise we would be stuck for the night.

The last stop was Fredericton, the capital city of New Brunswick and a pretty town with tree lined streets centred on the St John River. After a brief stop and pleasant visit to the Beaverbrook art gallery, and the University of New Brunswick campus (great city views) we had to get back on the road to Moncton, home of the aforementioned Magnetic Hill, blueberry beer, and most importantly, the closest VIA train station. We had a train booked for Montreal and a farewell to make to the Maritimes.

One last lobster roll in the Maritimes

Riverside in Fredericton

The Bay of Fundy – still 2 hours until low tide