September 25, 2007
Tuesday
We negotiated the streets of Quebec and boarded the ferry for a 9:00 crossing of the St Lawrence River.
At noon we crossed into New Brunswick and were treated to the changing colors of autumn leaves as we followed the St John River to Woodstock.
Imagine our surprise to discover a fourth time zone. The Maritime Provinces operate on Atlantic time, except for Newfoundland, which has its own unique time zone that is a half hour earlier than Atlantic. That means that a Dodgers home game begins at midnight in St John’s. I wonder if they have many Dodger fans there.
We stopped along the way in Great Falls to observe the great falls in the city center, but unfortunately they were a trickle. We find that many Canadian tourist attractions close down after Labor Day.
We washed the car in Woodstock and chatted with the attendant. He has been to Florida for baseball and "burns" to see Nashville and he thinks that President Bush is doing the right thing.
Wednesday
We were up early and on the road to get to St John in time to tour the Moosehead Brewery. We made it in time for what our guidebook listed as the 10:00 tour but were informed that they have not given public tours for two years because of international security requirements.
We drove to the Reversing Falls Gardens and observed the phenomenon of the twice daily tidal
flow from the Bay of Fundy that causes the St John River to reverse itself. Jet skis hauled tourists up the reversing falls and spun water brodies and we applauded them.
Even the excitement of watching water flow palls eventually, however, and we paid our bill and began driving up the Bay of Fundy.
Five miles east of St Martins we paid to enter the Fundy Trail Parkway, a seven-mile system of auto, bicycle and hiking trails along the coastal cliff above the bay. Big Salmon River lies at the end of the Trail and we watched a movie at the Interpretive Center there.
Big Salmon River was a logging town during the first third of the 20th Century, owned by the Hearst family as a source of wood pulp for newsprint. Randolph Hearst left his initials in the bark of a birch tree and the Hearst Lodge is open for public tours.
We stopped at the St Martin Caves Restaurant for probably the best fish chowder in the universe. Our timing was impeccable, just as the last of six tour buses left. They served eight tour buses the day before as well as an stream of taxis transporting passengers from the three cruise ships moored in St John Harbour.
After visiting O My Cod! gift shop, we continued north and wound our way through Fundy National Park to the Cape Enrage Lighthouse, a lonely, desolate, windswept point of land occupied only by a stream of tourists.
From there we drove to Hopewell Rocks Visitor Centre, arriving 40 minutes after closing time. God’s tide, however, pays no attention to bureaucratic operating hours, and we found a large crowd of vehicles parked outside the gate as people gathered to take advantage of the 6:30 pm low tide.
We walked a half mile to a stairway down the cliff and I descended to the ocean floor to take photos of exposed sandstone pillars. Six hours later, the tide would bring the water’s surface to a level 43 feet above my head.
Tuesday
We negotiated the streets of Quebec and boarded the ferry for a 9:00 crossing of the St Lawrence River.
At noon we crossed into New Brunswick and were treated to the changing colors of autumn leaves as we followed the St John River to Woodstock.
Imagine our surprise to discover a fourth time zone. The Maritime Provinces operate on Atlantic time, except for Newfoundland, which has its own unique time zone that is a half hour earlier than Atlantic. That means that a Dodgers home game begins at midnight in St John’s. I wonder if they have many Dodger fans there.
We stopped along the way in Great Falls to observe the great falls in the city center, but unfortunately they were a trickle. We find that many Canadian tourist attractions close down after Labor Day.
We washed the car in Woodstock and chatted with the attendant. He has been to Florida for baseball and "burns" to see Nashville and he thinks that President Bush is doing the right thing.
Wednesday
We were up early and on the road to get to St John in time to tour the Moosehead Brewery. We made it in time for what our guidebook listed as the 10:00 tour but were informed that they have not given public tours for two years because of international security requirements.
We drove to the Reversing Falls Gardens and observed the phenomenon of the twice daily tidal
flow from the Bay of Fundy that causes the St John River to reverse itself. Jet skis hauled tourists up the reversing falls and spun water brodies and we applauded them.Even the excitement of watching water flow palls eventually, however, and we paid our bill and began driving up the Bay of Fundy.
Five miles east of St Martins we paid to enter the Fundy Trail Parkway, a seven-mile system of auto, bicycle and hiking trails along the coastal cliff above the bay. Big Salmon River lies at the end of the Trail and we watched a movie at the Interpretive Center there.
Big Salmon River was a logging town during the first third of the 20th Century, owned by the Hearst family as a source of wood pulp for newsprint. Randolph Hearst left his initials in the bark of a birch tree and the Hearst Lodge is open for public tours.
We stopped at the St Martin Caves Restaurant for probably the best fish chowder in the universe. Our timing was impeccable, just as the last of six tour buses left. They served eight tour buses the day before as well as an stream of taxis transporting passengers from the three cruise ships moored in St John Harbour.
After visiting O My Cod! gift shop, we continued north and wound our way through Fundy National Park to the Cape Enrage Lighthouse, a lonely, desolate, windswept point of land occupied only by a stream of tourists.
From there we drove to Hopewell Rocks Visitor Centre, arriving 40 minutes after closing time. God’s tide, however, pays no attention to bureaucratic operating hours, and we found a large crowd of vehicles parked outside the gate as people gathered to take advantage of the 6:30 pm low tide.We walked a half mile to a stairway down the cliff and I descended to the ocean floor to take photos of exposed sandstone pillars. Six hours later, the tide would bring the water’s surface to a level 43 feet above my head.
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