When we got off the ferry from Digby, we followed the signs to Reversing Falls. This point of interest was well marked and soon we were parked and enjoying the view. This phenomenon is amazing. On our first visit we saw the flow going the usual way, the waters from the Saint John River were flowing out into the Bay of Fundy. The waves were white-tipped and the rapids were really visible. The tide was going out so there was no interference for the outgoing water. However, the next time we saw it was approaching high tide. This time the strong tide was pushing against the river flow and the bay water was actually flowing into the river. We saw cormorants landing in the water and riding the current up the river. Right in front of where we were standing they would dive down and then re-emerge with fish in their beaks. When they got too close to the rapids they would fly back down the river and start all over again. It’s not clear in the photos, but the first one shows the water flowing into the Bay of Fundy, the normal way, and the second shows the water flowing upstream.
We stayed in downtown St. John. We saw many wonderful old houses. Most have been converted into multi-unit dwellings. When we searched the real estate listings few were single family homes. The house prices were very low compared to what we are used to in Vancouver. I teased Dale that we should buy one of the two unit ones; we could live on one side and our older son and his family could live on the other. With the difference in the market we could buy it outright and have money in the bank. We would both have living quarters much larger than we have now, and a bigger yard to boot. However, I’m not sure that would fly with them as I don’t know what the job market is here. So maybe we’ll just buy a multi-unit heritage house. We’ll live on the main and rent out the other units. Sounds like a great retirement plan, except for the winters, and the many flights home to see everyone, but one can dream. I love old houses!
The city market wasn’t as busy as we expected but it is fairly early in the season. We looked into some city tours but none of them were operating yet. We did walk down Prince William Street to check out the ornate carvings on the old stone buildings. We talked to two workers who were involved in turning the old city hall building into high end condos. We also took in the Loyalist cemetery. Some of the markers were too weathered to read, but some told heartbreaking stories of loss. We didn’t take any photos there.
One afternoon we drove to St. Stephen to the Ganong chocolate museum. We arrived at 3:30 and they closed at 4:00 but we still had time to make our way through the displays. The best part was there were chocolates to sample throughout the museum. They were on trays and you could have as many was you wanted! HEAVEN! As we were so late in the day we didn’t get to see them making chocolates. However, the chocolate store was open until 5:00 so we had plenty of time to browse and make our choices. I may have eaten too much chocolate that day, wait, what? Too much chocolate, never! Silly me.
On our way to Prince Edward Island we took a detour to see some covered bridges. We saw only six of the about sixty in the province. Covered bridge decks last about 100 years, uncovered about ten. I wonder why they never took hold in the west. The transport ministry maintains most of the bridges but they don’t paint the covers. Sounds like a summer job for students to me! We were able to drive through all but one of the bridges, the one in the first photo. The new road is beside it.
I’m glad we took the detour to see the bridges because there wasn’t much else to see on the way to the Confederation Bridge. We saw signs to be aware of moose but no moose. There were many large nests on the utility towers. It was interesting to see how spaced out they were, so that the parent birds would have enough territory in which to hunt. Most of the routes in NB were very well marked. However, there was only one sign for the Confederation Bridge, listing the exit to take. We didn’t catch that exit and ended up in Nova Scotia before we doubled back and got on the right route. The bridge was neat. It’s two lanes with high concrete sides. No one will ever drive off it. We were a little concerned that we had missed the toll booths when we drove off as we took a quick turnoff and we could see the booths but no cars came after us with sirens blasting and lights flashing. A quick check of the google on the interweb reassured us, you only pay when you leave PEI, the same with the ferries.
While St. John was interesting, New Brunswick didn’t really capture us. I don’t think we’ll need to come back to visit again.