We awoke today to a much colder world than we had yesterday. Where we had been sweltering in t-shirts just 12 hours earlier, we were now bundling up in jackets and sweaters, trying to protect ourselves from the chilling wind blowing blustering around us.
We had intended on exploring Fredericton before heading off towards Prince Edward Island, but after hurriedly making our way to a cafe for breakfast, we decided just to take a couple of photos and hit the road. It was just too darn cold for wandering around. Before we left Fredericton we stopped in at a small store that sold tea and coffee, to purchase some take away drinks. The owner of the store had his beautiful giant schnauzer 'Cooper' in the store, and the girls were just captivated and delighted with him. He was gorgeous.
Our first stop this morning was two hours down the road at Moncton. Once again, the drive proved spectacular, with the landscape vibrant with fall colour. We planned to arrive in time for the Tidal Bore - this is a Phenomenon caused by the Bay of Fundy tides, where you see the tide rolling in along the Petitcodiac River. We arrived by luck, just a few minutes before the tidal bore occurred. So we only spent less than a minute in the freezing wind waiting for it to come rolling up the river. It was pretty impressive to watch.
From Moncton, we travelled half an hour down the road to Shediac, the Lobster capital of the world. It is pretty much the end of the summer season, and many business are now closed that would normally be bustling with the summer crowds. However we managed to see the Big Lobster and find somewhere to get our serving of Shediac lobster - an absolutely delicious lobster roll. We didn't make it to any of Shediac's beaches, and although we drove down the waterfront at Pointe-du-Chêne, it was a case of 2 second photos before high tailing back to the car out of the wind.
It was a further 2 hour drive from Shediac to Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island. My whole life I have dreamed of visiting Prince Edward Island and seeing the beautiful landscapes where Anne of Green of Gables was set. So I was very excited that we were finally on our way. The trip to Prince Edward Island is across the Confederation Bridge - a 13km engineering marvel. It looks glorious from a distance and was quite incredible to cross.
A further 40 min drive took us through rolling green country side, laced with red dirt, with glimpses of ocean through the pine trees and autumn colours. We arrived in Charlottetown, at our beautiful BnB, late in the afternoon. We strolled through Charlottetown to have dinner in a local pub - more lobster, PEI oysters and scallops, then braving the cold back to our lovely warm room.
The children are delighted with our accommodations as there is a little child size inbuilt closet that they have already turned into their cubby house. I am delighted as we have access to a range of DVD's - one of which is Anne of Green Gables - we are watching it as I type. The girls have not yet gone to sleep - captivated as they are by Anne. Hubby is delighted that he gets to watch this classic movie for the first time. His comment so far 'what a terrible time to live in - doilies everywhere'. Hahaha. I am sure he will love our Green gables excursion tomorrow!
Jen x
I love phernergan. The Youngest slept well, and all traces of her stomach bug had disappeared by this morning. She was ravenous on waking and like all good parents, we filled her up with goldfish crackers and Tim Hortons timbits (little donut balls).
We left our hotel at 8am, and headed south from Riviere du Loup for an hour to Edmundston. Words just cannot describe the drive. The colours on the trees are exploding everywhere and every turn in the road provides yet another spectacular vista. It does not look real and my constant exclamations at the colour brought forth the comment from The Eldest - 'Mum - you sound just like Grandma!'
(Grandma - it was in reference to my constant stream of 'Oh my god, look at that, is that for real, it can't be real, look at that, can you see that' which I think The Eldest remembers from the cottage visit! Don't worry - I took this as a compliment!!!)
Photos cannot ever ever do it justice but here are a few so that hopefully you get some understanding of just how beautiful our drive was today.
We have definitely chosen a great time for this road trip - colour was what we wanted, and colour is what we are getting.
We noticed many of the beware of the moose crossing signs and the fences up to keep the moose from the roads. I never realised just how big a Canadian moose is - but this sign made it quite clear. Big right? Happy to be driving during the daytime that's for sure!
After crossing into New Brunswick, we stopped at the New Brunswick Botanical Gardens - originally to have brunch, but although the website said their cafe was open for Sunday brunch through to October, actually that meant that they closed at the end of August and open for one week in October. Still, we managed to have a great walk through the gardens, stretching our legs and enjoying a very unseasonably warm Fall day.
From Edmundston, we travelled another 40 mins to Grand Sault / Grand Falls. There were no guided tours on offer, and with the day getting quite hot, we did a mini walk around the first part of the guided tour track. The water level was very low, so not much waterfall activity, but the gorge looked pretty and we could imagine how impressive it must be in Spring with all the snow melt.
And it's nice to see my children embracing the touristy thing and collecting their guides to read. Forget that the guides were for Miramichi, where we are not heading to(!) or that they were upside down - at least they are getting into the spirit of the road trip.
From Grand Falls, we drove to Hartland to see the world's longest covered bridge - it was closed to traffic, but we had a quick look see and took a couple of photos.
Then we headed on down to Fredericton, our overnight stay for tonight. We were exhausted by the time we arrived, so it was a lovely family swim, dinner in the sports bar, and lights out for all. It was a great road tripping day! Bring on more of the same tomorrow!
Jen x
