Driving New Brunswick – a road trip
through Atlantic Canada, part II
Anna Maria Espsäter explores the
little-known Maritime province of New Brunswick in eastern Canada, in this
two-part mini road trip feature.
Dusk
was slowly descending over the Saint John River and I was seriously considering
settling down for an evening with Ben and Gerrie. And I don’t mean a misspelt
tub of ice cream, but Benjamin and Geraldine, the gorgeous and very fluffy
resident cats of Tannaghtyn B&B, a country house set near the banks of the
river on the outskirts of Florenceville-Bristol, in the central western part of
New Brunswick. On the surface, this scenic, largely rural province seems
positively made for quiet nights in with cats, in-front-of an open fire, but
scratch said surface and you’ll find that this place has a knack for making tiny
locations more interesting.
Florenceville-Bristol,
formerly two separate towns merged in 2008, making it New Brunswick’s newest
town – somewhat ironic, since the history of both goes back several hundred
years. Florenceville, incidentally, was named after Florence Nightingale and
one can only assume Bristol to be named after its UK namesake. Quaint and
quirky historical facts abound throughout the province and the people of New
Brunswick are quite an enterprising lot – in the smallest of settlements you
often find the most unusual of initiatives. Florenceville-Bristol, much to my
surprise, offered one of the trip’s best fine dining experiences, in a
converted Canadian-Pacific railway carriage (www.freshfinedining.com), enough of a
temptation for me to spurn the cats and head out for dinner.
The
following morning it was time for my driver and me to hop back in the car and
continue our journey south, through a mixture of agricultural land and forest,
all the way down to the coast and the pleasant seaside resort of St. Andrews by-the-Sea,
spitting distance from Maine in the U.S., just across Passamaquoddy Bay (www.standrewsbythesea.ca). Throughout
the journey place names and signposts continually stirred the imagination –
surely New Brunswick is one of the best provinces for road trip entertainment
value and good distractions? First there was Nackawic, proudly proclaiming to
be “home of the world’s largest axe”. Then along came Pokiok and Mactaquac, followed
by a church near the hamlet of Harvey advertising “drama and dessert” and there
were plenty of lovely old ramshackle farms to admire along the way.
Feeling
vaguely envious of a local population that was delivered dramatic desserts
instead of sermons, we reached the seaside and Water Street, the main street of
St. Andrews. It was definitely living up to its name – the water was literally
chucking it down from the heavens. Luckily the open heavens had put a lid on it
by the following morning and the sun was out again, allowing us time to explore
without getting soggy. The resort town, home to less than 2,000 permanent
residents, manages to pack in an awful lot for such a small place. There are varied
shops and boutiques, a well-established artists’ community, a gallery, good
whale-watching in the bay and several of the province’s best hotels and
restaurants can be found here. St. Andrews dates back to 1783 and original,
old-world architecture adds further to the seaside charm, along with several
grand murals, near the waterfront.
One
night wasn’t nearly enough here, but there was plenty more of New Brunswick to
see and I only had one day left in which to see it. Following the coastline of
the Bay of Fundy, famed for the highest tides in the world, we drove past Saint
John, the largest city in the province, towards somewhere altogether smaller.
In fact, our first stop after leaving St. Andrews was a barn. The Barn in
Bloomfield (www.thebarninbloomfield.com)
is, as the name suggests, a huge barn, built in 1901, with a shop and gallery
at the front and a workshop at the back, where owner/manager Brent Rourke makes
shaker boxes and furniture. It’s all open to the public, so people can watch
Brent at work. The barn sits in a beautiful and peaceful location and every
year they host several themed events, including live music and springtime sheep
shearing.
After
a nice stop admiring the beautiful pieces in the barn’s gallery, but sadly
failing to do any quality sheep shearing, we continued southeast towards one of
the two national parks in the province, Fundy national park (www.pc.gc.ca), passing Moosehorn Creek, home to
a smaller version of the covered bridges New Brunswick is known for, and the
oddly named Mechanic Settlement (a new home for the world’s displaced mechanics,
perhaps?). Along Bay of Fundy the difference between high and low tide can be
as much as 12 metres and it’s possible to amble across the bottom of the bay –
at low tide obviously. Throughout the forested areas of the park there are
excellent hiking trails, while the waterfront is home to unusual rock
formations and pristine beaches. The tide was coming in as we followed the
hiking trails along the coastline, so we opted against venturing down to the
rather muddy-looking ocean floor and instead enjoyed the views from the loftier
heights of the viewing platforms. Our shoes were ever grateful.
Our
journey, which began in the very far north-western corner of New Brunswick, was
almost at end as we were reaching the far south easternmost corner, continuing
into neighbouring Nova Scotia. Before crossing the province border, though, New
Brunswick had a few more choice place names in store for us, including a Salem
or two, and a Crooked Creek. We near enough stopped in Curryville, it sounded
so promising and were even more sorely tempted by the Swamp Donkey pub in
Hopewell Hill. This had been a road trip to remember.
Further
information:
Getting
there:
There
are direct flights from the UK to nearby provinces Nova Scotia and Québec with
connecting flights to one of New Brunswick’s four regional airports. It’s also
possible to arrive by coach or rail from either neighbouring province.
Where
to stay:
Tannaghtyn, 4169 Route 103, Florenceville-Bristol, T: 506-392-6966,
http://www.bbcanada.com/new_brunswick/river_valley/florenceville.
4-star
b&b complete with fluffy cats – beautiful, welcoming and excellent service.
Algonquin
Resort, 184 Adolphus St, Saint-Andrews-by-the-Sea, T: 506-529-8823, www.algonquinresort.com. One of the
finest hotels in Canada, recently restored. Elegant rooms, fine dining, pools,
spa, and excellent cocktails.
Rossmount
Inn, 4599 Route 127, Chamcook nr Saint Andrews, T: 506-529-3351, www.rossmountinn.com. Countryside inn
with a focus on gastronomy. Seasonal, organic food, very comfy rooms.
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