Things Are Not As They Seem

     What would a trip to Moncton, New Brunswick be without experiencing the magic of the Magnetic Hill? In 1968, my family travelled to the Maritimes and while in New Brunswick we went to the famous Magnetic Hill. As the website for the attraction states: "Your car will roll uphill in total defiance of natural law, even as your brain is telling you it's simply not possible? This attraction is a completely natural phenomenon - unique to this area. Is it magnetic, an illusion or gravitational mystery? You decide!"

My mother took this photo in 1968.  
There is no Magnetic Hill Inn in existence today but
you get the idea of the importance of this attraction.

Here is the updated "Magnetic Hill" sign at the attraction today.

     Today, the Magnetic Hill attraction also includes a zoo, water park, a shopping village, covered bridge and. of course, the Magnetic Hill itself.

"Wheeee!" Here I am in 1968 travelling up (or is it?) the hill on a bicycle.
In the background, you see my brother Paul on a bike as well.
I don't remember ever going "up" the hill in a car.

     This time, we actually went by vehicle down to the white pole, turned off the engine, put the van in neutral and away we went. The van was magically moving up the hill on its own to the location where we started. Click here to experience it for yourself.

Here is a stock photo of a car reversing "up" hill. Engine is off
and no brakes. I was just enjoying the ride and therefore have
no photo of our van going "up". 

      How It Works: It is an illusion, plain and simple. It is the grade of the road and the fact that our eyes cannot see the horizon line which is hidden by the trees and the rolling terrain, that makes this phenomenon look like we are travelling up hill. All it is is a visual misconception that "fools our eyes". This causes the downhill slope to appear as a rise in the road. The fact is that the vehicle is actually rolling down hill. Our brain is a wonderful thing but it can mislead us sometimes such as with this illusion.

The poster at Magnetic Hill that explains how the phenomena actually works.
I hope I didn't ruin the illusion.

Yes, New Brunswick does love covered bridges but more about them in
another post. In 1982, a covered bridge was built at the Magnetic Hill
going into the Wharf Village.

Circa 1982. I would say that it is the newest covered bridge in the province. It
was built in the style of others built 50 to 100 hundred years ago.

     At Magnetic Hill we only experienced the "Hill" and Wharf Village. We did not go to the Water park or the Zoo but we did see some interesting things at the Wharf Village which, of course, included shopping for the tourists.

A collection of buoys on the side of the wall.

The gardens are decorated with sea-themed items such as this
lobster trap and anchor.

Al took advantage of this photo op.
Captain of his own boat.

Bev's photo op. You have nothing on Jaws.

     As a summary, click here and see the history of the Magnetic Hill. Although Hill is campy, we had great fun during our visit.