Au Revoir, New Brunswick

     Time has just flown by. Even though we are being restricted in many things, there is so much to do. Sadly, it has been many months since we have been back in Ontario and we have not posted anything.  During this period we have had time to reflect on our experiences in New Brunswick. We had a lovely year even with part of it being on lockdown and many restrictions.

     As mentioned before many people just travel through this province on the Trans-Canada Highway without really stopping to see this beautiful province. "There is nothing to see", they say.  How wrong they are!

     New Brunswick has many things to offer and places to explore and we did just that. It is better not to procrastinate because you never know what will happen in the future just like we saw during the spring of this year. Here is a pictorial recap of what we enjoyed doing:

Here Al and I are sitting on our red chairs in front of the apartment building in May. Our apartment was on the second floor looking out toward the street. We lived in a small apartment on one of the major streets going downtown. We were only a few blocks from the busy fire station so we heard sirens during all times of the day and night. The apartment had no balcony so it was difficult when you are used to just stepping out to a yard. I spent a lot of time at the kitchen window watching the passers-by. The good thing about living downtown was that you were close to the grocery store, farmer's market, library, restaurants, attractions, festivals, etc. You could walk almost anywhere. 

  

I loved spring and early summer in New Brunswick. That is when
Fiddleheads, which are a baby fern, are available. You can do so much with them. You can 
even make a piece of art using them, as seen below. Also, during the spring there are so many of my
favourite flowers in bloom -- lilacs. Everywhere you turn there are lilacs.

"Don't fiddle with my heart"

We attended many festivals throughout the year.
Here we are at the Atlantic Balloon Fiesta

Here we are at the Fall Festival.

Bev spent three times a week at the gym with Sheri, her
trainer. We had a great time together building upon the skills
developed over the past few years.

Are we fitness warriors? Of course. Bev and Sheri
 meet in May before Bev and Al leave Fredericton.
Mask is now the fashion.

Al joined the local Barbershop Chorus, The River Valley Chorus. He only had to walk two blocks to get to the rehearsal hall in a local church. Downtown is very convenient for so much.
Here Al is singing with the chorus at a special Pub chorus.

Here Al is singing at an annual performance with two other choruses.

You never know who you will meet. We met many new friends through our activities which we still 
keep in touch with. We also met some old friends. Here Bev and Al are with an old neighbour who
grew up on the same street in Newmarket. Brian is Kyle's age. Nice to see how the neighbourhood kids grew up.

The harvest moon was a highlight of the Fredericton Harvest Festival which was a large music Festival only a few block from where we lived downtown.

You never know what you will see! These two are going grocery shopping at the local Superstore.

Music is an important part of the culture in New Brunswick. Here are some musicians jamming at a local downtown coffee shop.

There are many museums and places to 

learn about the history of New Brunswick 

and its towns. Here Al is play acting inside

the jail cell in Fredericton.

This is our last adventure before the lockdown in March.
We stayed in this glamping dome at the popular Ridgeback Lodge.

Walking the trails throughout the property of Ridgeback Lodge
was one of the things we did while there.

Al is peeking out from behind a wall of ice at the ice cave. It took us 45 minutes to walk through farm fields and wooded areas to where the cave was located.

Natural beauty is everywhere! Many people make their living

from the land and water in the province.

The skywalk takes you over the reversing falls where the tides of the Bay of Fundy fight against the power of the Saint John River twice each day.

Speaking of water, on this rocky beach people spent many hours building inukshuks and other rock structures. The beach was filled with them.

Rain did not stop us from exploring the province.  Here we are on a low tide beach guided tour.
So many wonderful things to see that you don't see when the tide is in.

Another festival: Busker Fest in Saint John.

Our challenge for the year was to see and photograph as many of the covered bridges in New Brunswick. The province has the most number of remaining covered bridges in Canada.
Although we did not see all of them, we gave it a good try. We had family visit with us. Here Ilse, Al's mother, is taking a photo of a bridge

Another festival: ImaginAir. Ilse and Bev are hamming it up at the festival sign. The festival was all about kites. It is amazing what they can do with a kite in the air.

Trying new things: Here Ilse and Bev are getting a ride in a three-wheeled taxi throughout the park where ImagineAir took place.

Chocolate and more Chocolate. We visited the Ganong Chocolate museum in St. Stephen. Al is trying his hand at producing the cover for the boxes the old-fashioned way. During the tour we sampled so many different chocolates.Yum!

 The Hopewell Rocks are a popular location to see how the ocean carves into the bedrock during the 
tidal movement of the water. 

Can you see us?

New Brunswick has so many "world's biggest" items. The Shediac Lobster is an example of one. There is the world's largest axe, maple leaf, fiddle heads, fish and many more.

  Al and Ilse in the ocean at the famous Parlee Beach on the Northumberland Strait which separates New Brunswick from Prince Edward Island. The water is so calm unlike many other areas and is one of the warmest beaches to swim at in the province.

We took to the Miramichi River and canoed around Beaubear's Island.

On Beaubear's Island on a trail there was a nice clearing. I could not resist taking a photo looking up to the tree tops. The island has a rich history from ship building, political picnics, baseball 

tournaments to being the location of a hotel (not there any more).

Al is trying to find the queen bee in a vertical bee hive. More nature!

Standing on the shore line while the tide is out. We stayed overnight in our trailer only a few feet
away from this backdrop.

A statue of a fisherman catching a fish located in Campbellton in the northern part of the province. Fishing is serious business.

We saw so many beautiful sunsets. This one was looking out from one of the beaches on Miscou Island in the north part of island. Here is a fisherman going home after a day of fishing.

Al standing beside a mound on the beach at Pokeshaw Provincial Park. It is worthwhile to stop and walk the beach at low tide.

The island at Pokeshaw Provincial Park is covered with dead trees with hundred of Cormorants
 perched on them.

Bev sitting in a large chair with the Hartland Covered Bridge in the background.
It is the world's longest wooden covered bridge.

The Grand Falls in the town of the same name.

The swirls in the Saint John River past the Grand Falls.
Do you see the turkey or is it a peacock?

The retro lunch room in the McAdam Train Station. I loved the long and curvy lunch counter. When we were there we were told that due to the lack of volunteers the events which normally occur
cannot go ahead.

On Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy, we walked through an old fishing village. I think the shingles on this house look like quilt pieces.

     This year has been quite unusual with the pandemic occurring during the last 2 1/2 months of our time in New Brunswick. Self isolating, quarantine, staying home, social distancing has been for some a positive thing but to some it has been a negative thing. We enjoyed our stay in New Brunswick so much. We will certainly miss many of our friends and activities there.

On to the next province for 2020-2021. We are heading to Ontario.