The Maritimes

Jul 29 to Aug 12, 2006

Day 15: Eastern New Brunswick

Today was the last day of our vacation and it was time to head home. We left Moncton and headed up the coast stopping along the way to pick up a few geocaches and see some sights. By noon we reached Miramichi and the weather was not looking very promising. However the rain held out and we managed to catch a couple of caches and play along the beach at Ile Miscou. We then headed along the north shore of New Brunswick (there's no shore like the north shore, that's for sure!). We had originally intended to camp another night but as night hit and Sam was asleep in the car, we decided to take the very desolate new highway through New Brunswick and head home with just a short half hour break at a rest stop in Quebec when neither of us could keep our eyes open any more.

Last morning! Sammy looks like she's had fun on this vacation.

Grandma gives Sammy a quick bath and Grandpa helps pack up the rest of the toys.

Poppa, did you remember to pack the leftover blackberries in the cooler?

the day starts off with barely a wisp of cloud in the sky and calm seas.

What else would Rubby be doing in a graveyard? Finding a geocache of course!

We decided to show Sammy the Dunes de Bouctouche.

This time we walked some of the Dune Trail away from the actual dunes...
we only did a bit of the 12 km trail before heading back.

We discover one of the long lost stairs of New Brunswick houses.

Rubby gets ideas for a cooking station for our backyard.

We make a quick stop at the visitor centre.

The piping plover is a small shy shore bird that nests on the Bouctouche sand dune in little depressions in the sand. It has been considered an endangered species in Canada since 1985.

Marram grass acts as a giant net stabilizing the dune with its network of underground rootstocks. although very resistant to natural elements, this plant is very sensitive to human feet or vehicle wheels, hence the extensive boardwalk system.

It's the Acadian Festival in New Brunswick and we're treated to this decorative display of buoys along the roadside.

Very colourful!

The church in the historic village of Rexton.

"The Masts" in Rexton. "The Masts" represent a beached tall ship and are patterned after the Ellen Douglas, the first square-rigged ship built in Recton in 1819 by John Jardine....

...The project celebrates the rich shipbuilding history of the area and honours the memory of those who travelled the seas in order to settle this new land.