Labour Day in New Brunswick, Part IV: End of a Long Day

It was getting later and later. I did not want to drive back to St. Andrews in the dark. I had been in the car almost all day. Not to mention, I really liked this place. After driving by the Ha Ha Cemetery, I passed a nice looking sign that read "Lakeview Inn on New Horton Lake." I was tired and hungry, so I drove down the gravel road past the sign. I found it, but no one was around, and the only vehicle was a motorcycle sitting out back. I rang the bell and a young lady came to the door, drying her hair with a towel. I told her I was looking for a room and with a heavy French accent she advised me to come in, but that she was only a guest and the inn's owners were out to dinner with friends. She also said that there were no other guests. So, I made myself at home to wait for the innkeepers. I had some bagels and apple juice and raided the inn's refrigerator for some cheese. The motorcycle belonged to Celine, the lady who met me at the door. She was riding from Quebec to the northern end of Nova Scotia and back--ALONE. More about that later. Finally, the innkeeper, Clyde Woodworth, arrived and we quickly made friends and finalized arrangements for the room. I dare say a book could be written about Clyde and his wife Virginia. Both of them were raised in the area, but didn't meet until later in life. Clyde had been a Conservation Officer with the Canadian government (a game warden, so to speak.) You can read about them HERE. Clyde and Virginia are much more than innkeepers, tending to many aspects of the land and their horses. Clyde is very knowledgeable about the history of the area, even explaining the derivation of the name of the "Ha Ha" Cemetery (it's not a joke!) We conversed for quite a while on a variety of subjects until I finally had to turn in as the following day was going to be a long one as well.

Labour Day in New Brunswick, Part III: Fundy Coast

After the Hopewell Rocks, I made my way southwest again and discovered the Fundy Studio Tour (auto tour of the artists and craftsmen along this part of the coast.) The rain was letting up; I could get out and take photos for at least 5 minutes before the rain squalls drove me back to the car. I felt no remorse that I didn't make it to PEI. This area of the Fundy coast is was what I came for. There have been few places that I have been where the natural beauty of the land commingles so well with the human elements, unless it was rural Western North Carolina before the 1980's. Picturesque, yet presenting photographic challenges because of the scope of the landscape. Green hills and fresh-water rivers run down to rolling farmland that slopes down to golden salt marshes that overhang red-clay inlets that open into smaller bays that make up the larger Bay of Fundy. It was clean, I don't remember any trash along the road. The human element has, of course, had its impact, as it will. But it seemed to be more integrated into the environment, as if the people who live here understand the true value of the land as an investment in sustenance not dollars. Yet, there were many old barns, and farm houses in various states of undoing. There were churches, all of them with complex angles and curves, a tribute from the craftsmen who built them to the Creator of this beautiful and bountiful place.



The Fundy Studio Tour takes you to many working studios and galleries. Like Western North Carolina, any artist could find many sources of inspiration in this landscape.




I'm certain I'm related to the people who settled here long ago. English, Irish, Scots. Celts. There was a peacefulness there, no one seemed to be in a hurry. The pull of this land was subtle at first, but became overwhelming. Hopefully my photos will portray a sense of the feel of this place.

Labour Day in New Brunswick, Part II Hopewell Rocks

Rain. Wind. Rain squalls. It just didn't let up. I really enjoyed the scenery along the bay. I had no choice but to take most of my photos from the car. I had seen the signs for the Hopewell Rocks, and decided I should try to see them. I believe it was around 4pm when I arrived and the rain wasn't letting up. I asked some folks returning to their car if it was worth both the $8 entrance and braving the weather to see them, and they assured me it was. So I put on all my rain gear, paid my money and headed down the path. The park is open based on the tides and I was lucky to be there in plenty of time to go down to the beach to be amongst the formations. They have attendants who herd visitors back to safety as the tides come in nearly a foot every 10 minutes, and could easily leave someone stranded. Here's the Hopewell Rocks website if you want to learn more. This area of the Bay of Fundy is a major stopover for migrating shorebirds, particularly the semipalmated sandpiper(so called because of partial webbing of the feet.) The mudflats contain mud shrimp that the birds feed on. The cliffs sheltered me from the wind and rain and I was able to take quite a few photos without getting my lens too wet before the attendants shuffled me toward the stairs.
Photographically, the light was difficult and low and because of the weather up top, I didn't even fool with a tripod. On the other hand, the weather kept the visitation low, so it was easier to get shots without people in them. The frustration of traveling like this is that you don't have the luxury of waiting for the light or weather to change, you have to make the best of it.

An amazing place!

Labour Day in New Brunswick, Part I

Yes, Canada has the same holiday as the U.S., celebrating those who toil. Except they spell it a little differently. My plan for the first Monday in September was to visit Prince Edward Island, off the northeastern coast of N.B. PEI, as almost every Canadian calls it, was accessible only by ferry until the opening of the Confederation Bridge in 1997. The longest bridge in the world crossing ice-covered water spans the Northumberland Straight for 8 miles. You can cross to PEI for free, but there is a $42 toll to get back. I was looking forward to the PEI experience, as I had been informed of its beauty, and the excellent quality of light there, the color of the beaches and water. I left St. Andrews around 9 a.m (Atlantic time) under windy but clear conditions. I passed through St. John an hour later under cloudy skies and enjoyed the drive through the countryside on Highway 1. I noticed what appeared to be eagle's nest on the tops of several of the high tension towers along the way. Then, I spotted a bald eagle landing on top of a barn and pulled over in the safety lane for a photo. The eagle didn't stay long on the barn and to my surprise flew down to a pasture below to dine with some Holsteins, who seemed to be just as surprised at first, but eventually continued their grazing.
As I drove the wind pushed my Chevy Uplander around a bit and at a stop to fuel up, I had to add a layer as the temperature had dropped into the 60's. Gasoline there was advertised by the liter, and I paid 124.5 cents/liter. I never did figure out exactly how that compared to our gas prices. I will say that I got that Uplander from 18.1 mpg when we got it to 19.3 mpg when we returned it. Maybe it was my driving, or maybe I just broke in the vehichle, adding almost 2000 miles while we had it.
The weather continued to deteriorate and eventually I got into rain squalls. I checked the website for the Confederation Bridge and found it to be open, but the closer I got, the worse the weather. I ended up in the coastal town of Shediac (which had a lot more French names and signs than anywhere I had been so far) and realized I had to decide whether to continue or not. I decided to head south and see what I could see. I knew that Fundy National Park was fairly near St. John. I had my laptop with Mickeysoft Streets & Trips software and found a nice road through the country that went due south. Route 940 good road through rural countryside with almost no traffic. Every now and then I would pass a farm, either abandoned and delapadated or a working farm. Eventually I ended up in Sackville at the Trans-Canada Highway 2, and only about 8 miles from Nova Scotia. The weather had deteriorated further and I could barely open a window without getting a good soaking. I did a lot of car-window photography that day! I drove over to Nova Scotia to a very modern visitor center with a public computer. I checked the weather report and it was nasty. I bought my only T-shirt for the trip in Nova Scotia. Kind of a joke, since I was only about 2 miles into N.S. and spent the rest of my time in N.B., but I liked the shirt. The photo of the N.S. Visitor Centre sign was from the car--note Old Glory in the background. The connection to the U.S. and N.B. and N.S. seems to be very strong, and I couldn't have felt more welcome or at home there. I suppose my Scots-Irish lineage didn't hurt.

Highway 2 took me back to Moncton, a very large city, very American looking with lots of overpasses, factories, shopping centers. (Yep, I even saw a Wal-Mart.) My destination was 114 that ran south along the Petitcodiac River, which pours into Chignecto Bay, an inlet of the Bay of Fundy. The waters were clay red. At first I thought it was from runoff from all the rain, but as I travelled further down the bay, I realized it was probably a result of the tidal extremes of Fundy. The constant stirring of the red mud in the tidal flats and the erosion of the red cliffs along the coast provide plenty of natural dye for those cold waters. And yes, they have trailers in southern New Brunswick!






If the photos look dark, well, the remnants of Hurricane Faye brought some thick clouds over the Maritimes.

Whale Tales and Tails

On Sunday, Jo had a day off from her Plein Air Masters event, and I had booked a whale watching trip for the morning. I chose the outfit with the large catamaran boat in lieu of the zodiac outfit (where you had to wear survival suits and get wet) and the sailing vessel (which was really glamorous and cool looking.) The catamaran was faster and had a longer reach than the others, and I could not even imagine trying to photograph much of anything splashing around in a crowded zodiac. It turned out to be an excellent choice, as our group was only the second this season to experience a "grand slam" seeing three whale species in one trip. We saw Minke, Finback, and Humpback whales.

Not only did we see whales, we saw harbor porpoises, gray and harbor seals, several bald eagles, northern gannets, lighthouses, many islands and coastal cliffs. It was a beautiful day, a little windy, but otherwise sunny. The ladies who hosted the trip were exceedingly friendly and knowledgable about the Passamaquoddy Bay area off of the larger Bay of Fundy. The Bay of Fundy is known for the worlds highest tides, in other words, the difference between low and high tides can be as much as 30 feet in places along the coast. Certainly an amazing and beautiful place.

Click on the thumbnail for an animation of Mustache the humpback whale diving (please give it time to load up.) We got to see this 3 times, I got photos of it twice, as the first time I just wan't prepared for it. The finback and minke whales do not show their tail when they dive, only the humpback does this. Every time, just before it happened, our hostesses would call out, "TAIL!" On the trip back, we were treated to a natural history lesson using live sea stars, urchins, scallops, and crabs. One of the high points of the trip, for sure.

I will have more photos from the whale watching trip posted soon!

Back in Waynesville--Blog will continue!

We slept well in our own bed last night! But--the blog is not finished. I didn't have the time to keep the blog going during the last half of the trip, as I was out and about taking photos or enjoying the scenery or just too tired to type. However, if you have been following the blog, do not despair, I am going to keep posting to it as I get time to edit my photos over the next few weeks. Thanks for keeping up with us and please continue to do so!

Pagan Point Nature Preserve in St. Andrews

After a lot of driving on Friday, Saturday was pretty casual for me. I think I even took a nap in the afternoon. Otherwise, I spent the day back in St. Andrews, taking several outings for photographs. The first place I went was the Pagan Point Nature Preserve, a salt marsh, beach, and maritime forest area that has been preserved. I saw a variety of birds there, including a common yellowthroat, but those little warblers go out of focus too fast to get a good shot. I did find a batch of what I first thought was sanderlings, but now I believe are semipalmated sandpipers. Semipalmated refers to the partial webbing between the toes. I also got photos of some least sandpipers, both new species in my life list of birds. I watched what I think was a red-throated loon for while, too. Several sea-kayakers and canoeists passed. The turret structure in the background is on Minister's Island, near St. Andrews.

I had the preserve to myself except for a few exersizers passing through. My constant company was FIRE ANTS! My research indicates they may have been European fire ants, as the true imported red and black fire ants are found only in the southern half of the U.S. I don't believe they were as aggressive as the fire ants down south, but they sure do sting. I got at least half a dozen stings and they burned for 20-30 minutes each. I don't think I've ever been stung by a fire ant before and "fire" is an apt description of the pain. Sorry, no pics of the ants...they were reddish, just over 1/4 inch long.

One of the most interesting aspects of the nature preserve is that you walk directly from the beach into a spruce-fir forest very similar to those found above 6000' in the Southern Appalachians. I felt like I was back home on Richland Balsam for a minute, except it was flat! I enjoyed my visit to this natural area, ant stings and all.