As we left Halifax with a thanks and a fond farewell we headed north. We had one more stop before leaving Nova Scotia. We were told in Lunenburg that there were 6 more pieces of the Berlin wall in Truro. We were driving right by so we thought we would take a look. Well as always it was not as easy as we thought. After parking out back of a Agricultural university and a walk down a path that kind of looked like we should not have been on we finally found them.
It is kind of surreal, not so much the place they were in, but what they meant. Those pieces represent a change in life and culture not only for a country but the world.
Continuing north we stopped for the night at Parlee Provincial Park. A nice little park in New Brunswick. You know it’s a going to be a great stay when a pheasant stops by to say hello.
And girlfriend makes you a tea while you are writing a blog. Now that’s a great night!
After a great sleep and a good coffee it was off to Shediac. Home of the World’s Biggest Lobster. They were right. It was a darn big Lobster. Lol
The Lobster was at a great little artesian fair. This little building with the cute little van we knew it was going to be a fun place. They had some great things and some nice people.
On down the road to Moncton. One place I have never been is Hopewell Rock New Brunswick. I always thought it would be cool to walk on the ocean floor. We got into Moncton a little late as the tide had already come in so we grabbed a room on The Chocolate River, really it was the Petitcodiac river. It gets its nickname from the Chocolate color of it. The color is from the heavy sediment that it has. This river rises and falls with the tides. It takes approximately 25 – 35 minutes for this river to rise 25 feet to its banks. It’s pretty cool to watch.
We checked into the hotel and decided to go for a drive to Hopewell Rock so we knew where we were going. Came across a nice little restaurant and a cute little antique store in a pink church.
Hopewell Rock is on the Bay of Fundy. This bay is known for its rapidly moving tides. In fact it has one of the fastest moving tides in the world.
Here’s a funny but kind of creepy story. Kim and I were chatting and I said “we need to get the tide schedules”. My phone which was on the doghouse of the van said ” here is tidewater rd”. I looked at Kim and said “is my phone listening to us?” The phone said ” I am now!” Hahaha! Jeepers that’s creepy. I do not have Alexa or Bixby or any other talk command system. The only time it should be listening is if I touch the microphone, of which I did not do. I told the phone to “stop it!!!” LOL!
We got back to the hotel and we overheard a conversation about a “tidal boar.” I had to ask. Apparently the Petitcodiac River fills so fast it creates an actual wave you can watch come in. Oh how cool is that. They said that people actually surf on it. Oh we had to see that. As luck would have it, the parking lot of the hotel was one of the best places to see this. I was not disappointed in the cool factor.
It even came with a surfer dude! That was cool. He got out a little farther down the river and by chance his car was parked in the lot. He was filthy with the sediment that is in that river. But the smile on his face said it was all worth it.
It was a 6 hour difference with the tides and of course it had to out for us to walk the floor of Hopewell Rock. So we, what did the guy in Newfoundland call it, meandered down to the park. Lol! Love that word! It’s along the same lines as Roadtrippable! Lol.
Hopewell Rock had a path leading to a set of stairs. It was a long way down but the stairs were easily manageable. It is 46 feet from top to bottom. That is a lot of water filling that space in a short period of time.
Looking down at these gigantic rock formation and being amazed how the water and the movement of the tides had sculpted then into a work of art.
Walking on the ocean floor was just as expected. Very cool!! I was surprised that the sand was so firm as we walked. I would have thought that with all the movement it would have been looser. The bottom of the rock formations were huge. As you looked up and seen the taper and twist you had to wonder how long before they would fall. After all it is water erosion that formed the design. Sooner or later it will erode right through. What a crash that would be. They say depending on the width of “the flower pot” it could be a 100 years or 1000. No one really knows
I am so glad we took the time to explore a beautiful and interesting work of art designed by Mother nature herself.
As we came out of the park I noticed this really nice Roadtrek. Hey I know that Roadtrek. My friend Linda was in the area and stopped by to go for her own tour. Fancy meeting you here. What a delightful surprise!
We left Moncton area with a wave and a wow and continued north. Hartland New Brunswick is home to the longest covered bridge in the world. At 1282 feet it spans the St John River and is the passageway into the little town of Hartland. It is neat to drive through as the wood gives it a kind of echo sound as you drive through.
Just across the bridge was Moonshine Creek. Of course we had to stop. What a nice little place and I just loved the sink they had in the washroom. They had so many flavors of moonshine and you could test any of them. There was even a candy that only some will remember. It was a long shaped pink candy that had a cinnamon flavor called Chicken Bones. Kim said it tasted just like it. Moonshine is not what it used to be. Lol
Leaving Hartland, heading north we crossed the Quebec border as the sun was getting ready to set. I liked to be parked by dusk. Animals tend to roam at night and meeting them on a highway is not the way I like to interact with them. Lol. I looked at my boondocking apps, yes there is an app for that. My favorites are freecampsites.net an ioverlander. We spotted a little rest area east of where we were going and the small diversion to our course was well worth it. This little rest stop in L’Isle-Verte Quebec had everything a vanlifer needs. A nice lot to park, water filling facilities and washrooms and a beautiful little river across the road that was wonderful to fall asleep to.
Driving across Quebec and crossing the Ontario border we were almost there. Where we were in Quebec was 16 hours to Kim’s place. I do not do 16 hours so we stopped for one more night at Murohy’s Point Provincial Park.
Driving through Havalock we came across a place that we had to turn around and go back. It was a souvenier shop done in a western theme. I loved the look of the building and it even had a Boot Hill from Tombstone Arizona. Very nice people and a fun place with really neat stuff.
After over 9000 km (5500 miles) 4 Provinces, more like 5 because Labrador is bigger than most provinces, a thousand Ahhh moments and, a million laughs we completed a most Incredible Journey!
A most Roadtrippable Roadtrip! Haha! You knew I had to fit that in.
Thanks for coming along on this most excellent Chipmunk Adventure. Just arriving? Start at the beginning with this blog. An Unforgettable Roadtrip.
See you next week!
🐿