Not quite Marco Polo: Dashing North across New Brunswick

I am now driving a Charcoal Chev Impala, with plastic walnut trim and cruise control which really works! We became aware of a defect in the Ford and so made a swap at Saint John Airport. On Monday morning we had crossed back into New Brunswick and then driven north to Moncton to cross the river, after which we continued along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy. One of the side roads led to the Cape Enrage lighthouse, which has good views of a rugged coast.

At St Martin's not only are there caves in the red sandstone cliffs, but also two covered bridges, New Brunswick is alive with them including the world's longest at Hartland. It was low tide and so it was a long climb for the fishermen up from the boats to the wharf. St Martin's is yet another former wooden ship building centre and as in other places there are lots of beautiful large nineteenth century wooden houses surrounded by mature trees.

Tuesday morning we drove into Saint John and parked on the edge of the historical precinct and walked to Market Square and the market. (We had asked the Tom Tom GPS to show us the way, but in an effort to avoid a 50 cent toll on a bridge it took us an extremely circuituous route.) It is a nice market in a building dating from 1900, and although there were two cruise ships tied up in the centre of town the market was not crowded.

Our Acadian friend Mike in the Tourist Bureau told us not to miss the Reversing Falls - the 14th wonder of the world!. The Saint John is a huge fast flowing river and at low tide there is a 4 m fall across the rapids. But twice a day the incoming tide forces the river to flow backwards creating 4 m rapids in the opposite direction (ie upstream). Huge whirlpools form in the area most of the time apart from 30 min of calm when there is no variation in level.

It was raining most of the time while we drove to Fredericton along the Saint John River valley, so it was a good day to stop early and persuade the motel to let us use their laundry to do our washing.

Wednesday morning the car windows were covered in ice, but it was sunny and clear. We parked in the centre of Fredericton and the Tourist Office gave us a ticket for free parking and we walked around the old Garrison area.

On then along the Saint John river to Edmundston, a French speaking town just across the river from the USA. Just Before Edmundston we stopped at Grand Falls. Although it is 400 kms from the mouth of the river, the Falls would have nine tenths the volume of Niagara if the Hydro Power Station was not there. Anyway they are still pretty impressive (when you manage to find a lookoff or viewpoint). When the second bishop of Quebec came here in 1686 he was impressed. It had taken him five months to get here from Quebec, a distance of over 300 km which we did in a morning!

And so on back into Quebec province and if you ever come to Baie-Saint-Paul I can really recommend Motel des Cascades at about $80/night. Apart from the usual spotless amenities, there is a beautifully machine embroidered and cutwork cloth on the table. But as usual in North America we have had to turn the central heating way down.