(Note: Now with photos).
Yesterday was a driving day and a somewhat prosaic mall evening.. It wasn’t very exciting, though the scenery coming into New Brunswick from Quebec was just lovely. I did a large chunk of the river scenic route rather than the main highways, passing through Grand Falls and other smaller towns. New Brunswick seems to be full of scenic routes and I highly recommend them.
But today, I awoke in Fredericton after pulling in too late last night to really see much.. Today was a more exciting day.
I trotted off to the downtown area of Fredericton, throwing myself through the doors of the visitor information centre in search of a map just in time to catch their walking tour, as it turned out.
It also turned out I was the only person on the English walking tour. More for me! The guide was utterly delightful, and had been doing the tours for three summers, making him a positive font of information. I learned lots about the history of Fredericton, including that several bits of it have frequently burned down (the area in front of the city hall building is called Phoenix Square, for heavens sake).
The tour in turn inspired me to head to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. It is not the biggest art gallery I have seen on this trip, but what it lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality. Lord Beaverbrook left the gallery much of his art collection, and others have added to it, gifting it a stupendous collection that includes items like three Salvador Dali paintings.
I also went and checked out Christ Church Cathedral which was the reason that the city managed to receive city status back in the day. Turns out the bishop really wanted to have a cathedral, and to do so Fredericton needed to be a city. The bishop of the day was well connected with the Crown and lobbied Queen Victoria, eventually getting his cathedral (which, like much of Fredericton, has been on fire a couple times). It was a beautiful building as is based on a church in England.
I also found it fascinating that amongst other things (like an organ worth millions of dollars) they have a clock that was a prototype for Big Ben in the cathedral.
After a quick stroll through some of the stores, it was back in the car and time to drive to Fundy National Park.
The Bay of Fundy, of course, boasts the highest tides in the world. The bay is beautiful, and the day was clear so I could see right across to Nova Scotia. I had a lovely time meandering about the park and then up the coast. I saw the Dickson Falls in the park, passed through Alma (and drove by more lobster places than I could count) and stopped a number of times, including at Cape Enrage.
Cape Enrage is very beautiful despite its scary name. It comes from a French description of the cape, which called it the cape of rage due to the “turbulent waters that are often encountered in the vicinity, especially on the extensive reef,” according the sign.
I continued to enjoy the coastal drive but pulled up to Hopewell Rocks just minutes after they closed for the day. Tomorrow, my pretties. I’ll get to you tomorrow.
After I see the Hopewell Rocks tomorrow, I’ll be off for Nova Scotia, precise destination unknown as of yet.
Victoria Paterson 