Backtracking: Campobello Island and New Brunswick

Our original itinerary was to head north from Winter Harbor to Presque Isle, ME and enter Quebec.  But after having our tire repaired in Ellsworth, we opted to continue up Route 1 all the way into Canada.  Along the way we came through town after town that had appointed itself the “blueberry capital of the world.”  We definitely were in blueberry country -- they were everywhere!  

Our route took us to Lubec which bills itself as the most eastern city in the U.S.  Lubec also has the most eastern gift shop, the most eastern motel, and the most eastern lighthouse at Quoddy point. 

Lance and Fin at Quoddy Point Lighthouse, the most eastern point of land in the U.S.

At the edge of Lubec is a bridge that takes you directly into Canada on the island of Campobello.  This island became known thanks to Franklin D. Roosevelt who used to summer there.  We found a terrific campsite at a provincial park and were looking forward to spending the entire next day biking around the island and touring FDR’s summer house.  But the next morning we awoke to a rainy and foggy day.  It was one of those days best spent driving and not tromping around in the mud.  So we broke camp and hit the road.  We hopped a ferry to Deer Island and then a second ferry to the mainland in New Brunswick. 

Catching the ferry from Deer Island to New Brunswick

  When planning our adventure we never expected to spend anytime in New Brunswick but after looking at the map we discovered two appealing National Parks so it made sense to continue up the coast stopping at each for overnight stays.  

 

After arrving on the mainland in New Brunswick, we made a lunchtime stop in St. Johns (population 65k) were we dined al fresco with the Fin down by the marina.  It was a lovely spot and perhaps one of the nicer spots in St. Johns which seems to have had its fair share of hard times.  

After lunch we continued our journey to Fundy National Park which seems to be so far way!  Our campsite was just perfect and was situated on a bluff at least 200 feet above the little town of Alma.  Alma bills itself as having the largest tidal surge in the world and looking at the boats in the marina a low tide it sure seems to be true.  

Low tide at the port in Alma -- the town with the greatest tidal change in the world

Looking down onto Fundy Bay from our campsite.  Hard to beat these views!

We enjoyed this park enough to stay two nights.  Stephanie and Fin hiked the Coastal trial which was a short but difficult climb up and down along the coast.  We’ve quickly discovered that Fin much prefers “circuit” hikes.  It seems he hates to backtrack.  On the way out he has tons of energy and is leading the pack often pulling us up hill.  But the minute we turn around and head back the same way we came, he puts on an entirely different personality.  He lies down and pretends to be too exhausted to continue.  If we wait long enough there’s a high probability that fellow hikers with their female dogs in tow will be strolling by…that of course is the magic ticket to get him to keep moving!