Oceanfront camp to Stratford PEI, and Saint John City Market

The shore near Oceanfront camp

 

Thursday Aug 21 

Thursday was the last full day for us at our Oceanfront camp. We walked into town and toured the St Andrews market (about 1 1/2 hrs leisurely hike). Saw lots we liked and didn't buy anything. Amazing!

 

Cathie wanted to show you knitters that she's still knittin'

 

Speaking of knitters... Just joking ladies!

 

We often had 4-legged visitors around camp:

In the later afternoon we walked down by the shore again, to see what we could see:

A better look at the view from the premium tenting spots: 

 

Always some activity around here, especially when the tide is out:

Sailboats and walkers

This fellow rode his bike over those stones etc...

Decided to portage it across a tidal stream...

And off he went again.

The dog kept looking back to see where "Dad" was. He was well behind, picking his way through the stones.

You can even see part of nearby Minister's Island from the shore:

Minister's Island is a place worth a tour, built by Van Horne of Canadian railway fame. Link here for more info.

We had driven over the gravel bar (possible at low tide) and toured the Island in an earlier trip. Access is closed right now due to fire risk, like all the hiking paths.

Here is more of a closeup map of St Andrews, including Minister's Island and Oceanfront camp:

 

 

Friday Aug 22

Today was a travel day, heading for Stratford PEI. On the way though, we stopped in to an historic market in downtown Saint John New Brunswick, the Saint John City Market.

I was kind of dreading trying to navigate a somewhat large and busy city with the van, but it was surprisingly easy (thanks GPS!), and really not too busy. We found the market easily, and got parked within a 2 minute walk:

Angle parked, way easier than parallel

Walk down through the park

And Voila, we're at the market

Apparently there may be some vendors outside. We didn't realize that, but there was plenty inside to see:

Cathie doing some shopping

Even Gluten-Friendly choices

Some of the Maple products we haven't seen in a while

We bought a wrap for lunch, and went out to a park bench to eat. A pleasant place to be on a day like this:

The view from our park bench

A memorial to Charles Gorman, a renowned local speedskater

 

We had seen some activity in another area in the park, so wandered over there after we finished our lunch:

Free Lunch!

 

A group was handing out free lunches, I expect aimed at people needier than us. They offered though, and I declined. Looked good though.  

Now we're at Nancy and Pat's place is Stratford PEI, always a great spot to visit. We'll be in the area off and on for a few days, no firm plans as yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Republique Park to Oceanfront Camping St Andrews

At the Oceanside

This is a post covering 2 days. First the trip from Republique Park, then around the Oceanfront Kiwanis park in St Andrews NB. The second day is after the map this time.

After a pleasant couple of days at the Republique Provincial Park and the associated Jardin Botanique, we set sail for the Ocean. First we had a stop at the surprising town of Grand Falls NB. It exceeded our expectations in good ways.

As you might expect from the name, Grand Falls does have a Falls, sometimes. Water volume is pretty low right now due to the general dryness in New Brunswick (which has contributed to the wildfires you may have heard about):

There can be a LOT of water coming through here in some years

 

 

2017 volume, courtesy of Dave U

Notice the old logs at left carried down in high water years

One of those visitor maps, with pins showing where visitors came from

 

These pictures are the best we could do to show the Zip Line rides that must be pretty exciting:  

The main takeoff point

Those wires you can see against the sky are the zip lines. It's a long ways down.

 

Cathie wanted to ride the Zip, but unfortunately it wasn't open yet. :))

 

Grand Falls must be a shopping center for a large area, with a huge modern WalMart,  Marks, well-stocked grocery etc. We didn't expect the town to be so "citified".

 

Here's a map with our driving route:

St Andrews is at the red dot, near St Stephen.

We got checked in to Oceanfront Kiwanis camp ok. We've been here a number of times before, the early visits way before it became as developed as it is now. We did not expect to be greeted by rows of big rigs. Turns out there was a tour group here with their monsters:

The park is large though, with some 200 sites. Still room for some smaller rigs like our van:

  

One of the local residents saying Hello

These premium tenting sites have no privacy, but great water views

One of the things we like about this spot is access to nearby hiking and biking trails. Right now though, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are banning access to any wooded areas, including the trails here in St Andrews:

We're still enjoying it though.

Camper having some fun

 

Today we had some water viewing in the morning, still the main attraction for us. A 5 minute walk from our camp spot. This is the main channel from the town harbour out to more open water, so always some activity:

Sport fishermen heading out

Well-placed benches provided

We enjoyed our morning coffee here

 

The town has a central wharf area where most of the tours and fishing boats are based. After lunch we pedalled into town, parked the bikes, and roamed around the wharf area:

Still a working lighthouse I believe, at the harbour entrance

A small tour boat returning

 

The small boats (dinghies) allow owners to get out to their larger boats, anchored in the deeper water in the background

All this touring is thirsty work, so we splurged on a couple of small cones and did more sitting and looking:

Mochachino and Lemon cones

That's the wharf going out from the left

 

Several people enjoyed playing in the mud as the tide is partway out

Walking our bikes on the wharf

A passing couple insisted on taking a pic of us happy campers

 

We hit the weather jackpot today, sunny and cool with a light breeze, perfect for getting out and about.