We arrived at Niagara-on-the-Lake at sunset on a clear Saturday, perfect day for a ride. Having seating for 6 people, the Living Water Wayside Chapel is the smallest chapel I've ever seen. I can hardly imagine any wedding ceremony being held here!
Breezy New Brunswick
Date: Sept 10, 2004 - Sept 19, 2004
| I call this trip the New Brunswick trip despite I spent as much time in Toronto as in New Brunswick for I did little sightseeing in Toronto... |
Niagara
Date: Sept 11, 2004
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Other than catching up with old friends in Toronto, a
kind gentleman I met at Jenny's wedding last month showed me around Niagara. We arrived at Niagara-on-the-Lake at sunset on a clear Saturday, perfect day for a ride. Having seating for 6 people, the Living Water Wayside Chapel is the smallest chapel I've ever seen. I can hardly imagine any wedding ceremony being held here! |
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| In the evening, it was a bit chilly, so we decided not to see the Falls in case either of us catch a cold. The new casino is quite nice. Hmm.. actually, I think this is the first Canadian casino I've ever visited. It certainly resembles those casinos in Las Vegas much. We thought we would try the buffet there. But after checking out that line-up, we thought we might have to wait till 10 pm to get a seat and went looking for food outside. |
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Date: Sept 14, 2004 - Sept 18, 2004
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We got there at slack. Given we missed the high tide (1 pm), we couldn't possibly see the falls reversing that day. Therefore, we thought of visiting other places nearby like St. Martins. Unfortunately I lost myself on the highway, went to Hampton instead, thus got no choice but to skip visiting attractions for the afternoon. |
| Moncton (pronounced as Monk-ton) is a large
city in New Brunswick other than the capital Fredericton. Its proximity
to the Bay of Fundy and Atlantic coast makes it a better place to stay
for us to visit the nearby attractions. Weather between day and night was quite dramatic. Above mid-20's during the day, it dropped to below 10 degrees Celcius at night. I was literally shivering despite I had my scarf and jacket on. We were delighted to find lobster just in season. How could we resist a fresh Atlantic lobster tail, heehee. Not that it was cheap, but definitely fresh and delicious. Yummy~ |
 Traffic lights work like those in Quebec, with a horizontal layout. |
Sawmill Creek Bridge
| Built in 1905, the Sawmill Creek Bridge is one of the many covered bridges in the area as New Brunswick has many rivers and creeks. There is a sign on the right saying "WALK YOUR HORSE AND SAVE A FINE". This tells us just how important it was to protect the wooden bridge in the early 20th century from snow and rain as well as from rough uses. |
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 New Brunswick's oldest working lighthouse, Cape Enragé Lightstation was established in 1840 and altered in 1976. Situated atop 150 feet cliffs, the Lighthouse is located approximately 20 minutes from Alma along the scenic route by the sea. |
 The lighthouse offers a 270-degree view of the Bay of Fundy's giant tides. We arrived there right about high tide. Okay, so this is the world's highest tides! The brown colour of the water results from the red clay native to the region; it's not pollution. |
 It was extremely windy atop the cliffs. There is a steel rope along side for people to hang on to while getting to the lighthouse. For a moment, I did worry if I would get blown off the cliff. Seriously, I felt like I was in Scotland and my ears were numb! Gosh, it must be terrible to be there in poor weather. Rough waters undoubtedly... |
Alma
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Alma is the town closest to Cape
Enragé. We were practically starving from the coldness at the lighthouse. We
therefore didn't hesitate to treat ourselves to a nice lobster clubhouse
sandwich and fish and chips - all fresh tasty seafood!
We enjoyed a walk by the shore after lunch to watch the high tides. Afterall, the wind was strong. Birds here seem not to be afraid of human too. |
| New Brunswick's most famous
geological feature. The Bay of Fundy was attached to Europe millions of
years ago. After the 2 plates separated, the Hopewell Rocks were carved by glaciers and tides over the
years. Low tide was at 19:35, we therefore could walk on the ocean floor from 16:00 till the park would close at 17:00. The tide has not receded enough for us to walk to the E.T. Rock and Mother-in-law on the other side however. |
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 Lovers Arch and Bear Rock (Flowerpot Rocks) |
 Tide is receding from Lovers Arch ...... |
Big Cove |
 Walking on 300 million year old ocean floor. Let's see if I can spot fossils. |
 Strolling carefully on wet ocean floor, avoiding slippery seaweed for sure. |
in front of Apple Rock |
Shediac - Lobster Capital of the World
 Parlee Beach - fine sand and clear water, calm water but strong wind. If it was summer, I would definitely take off my shoes and dip my feet in the Atlantic water. Although the saltwater is supposed to the warmest north of Maine, it was just a bit too cool in a September morning. |
 World's Largest Lobster - it measures 11 metres (35 ft) in length, 5 metres (15 ft) in width and stands a 5 metres (16 ft) in height. It weighs approximately 90 tonnes (55 tonnes for the lobster and 35 tonnes for its pedestal). Can you see me next to the fisherman? |
 New Brunswick is the only bilingual province in Canada. The obvious evidence probably lies in Stop signs (^o^) One would also find all street names labeled in both French and English too. |
| Choosing over the Acadian sand dunes, I went for the Confederation Bridge. At first, I was reluctant to pay $39 just to drive over the bridge and back for it takes several hours to get to Fredericton. Yet, with such nice weather, I already started screaming the moment I set my foot on the waterfront. A flock of northern birds were resting at the foot of the bridge. Too bad they weren't puffins as I love puffins. At least now I know I don't have to go to Puffin Island to see puffins. Afterall, who knows when I'll get to visit PEI again?! |
 Built between 1993 and 1997, the Confederation Bridge crosses the Northumberland Strait at Cape Jourimain in New Brunswick. |
 Lighthouse overlooking Confederation Bridge from Borden-Carleton next to CN Borden station. A worker is seen painting the lighthouse in this photograph. |
Fort Beauséjour / Fort Cumberland
| We certainly lack similar historic sites in
western Canada. To me, the significance comes as this year is the 400
anniversary of Acadian settlement. Star-shaped Fort Beauséjour was a major battle ground between the French and English, and later against the Americans and rebels in 1776. Reinforced for the War of 1812, it was abandoned in 1835. So how come this national historic site of Canada has 2 names? When the French built it in the town of Auluc in 1751, it was given a French name, Fort Beauséjour. When it fell to British in 1755, it was renamed to Fort Cumberland. |
 At a strategic location, the fort looks over Cumberland Basin and Nova Scotia. |
| Situated on top of a hill, Fort Beauséjour always faces strong wind from all directions. The wind was so strong that an empty plastic bag in the back seat caught the wind as I opened the car door and it flew terribly fast. I immediately started chasing after the bag. It flew up from the parking lot to the front entrance, entered the fort and kept going, eventually landed itself inside the barracks foundation. I felt like running as a soldier of the 18th century, hmm.. I had to jump inside the foundations in the end to catch it back. Arh, it happened to be where I took this picture too. |
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| Named after the son of King George III,
Fredericton is so rich of history. A guided tour by the local city
council was certainly an hour well-spent. Otherwise, how would I know
UNB is the oldest university in North America and was established before
the city had a highschool. Until a few years ago, Fredericton only had 1
highschool, with a size larger than some small universities. Not to
mention the stories about the British soldiers in the Historic Garrison
District. And the biggest surprise, the lighthouse by St. John River,
the only lighthouse in Fredericton, was built in the end of 20th century
(1997 or 1999?) not for guiding purpose! Driving in downtown Fredericton reminded me of Edinburgh, Scotland. I encountered the same problem of crossing city boundaries unknowingly... I would cross the St. John river and arrived at the north side of the city when I thought I was turning into another street in downtown. Basically, I went back and forth the 2 sides of the river out of my own intention. On the way to the airport, the taxi driver asked me what I think of their city. I replied I just love it the way they preserve all the old buildings. Yes, in downtown Fredericton, there are many houses (private homes or government offices) dated back to the 19th century built by loyalists who fled from U.S. to New Brunswick. A plaque outside each house would indicate who used to live there. Now under the law, those who own these historic houses must not alter the exterior of the houses including the paint colour! |
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 Christ Church Cathedral Entrance |
Another national historic site, Christ Church Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in North America. It's of neo-Gothic style, and conveniently a copy of an English cathedral - the medieval parish church of St. Mary's at Snettisham, England. It contains the letters patent of Queen Victoria, appointing Rev. John Medley as Bishop of Fredericton, and constituting the Town of Fredericton to be a city. Back then, a city must either have a certain number of citizens or a cathedral. However, Fredericton was constituted as a city without meeting any of the 2 criteria. Because the first Bishop was a personal friend of Queen Victoria, the Queen signed the papers on the promise Fredericton will have a cathedral. | |
 Fredericton City Hall - been burnt down several times so this isn't the original building. The old City Hall, which once included the city office, council chamber, magistrate's office, jail, farmers' market and opera house, was erected in Phoenix Square in 1876. |
 Old Government House - official residence of NB Lieutenant-Governor where the confederation decision was made in 19th century. When the provincial government abandoned it decades ago, an auction was held. Can you believe that a Waterford crystal chandelier was sold for $12? Sigh... imagine how much money the government is putting in to buy things back now... |
 Playhouse. This photo was taken in my hotel room. See the colour bands on the big white box on top? The box houses the curtains for the theatre. The story is, there used to be no color bands. NB university students rented a room in the Lord Beaverbrook Hotel and played a pornographic movie using the white box as the screen. Afterwards, color bands were painted over the box. |
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Beaverbrook Art Gallery located next to the hotel, provided a
convenient location for me to visit before I had to rush to the airport.
My primary reason to visit was to see the "Santiago el Grande" (St. James) by Salvador Dali as recommended by those tourist readings. This masterpiece was painted at Dali's birthplace - Port Lligat, in the province of Gerona, Spain, in 1957 and was given to the museum by Sir James Dunn Foundation. In the museum, there are a few other paintings of James Dunn and his family by Dali. Also enjoyable was the Britannica collection on display. |
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| I find my stay at the Acadia short. New Brunswick
has the friendliest Canadians I've ever seen, from the elementary school
kids who waved at us in the road to the taxi drivers who gave us a guided
tour of the downtown west side and other stories along our way. I appreciate
very much the Acadians who bore with my limited French and gave me
encouragement. Hurricane Ivan (the Terrible) was kind to us that the rain
and coldness didn't come until the last day of our stay in New Brunswick. I was supposed to stay in Fredericton till Sunday.
For I had to attend
Danny's wedding,
I left Fredericton Saturday evening, spent a night in Toronto, and flew home Sunday morning.
While we were lining up to drop off the baggages at the Toronto airport, we noticed a bag left on the floor inside the line-up. We called over an airline personnel and then everyone who walked past it felt suspicious and freaky. Just as the security was about to arrive to take away the bag, it disappeared. The airline personnel kept yelling who took the bag and there was no response. Eventually, the people around a man urged that man to speak he took the bag. Awfully weird.... I wonder if our so-called baggage delay is related to this, hmm... The tremendous turbulence we encountered on the flight back fortunately didn't cause me to throw up, but gave me drowsiness most of the afternoon (*o*) |
