As on previous trips, the iOverlander app found us some great places to stay with our van including some right in the downtown areas of cities.
Montreal, QC to Dundas, ON
With heavy hearts we left Montreal but not before picking up St. Viateur bagels. Four dozen sesame bagels fresh from the oven and still hot served as breakfast and were delivered to ex-Montrealers at home.
The traffic got worse as we got closer to Toronto and we asked ourselves why, exactly, we were returning.
Montreal, QC
Montreal is one of our favourite cities and wanted to spend another day here shopping and eating. We took the river ferry from Longueuil to Old Montreal and found the Cafe Caffeino that had just opened for the first time today. The owner was still a bit nervous but did everything to give Ruth an amazing cappuccino while Martin had a fruit juice.
Ruth thought she needed more beads for her next round of necklace production so off we went to Pierres St. Dennis for shopping and a quick lesson on some new techniques. The shop owner was very helpful and patient and really knows her trade.
Now hunger got the best of us but fortunately Schwartz’s Deli wasn’t far away. The lineup was fairly long and we probably spent 45 minutes waiting in the sun to get in. As usual, it was worth the wait and this time, in addition to the sandwiches we added smoked meat poutine to our order. Let’s just say it will be added on all future visits. We sat at the bar and talked to one of the servers. When asked how many briskets they go through a day he said around 200! Each brisket takes 10 days to cure before smoking, so that means they’ve got around 2000 briskets in production at any time.
Martin wanted to return to the Maison de l’Astronomie telescope store to get some more information. Our home area may not be the best place for observing because of light pollution, so the telescope purchase has been put off.
On our walk we again admired the street art. One building in particular stood out.
After walking over 13km today, we were tired and headed back to the campground.
No map today.
Quebec, QC to Montreal, QC
Although it was supposed to be a rainy day today, the sun was out and we had good weather. Old Quebec City has many art galleries and we visited quite a number of them, including Galerie Beauchamp which had multiple locations, one with three levels of stunning art.
The old part of Quebec City is largely a tourist area, but we discovered the Karkass clothing store that manufactured partially in-store and had very good quality.
We took a break from walking, galleries and shops and sat on a bench listening to Marc Levine, a pianist, playing beautiful classical music on the street. We talked to him and found out that he worked as a professional pianist and had travelled the world. He had a number of CDs for sale and we purchased one.
Lunch was at the Petit Chateau, right next to the Chateau Frontenac where we enjoyed a trio of fondues – cheese to start, beef as the main and chocolate for dessert. It was a decadent and filling lunch that also served as breakfast and dinner today.
Quebec City is full of life and street performers, whether musical or busking are plentiful. One busker was juggling knifes while lying on a bed of nails. Not something we’d like to try!
We want to spend tomorrow in Montreal so we drove there tonight and stayed at the campground next to the Marina in Longueuil. This time we even had a riverside spot.
Grand Falls, NB to Quebec, QC
It was a rainy day and the forecast for the next couple of days also wasn’t looking all that great. Time to move on and find a cheese factory, this one called Fromagerie Le Détour in Témiscouata. They have a number of prize winning cheeses and little information sheets describing them. We focused on some of their soft cheeses, but unfortunately a few that were of interest required an additional 2-6 weeks of aging before they were ready to eat. Two ready to eat varieties and a small baguette made for a delicious lunch.
We continued to the town of Témiscouata and the bakery directly across from a beautiful park on the shores of the lake. Almond croissants had to be. The town itself seems to have fallen on harder times and many of the shops on the main street were empty or for lease.
With Quebec City input as our destination, our GPS let us know we could save 33 minutes by taking the Lévis-Quebec ferry vs driving further and taking the bridge. This ferry is the first we’ve been on that loads from the sides, rather than the front or back of the ship. The actual passage was quite short and we arrived in Old Quebec City close to a parking lot we’d used on a past trip. They offer 24 hour parking, and since we’ll have to come back tomorrow anyway, why not just spend the night here. We took the opportunity to explore the area, although most of the shops were already closed.
Woodstock, NB to Grand Falls, NB
After having a great sleep right by the river, we saw that there was a little guest on the dock. Not too close, or I fly, but a portrait from there is acceptable.
We proceeded up Hwy 105 to Hartland, the site of the world’s longest covered bridge at 1282 feet long, completed in 1901. A 3t load limit sign was posted at the entrance to the bridge and we consulted the various manuals and placards on our van to see whether we were above or below that limit. In the end we weren’t quite sure, so we decided not to traverse it.
The information centre in Hartland is actually more of a souvenir store than an information centre, so we didn’t get a lot of information, but we did get some Covered Bridge potato chips. The factory is nearby and we toured it on a previous trip, but it recently suffered from a major fire and is still being rebuilt. In the meantime, the chips are made in a different facility.
The weather was rainy so we took the highway to the Grand Falls Falls and Gorge Campground where we took the opportunity to do some van cleaning before heading out to explore the town and go for dinner.
Grand Falls, as the name implies, has waterfalls which are used for electricity generation.
We learned that there had been four bridges across the gorge over the years and remnants of the footings can still be seen.
After a longish walk, we arrived at the recently opened Bullpen Steakhouse and Sports Bar and enjoyed a lovely French Onion soup and steak dinner. The service and food were great and the location and view of the river made it a night to remember.
St. Andrews, NB to Woodstock, NB
The fog had rolled in overnight and the scene was dreamy and mysterious this morning. Ruth was in her element!
It was great to have breakfast outside and talk to the people in the next site who were part of a 22 coach tour group spending 61 days touring the Canadian Maritimes. They were at the end of their trip and said they had really enjoyed Canada and the friendly people they had met. Now it was time for them to return to Mississippi.
This morning the tide was higher and we were curious to see how the gravel bar we drove across yesterday to get to Ministers Island looked. You definitely didn’t want to drive across at the moment. Apparently the water is 14ft deep!
A number of vehicles arrived at the gravel bar and we talked to a few of the visitors, including two brothers whose grandfather had worked as a gardener on Ministers Island for William Van Horne. They filled us in on some of the local history as they themselves had spent their youth in the area. One of the brothers said that Van Horne had been very good to his employees.
We hit a bit of a milestone today when the odometer rolled over to 111,111kms.
The rest of the day was largely a driving day except for a visit to the Briggs and Little Yarn company in York Mills, NB which bills itself as Canada’s oldest wooden mill tracing its roots back to 1857. Two sweaters were purchased, some assembly required.
We had a wonderful dinner at Walter’s Table in Woodstock, NB. The portions were huge, home cooked, and delicious.
We are staying on a parking lot right next to the river tonight with a few other campers.
Saint John, NB to St. Andrews, NB
The Saint John Market is open on Sundays and we took the time to visit. Lots to see with all kinds of food, craft stands and live music.
A goat farmer who makes soap with goat milk even had a young goat with him.
Eveline, who makes beautiful wooden cutting boards with resin waves, told us about a concert tonight on Minister’s Island near St. Andrews where she lives.
Minister’s Island, formerly the summer home of William Van Horne, is only accessible at low tide by driving across a gravel bar which is submerged at high tide. The timing of a visit to the island therefore depends on the tide schedule.
We had time to explore the grounds before the concert, first visiting the old barn where Van Horne raised his prized horses, cattle and pigs. The barn, designed by Edward Maxwell, was constructed by unemployed shipwrights in 1898 and cost $20,000.
Next stop on the tour was the main house which contains information on the life and achievements of William Van Horne and his family. Van Horne was instrumental in getting the Canadian Pacific railway built across Canada and later focused on art, both collecting and making his own.
Van Horne was interested in many diverse subjects, especially in the fields of business and art, and spent little time sleeping so that he could learn and experiment. His quote “Nothing is too small to know and nothing is too big to attempt” was particularly inspiring to us.
It was time to make our way to the large outdoor tent for the evening’s concert, featuring Bill Stephenson. Bill is a jazz and blues pianist and singer and was accompanied by cellist and drummer.
The concert ended at 7PM and we had until 8PM to make it off the island as the tide was rising. The fear of getting a flat tire on a gravel bar with the tide rising fortunately didn’t come to fruition.
Tonight we’re at the Oceanfront Campground with the big boys and our van is proud to be in a 50AMP ocean view site. There is a 22 vehicle RV tour group here tonight with huge coaches doing a 61 day Canadian Maritime trip.
Fundy NP, NB to Saint John, NB
Although we would have liked to spend another night at the Lakeview campground in Fundy National Park, the office said it was fully booked for tonight. Time to move on.
We drove to Sussex in search of the information centre and ended up in a traffic jam. Turns out this was the weekend of the Sussex Flea Market, an annual multi acre highlight of the region. Tables upon tables of well loved items, some handicrafts, tools, car and tractor parts, kids’ toys and food stands. It was very busy and there were cars parked on pretty much every flat surface in town.
We had two major possible routes to Saint John but the RCMP officers in Sussex recommended the Fundy Drive as more scenic and recommended visiting the Octopus Ice Cream shop in St. Martins. The information centre across the road from the ice cream shop recommended driving through the covered bridge to visit the sea caves around the corner during low tide which happened to have to just started.
We arrived in Saint John and found the Rockwood Park Campground where we will be spending the night.
Fundy National Park, NB
We are staying in Fundy National Park for another night, although at a different campground at the other end of the park. Before moving to our new home, we visited Cape Enrage as it had been recommended by a number of people.
Cape Enrage features a lighthouse with fog horn, a restaurant, gift shop, zip line and numerous hiking opportunities.
There are fossils along the beach and a guided tour is available with admission to the grounds. Maya was our guide and this high school student was so knowledgable and engaged, a huge contrast to the students at the railway museum yesterday. In detail, she showed us all the different types of fossils in the area and explained what plants they had come from.
Although the zip line was highly recommended, we chose not to try it. Instead, Ruth fell in love with a t-shirt. “Cape Enrage – calm and wild”.
Our campground for tonight is the Fundy National Park Lakeview, right next to beautiful Wolfe Lake. The water beckoned and we had a great swim in the slightly cold water. After the swim in the late afternoon we sat overlooking the lake and enjoyed the serenity of this place.
We returned after dark to look for meteors, but only saw a couple of satellites whizzing by.
