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.

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.

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.