Today was an early rise, a quick muffin and no coffee (a dangerous situation) or tea. We drove back to Moncton to visit the Farmer’s Market before leaving for Nova Scotia. Martin found a great parking spot right next to the market and the first thing we bought at the market was a 20oz dark roast coffee with milk for Ruth. The world was safe and sane again.

The market had a lot of food stands, crafts and produce and we had a great time strolling through the aisles.

Our eyes caught a berry stand that sold Haskap berries and the stall owner told us all about this super fruit and let us try some. The berries are tart and refreshing and have an almost bean shape and blueberry color. We bought a jar of the jam and are looking forward to trying it with some yoghurt.

We bought some sausages and eggs from a small local farmer who has his animals running free on his farm.

In a corner stand we met Serge Martin, a potter who also does amazing photography with a special focus on street people. His images attracted us and we must have talked to him for at least half and hour. He told us the stories of the street people he had photographed and how he shares 20% of the proceeds of sales of their images with them.

Next stop was Sackville where we visited the Boultenhouse Heritage Centre, home of the most prolific shipbuilder in the area in the mid-19th century. The house overlooked his shipyard on the river. The effects of erosion, however, has changed the course of the river and there is no longer any water or shipyard.

Adjacent to his house is an octagonal house, originally belonging to George Anderson, a mariner, and learned of sea-faring families.

From there we drove to the George Campbell Carriage and Wagon builders historic site and learned about how wagon wheels and carriages where built. Many of the old tools and some old carriages are on display.

Now it was on to Nova Scotia with a stop at the Welcome Centre to stock up on information materials, get suggestions for routing and fill our water bottles. It was a very positive experience!

Amherst is right at the border and we had a quick stop at the Deanne Fitzpatrick Studio where we had a demonstration on rug hooking, got to try it ourselves and bought a small beginner’s project to try our newly acquired skills out on.