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5:30 came awful quickly but up I got and was on the road ahead of schedule at 5:50am. Confederation Bridge was pretty quiet at daybreak and I was more impressed than I had expected to be. The bridge spans 13 km from PEI to New Brunswick and takes approximately 12 minutes to cross. The view of the sun rising up over the side of the bridge and reflecting in the water was stunning and I resisted all urges to stop and snap a picture or two; I had a feeling that this was frowned upon. About 10 km into the drive I started pondering the mechanics involved constructing such a huge bridge that crossed part of the ocean. The more I thought about the waves crashing into the supporting beams, the more I realized that this was a thought that would be best considered from the safety of land.
Once in New Brunswick, the 2-hourdrive was pretty uneventful. The highway was easy to drive and quite empty. There were lots of trees all around me as well as warning signs for moose. I've heard about so many accidents occurring due to moose on the road. I wondered if moose were early groggy risers but resisted my urge to honk every 2 minutes to let them know I was coming. Right on schedule (see I can follow schedules), I arrived at Hopewell Rocks just after 8am. After a quick pit stop I followed the signs and people down to the ocean floor.
Similar to my flowerpot at low tide experience in Nova Scotia but on a MUCH larger scale, this was an amazing experience. As usual being the early riser that I am, I was able to enjoy the landscape without a parade of tourists (damn tourists) blocking my view. I explored for about an hour taking sooo many pictures and soaking it all in.
Back up on sea level, I debated my route to Fredericton. I asked a very informative young man at the information counter who informed me that not only was the Bay of Fundy National Park en route to Fredericton, it was also free to drive through - perfect. I grabbed a coffee and toast from the café and hopped in the car to very gradually make my way to Beth and Joe's!
Of course getting to a more scenic tour through the park required another scenic tour and I elected to take the Fundy Coastal Drive. This was a really great drive and I made quite a few stops along the way. First was Crooked Creek Look out park. It consisted of a very steep road up a mountain (or was it just a supah big hill?) and ending at a Look Out (shocking, I know!). The view of the valley below was fantastic - very green, with the Bay of Fundy in the near distance and overcast clouds muffling yet in my mind enhancing the beauty of the surrounding mountains.
The 915 Scenic Route to Fundy next took me to Shipyard Park, which consisted of a lighthouse and a ship surrounded by fields and mountains. From there I took what I thought was a dirt road to the next attraction but about 5 minutes in I started to wonder if I had driven down more of a walking path. It seemed to be getting more narrow and there from where I was I couldn't quite tell if it ended in the lake that was to the right of me. The unfortunate thing was I was on a very narrow road with a slight drop off and marshy type land on either side of me. Hmmmm… so my options were: 1) keep going straight and hope it actually is a road and doesn't go into the lake 2) Reverse down the narrow curvy road to where I began (too bad I didn't have reversing skills equivalent to that of Mater's - anyone else watch Cars?) or 3) turn my car around. I decided to go with option #3. My three-point turn turned into a 100-point turn (I gave a cheer at the halfway point) but I finally got myself turned around and back where I started. Did this experience stop me from taking the next narrow-ish dirt road? Hell no! And good thing - this one brought me to a covered wooden bridge - cool!
From there I made way back to the highway 915 and on to the next attraction. Lars Larson Marsh was so pretty and peaceful. There was a family already there and as I walked up to the gazebo and watched them stare at the peacefulness I felt a pang of guilt for having pulled up with the tunes blasting out my open windows. Hope I didn't scare away any wildlife. As I was staring down into the marsh, I thought I saw something move and started watching it intently hoping to catch a glimpse of what it could be. The father figure of the family was near me and pointed out that it was some sort of water chicken. He had read about them though I was torn between skeptical and intrigued. His family had lost interest and were slowly making their way back to their car but we stood there motionless waiting for this water chicken thing to show his beak. After a little while, he said good-bye (though I'm not sure if it was directed to me or the chicken) and joined his family at the car. Growing tired of staring at unmoving reeds, I retreated back to my car and back on the road.
The next stop was Mary's Point Shorebird Reserve. I pulled into the small parking lot (with my music turned low), popped into the info centre to get a map and instructions to follow the path in the back (about a 5-10 minute walk). The walk led me to a the shore, where I snapped some pics but did not take the time to read all of the details of the shorebirds. Although I did later read that during the fall migration (20 July to mid August), Mary's Point becomes a stop over site for over 300,000 Semipalmated Sandpipers (75% of world population) as well as large numbers of other shorebirds species. Cool!
Back on the highway I went straight to the Bay of Fundy National Park. After a nice chat with the woman working the gate, I confirmed that there was a fee to enter the park, unless you were just going to drive straight through and then it was free. I was just going to drive on through so off went instantly knowing that I would at some point need to return and explore this amazing park - it was extraordinarily impressive!
Once out of the park, I made my way to the highway because I had to hightail my way to Fredericton - next stop The Whalens!
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