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travel / adventure / guides / summer 2005
| Travel & Adventure Guides |
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By Tracy C. Read
Several summers
ago, an old friend
suggested we make a road trip to his
family home in Prince Edward Island. After
an overnight in Québec, it was a short drive
to the only Maritime province I hadn't
visited, and my friend's insider status — his
people had lived on the island for
generations — made it a trip to remember.
Just across and down the road from the
family farm in Tyne Valley was a little cove
off Malpeque Bay. On our first morning, we
took off our shoes and strolled like kids
along the red beach, feeling as though we'd
stepped into a storybook. We spent the next
week leisurely touring the island, stopping at
roadside stands for tasty deep-fried clams
and relaxing at the edge of sandstone bluffs
with the wind rustling through the green
grass around us. We wandered the shore
and gloried in the big blue waves rolling in.
We heard tidbits of island lore as we poked
around country roads and seaside villages. To this day, I can still recall the great big sea,
with its rhythmic roar, salty breezes and
endless horizon.
The Maritime provinces are built for
visitors. Uncrowded and refreshing, the
region offers a stirring mix of what's best
about Canada. It boasts a rich and
textured past, a vibrant present and
physical beauty - rushing rivers,
cascading waterfalls, pounding surf,
peaceful salt marshes and intriguing tidal
flats - that rivals any destination on Earth.
It's also compact. Each province has
developed well-established routes to deliver
tourists to all the finest destinations. Not
that you'll see them all at once. One of the
great joys of Eastern Canada is that you can
return dozens of times and discover places
and people you've never seen before.
To get you started, here are three great
Canadian road trips that offer a tasty slice
of life Down East.
New Brunswick | Nova
Scotia | Prince Edward Island
Travelling into the heart of the Saint
John River valley via scenic Route 105,
it's easy to imagine a long-ago landscape,
unspoiled by European colonists. Still 80
percent tree-covered, New Brunswick is
fresh and green - a place where the
Maliseet paddled the pristine waters of
the mighty Saint John River as it coursed
through the rolling hillsides of what
would later become one of Canada's
original provinces.
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| Photo: J.A. Kraulis/Masterfile |
A journey alongside the Saint John River
is, by definition, a trip through a storied
past. On the stretch between Edmundston,
in the province's northwestern corner, and
Fredericton, 270 kilometres southeast, the
river makes a breathtaking plunge over a 23-metre cataract at Grand
Falls/Grand-Sault. The countryside along the way, with its
gentle farmland and forests, villages and
churches, bespeaks the Acadian roots of
many of these communities. Ahead is
Hartland, where you'll find the world's longest covered bridge,
and first-timers will
not want to miss a visit to the Kings Landing
Historical Settlement, just 20 minutes outside
Fredericton. Spend an afternoon on a "living
history tour" of a reconstructed 19th-century
Victorian and Loyalist village in action, with
more than 70 buildings to explore, including
a door-and-sash factory, a blacksmith shop,
a working farm and the King's Head Inn,
where you can dine and drink.
On to the provincial capital of Fredericton,
where visitors can take part in the tourism
trifecta: history, culture and recreation.
Tree-lined streets boast Victorian
architecture, and with the Legislative
Assembly Building, the Historic Garrison
District, Christ Church Cathedral and
Waterloo Row, among many other sites,
the city is a treasure trove of the past.
Fredericton is also home to the Beaverbrook
Art Gallery, famous for its collection of
Canadian and international art, and is host
to a number of renowned music, theatre and sports festivals. Stroll along The Green,
a five-kilometre-long riverfront pathway
system that links up with more than 70
kilometres of city-wide trails.
For the purposes of this trip, however,
your ultimate destination is the ocean. After
an overnight in Fredericton, jump on the
Trans-Canada for the two-hour drive to
Moncton. From here, head east to the coast.
If you're inclined, you can linger in Shediac,
the self-proclaimed "lobster capital of the
world." But to experience one of the
province's true seaside prizes, travel north to
Kouchibouguac National Park. There, you'll
be greeted by 25 kilometres of spectacular
coastline, and the decision is yours whether
to explore one of the country's most
dynamic ecosystems, with salt marshes,
lagoons and dunes as far as the eye can see,
or to soak up the sun on a golden sandy
beach and cool off with a dip in some of the
warmest salt water north of Virginia. Barrier
islands make for peaceful canoeing and
kayaking, and the park features some 60
kilometres of trails for hikers and cyclists.
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Fundy is famous
for having the world's
highest tides, and our Nova Scotia
road trip takes you alongside this presentday
natural wonder. The Nova Scotia
shore carved by the splayed head of the
Bay of Fundy is a dramatic journey into
the 300-million-year-old past. Pick up a
local tide chart. Fasten your seat belt.
And while you're at it, bring along your
light hikers, because you will be getting
out of the car.
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| Photo: Dale Wilson/Masterfile |
Not far from the New Brunswick/Nova
Scotia border is the community of
Amherst (home to four of Canada's
Fathers of Confederation). From here,
head south to explore the Chignecto
Peninsula, often described as "one of the
least-populated corners of the province."
At Maccan or River Hebert, see the
legendary Fundy tidal bore sweep upriver.
It's a short run to Joggins, where the tides
of Chignecto Bay perpetually pound the
23-metre-high cliffs that have been protected by the province as a Special
Place. The Joggins Fossil Cliffs have proved
a bonanza for paleontologists, with
evidence of flora and fauna from the
Carboniferous period cached in their walls.
The drive down the wooded coast
passes through Apple River and swings
south to Advocate Harbour and the nearby
trailhead to Cape Chignecto Provincial
Park. There, 185-metre sea cliffs rise from
the Bay of Fundy, and only those hikers
ready for a very serious three-to-four-day
trek with camping overnights will see the
full 29 kilometres of pristine coastline and
the rare plants and old-growth forest
preserved within. Shorter trails are
available for the day hiker.
Before travelling east along the Minas
Basin coastline, visit the lighthouse at
Cape d'Or, perched above the Minas
Channel. Then it's a short but spectacular
drive over the Cobequid Hills to Parrsboro, through an area steeped in a rich
shipbuilding past. Along the way, stop in
at Spencers Island and at the Age of Sail
Heritage Centre in Port Greville. Parrsboro
is the largest seaport on the Minas Basin,
and it offers terrific opportunities to
witness the twice-daily Fundy tides that
split at Cape Chignecto and surge into the
Minas Basin. Continue east to Five Islands
— formed when dinosaurs walked the
region — boasting 13 kilometres of hiking
trails as well as swimming and clam
digging. When the tide is out, a walk on
the red sand flats is a must.
The Glooscap Trail guides visitors
around Minas Basin and Cobequid Bay
down to Windsor, but you can wind up
your journey in Truro, an hour or so from
Parrsboro. If the sheer energy of the Fundy
tides has tuckered you out, head on to
Halifax for a pampered overnight in a
harbourside hotel.
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Canada's smallest province is a paradise
of sand and sea. The romance of the
ferry system aside, the Confederation
Bridge — a 12.9-kilometre fixed link that
spans the Northumberland Strait between
New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
— makes getting here a whole lot simpler.
A 12-minute trip drops you at an information
centre in Borden-Carleton, where
you'll find much of the local island lore
needed to plan a holiday. The truth is, you
could drive this 224-kilometre-long island
from tip to tip in three to four hours. But
why not savour a good thing? The island's
accessible size makes it possible to see its
many guises.
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| Photo: Dale Wilson/Masterfile |
The warm, welcoming waters of the
Gulf of St. Lawrence are a delightful 40-minute trip away along the
Blue Heron
Scenic Drive. The destination: Prince
Edward Island National Park, a narrow
46-kilometre, dune-backed slice of shoreline
that traces the island's northern
coast. En route, you'll journey through
the island's green, hilly heart and, at each
crest, be rewarded with a panoramic view
of striking pastoral beauty.
At the park's western end is Cavendish
Beach. If you're travelling with an 11-year-old
back-seat driver, you'll probably stop
at Green Gables, the house that inspired Lucy Maud Montgomery to create
her
world-famous character, Anne Shirley.
From there, head for the white-sand
beaches and dunes that dot the shoreline.
If it's a sunny summer's day, expect to
share, but spend some time exploring, and
you're sure to find a private patch of beach.
Although you've seen photographs,
nothing can really prepare you for the deep
beauty of the rugged red sandstone bluffs,
carved out by the rolling blue surf. With the
wind in your face and the sound of gulls
calling from the brilliant blue sky overhead,
you'll have an island moment that you will
cherish forever. This is Prince Edward Island.
A drive east along the northern coast is
its own reward. Be sure to stop for a walk
around the harbour at North Rustico, a
fishing village with Acadian roots. At
the park's eastern end, you'll find the
Greenwich Dunes, a unique coastal ecosystem
that has been placed under the
Natural Areas Protection Act. Gorgeous
and less-frequented beaches can be found
at Basin Head, Red Point and Souris Beach
on the eastern end of the island.
If you've had it with swimming and
windsurfing, it's time to swing south to
the provincial capital of Charlottetown
for a little urban living and a chance to
explore the nation's beginnings.
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