Village Squire, 1979-10, Page 20TRAVEL
The lure
of the Atlantic
BY ELAINE TOWNSHEND
"Clad Mile Failte - One Hundred
Thousand Welcomes" is a Nova Scotia
pledge shared by all four Atlantic
Provinces, as they live up to their
reputation of seascapes, seafood, down-
home humour and Eastern hospitality.
NEW BRUNSWICK
For motorists from Quebec, Ontario and
points further west, New Brunswick - the
picture province - is the gateway to Atlantic
Canada. The TransCanada Highway
follows the winding Saint John River
through much of the province.
At the mouth of the river in the city of
Saint John are the famous Reversing Falls
Rapids. At high tide, ocean waters are
pushed upstream. Seeing the rapids at the
wrong time, however, can lead to
disappointment. Visitors should allow
enough time to compare high tide, slack
tide and low tide to fully appreciate the
phenomenon.
An abundance of inland lakes and rivers
provides excellent fishing and canoeing
and sustains 89 covered or "kissing"
bridges. The longest, more than 1,200 feet,
is located at Hartland in western New
Brunswick.
The province has 1,400 miles of coastline
with the Gulf of St. Lawrence bordering the
northeast coast, Chaleur Bay on the north
shore and the Bay of Fundy, which boasts
the highest tides in the world, on the south.
The Flower Pot Rocks at Hopewell Cape
south of Moncton show the handiwork of
the Fundy Tides. At high tide, the rocks
look like ordinary small islands, but at low
tide, the islands become mushr000m-like
columns of soft red sandstone with balsam
fir and black spruce growing on top.
Visitors can walk on the beach between and
beneath the columns. The safe time to
explore beach level is from two hours
before low tide until two hours after low
tide. Even the swiftest runner is no match
for the powerful tides when they come
rolling back in.
New Brunswick has several fine
provincial parks as well as Fundy National
Park that provide summer and winter
activities. Moose inhabit the northern part
of the National Park, while white-tailed
deer, snowshoe hare, woodchuck, porcup-
ine, beaver, red squirrel, chipmunk, mouse
18 Village Squire, October 1979
and shrew and an occasional black bear are
spotted in the southern part.
Some 87 species of birds are claimed to
nest in the park; the shoreline falls on the
spring and fall migration route. Speckled
trout populate most of the streams and
rivers, and in late August, Atlantic Salmon
begin their spawning run up the Upper
Salmon River.
The purple violet - the floral emblem of
the province - grows wild in the woodlands,
while the pitcherplant is found in New
Brunswick bogs.
Trees range from sugar and red maple,
beech, yellow birch and American
mountain ash to red spruce and balsam fir.
Small bushes include alder, willow,
hobblebush and red elderberry. The
combination of evergreen and broadleaved
trees gives the province a pleasing variety
of spring greens and a startling splash of
autumn colours.
Eighty eight percent of the land is
covered by forest; not surprisingly forestry
is New Brunswick's principal industry.
Other industries are fishing and fish
processing, agriculture and mining.
Tourism is also growing, and besides
New Brunswick's natural beauty, tourists
are wooed by man-made attractions, such
as the New Brunswick Museum in Saint
John. It was Canada's first museum and
contains relics of the Indian, French and
British eras tat dominated the history of
the province. Also, on the TransCanada
west of Fredicton is King's Landing
Historical Settlement -- a 120 -hectare
(300 -acre) working museum with 60
restored buildings representative of the
1790 to 1870 period.
For souvenir hunters, one of the finest
gift and souvenir shops in the Maritimes -
Windy Mere Gift Shop - is located on the
TransCanada just west of the New
Brunswick/Nova Scotia border. Prices are
reasonable, merchandise tasteful and the
salespeople are helpful but . not
aggressive.
Works of craftsmen from the four
Atlantic provinces are featured. Items
include Canadian Indian and Eskimo
handwork; cards, notes and books by local
artists; handturned wood items made from
birds' eye maple and other native woods;
Acadian crafts and fishbone jewelry;
woolen scarves and tams from "Bonnie
Scotland", and bone china in the tartan of
the four provinces - New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward
Island.
NOVA SCOTIA
Shaped appropriately like a lobster - a
native delicacy, Nova Scotia would be an
island were it not for the 28 -kilometre (17.5
mile) isthmus that connects it with New
limy HAND CRAFTED
PINE FURNITURE
Pine Furniture
Crafts & Collectables
Varied selection of
PINE
REPRODUCTIONS
Quilts
Pottery
Tiffany Lamps
Candles
Giftware
Crafts
New Summer Hours: Tues., Wed.
& Sat. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thurs. & Fri. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sun. 12 to 6 Closed Mon.
LOCATED BELOW
STAN'S VILLAGE MARKET
SEBRINGVILLE
TEL. 393-6660
vgd
-re( ler2
ti
BED • BATh
KITCHEN • GIFTS
BOUTIQUE
A unique shop...
come and browse,
see our new
selection for fall
& Christmas.
EXETER
405 Main St.
Phone 235-2957
Open 9-6 Mon. -Sat.
Friday til 9
erg