My family had wanted to visit the East Coast for a long time now. We just never actually got around to doing it. Well this summer, all three of us were available at the same time, so finally got this trip off the ground. We went to visit New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. There was a hella lot of driving, sleeping in motels and bed & breakfasts, fast food on the side of the road, and more sleeping in the car. Occasionally, here and there, there was a worthy sightseeing point.
New Brunswick
We spent the most amount of time in NB. We hit up all three major cities: Fredericton, Moncton, and Saint John. Each city had its own distinct flavour and unique attractions. Fredericton had the Historic Garrison District, which captures the heritage of the old British culture of Canada. Moncton had this crazy Magnetic Hill. Similar to the Mystery Spot at Santa Cruz, it's a normal looking hill, but gravity is reversed. You drive to the bottom of the hill, put your car in neutral, and it will go all the way up the hill by itself. Saint John had a very happenin' small downtown core next to the harbour. In all three cases, I couldn't help but notice how small these "major" cities were compared to Toronto.
Other sites that we visited include Grand Fall, which is a truly misleading name. Personally, after seeing the likes of Niagara Fall, this was more like a barely-midsize-fall. We also visited Cape Enrage, where a historic lighthouse sits on top of a steep cliff, to control traffic inside the Bay of Fundy. The view was quite nice. Perhaps the most interesting stop was at the Hopewell Rocks. This is the famous point where the tides of Bay of Fundy are high during the day and low in the morning and night, such that people can actually walk the ocean floor during these times. The free standing rocks exemplify the erosion caused by the daily flux of the tide.
P.E.I.
We went to the island to visit the capital city of Charlottetown. This place was so small; I don't know how it qualifies as a "city". It seemed like a town to me. After, we drove up to the northern point of the Island, Cavendish, where the Anne of Green Gable's house is. It was a popular tourist attraction, but I didn't read any of the books, so there wasn't too much in it for me. But the preserved house is a perfect example of the simple life that was, in the 19th century here on PEI. The coolest part of this province, in my opinion, is the bridge that leads to it. The 13km long Confederation Bridge, opened in 1997, is a notable engineering feat, covering the Atlantic Ocean.
Nova Scotia
The main point of visit in NS was the capital Halifax. Here, we visited the Citadel fortress, the huge Halifax harbour, and went on a whale-watching tour. Amazingly, we actually caught glimpse of a couple whales. They weren't the giant blue or sperm or humpback whales I was hoping for, but it was small, and we could see its fins and upper body pop up every once in a while. The tour guides also demonstrated catching crabs and lobsters by catching 'em in real-time. Speaking of which, we had some really fresh lobsters while at Halifax.
On the way back, we visited friends in Montreal. For the first time in a week, some home-made food! We registered a total of over 4300 km on the rental car. Unfortunately, we weren't able to make it to New Foundland, because that required so much more driving and it wouldn't have been very pleasant. It was mainly my dad and I driving the whole way, my mom did minimal amount. By the end, we were all very happy to finally have conquered the elusive Atlantic coast after many years of just talking.
► photo album1
► photo album2
