New Brunswick, Canada
You can see pictures at:
After a nice easy ride, we passed the border to New Brunswick, Canada. The customs officers seemed a lot friendlier than in Ontario, but we suspect it’s because they’re not nearly as busy. We arrived at Woodstock, NB, which bears no similarity to Woodstock, NY, made famous (or infamous) for its 1960’s Peace and Love weekend of camping and concerts in rain and mud.
Woodstock, NB is situated on the banks of the Meduxnekeag and St. John Rivers. As New Brunswick's first town, Woodstock was incorporated in 1856, the first among New Brunswick's current towns in the province to gain that municipal status. Woodstock reflects its Victorian heritage in many fine 19th Century homes, churches and civic buildings.
Our camp may be short on amenities, but you can’t beat the view. We are on the border of the St. John River, which looks a lot like a lake and provides cooling breezes. The abundance of songbirds, water foul and fish are also much appreciated.
Chef Patrick is in fishing paradise. He caught three wide mouth bass last night and cooked them his way: rubbed with garlic, hoisin sauce, lemon and rosemary herbs, then barbequed on a wood fire, then served over rice angel pasta in a Thai curry sauce.
We took a hike in the woods up above the Meduxnekeag River. “Above” meaning the trail was pretty steep and overlooked the river. Fortunately, the thick woods shielded us from both the afternoon sun and prevented us from slipping. We could hear birds singing and got some good glimpses of one as it sang and played hide and seek for quite a few minutes. It was quite thrilling, even though it moved too much for us to identify him.
Late one afternoon we biked on the 67 kilometer Sentier NB trail which stretches from Woodstock to Muniac. It’s a nice flat dirt trail (dirt bike not necessary when the road is dry) bordered by wildflowers, bushes and trees that are frequented by numerous little birds.
The tranquil roads north of Woodstock pass along the St. John River to arrive at Edmundston, bordering New Brunswick & Quebec. We were surprised to learn that the French language made its way this far from Quebec and is also implanted in Maine, USA. We later learned that New Brunswick is one of Canada’s three maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province (French/English).
New Brunswick has a potato museum honoring their long time history of successful potato farming. Chef Patrick went directly to a farm to get the freshest new potatoes. Sorry to say, he was disappointed. They are good, but not the best.
We also tried the dried seaweed called dulse, a salty snack that native people have been chewing for generations. It has been an important source of fibre through the centuries. Dulse is also eaten with fish and butter, boiled with milk and rye flour, or as a relish. The gelatinous substance contained in dulse is used as a thickening agent and imparts a reddish color to the food with which it is mixed. Chef Patrick cooked dulse using Thai coconut milk, potatoes and scallops and made a delicious soup.
This was our first week without rain for quite some time, so we took the opportunity to wash the trailer and truck. They look like new again, but not for long as we hit the dirty road again tomorrow.
