Dash to the New Brunswick Coast

We managed to leave Toronto by early Monday afternoon, the August Civic Holiday, 2002. The twelve lanes of Hwy 401 eventually narrowed to four. Thankfully the heavy long-weekend traffic was heading in the opposite direction, back towards Toronto. By dusk, we were careening through busy Montreal freeways, negotiating detours, construction, and French language road signs that confirmed that you just took a wrong turn. Amazingly we came safely out the maze on the far side and continued east until finding the Bar Motel Drummond in Drummondville, Quebec, and our first night's rest.

We woke to steady, heavy rain. With a full thermos of fresh, hot Tim's coffee, we continued east through the downpour past Quebec City. We followed the south shore of the St. Lawrence River until turning southeast and inland on Hwy 132. The road cuts across the base of the Gasp� Penninsula to enter New Brunswick at the mouth of the Restigouche River near Campbellton.

The drive on Hwy 132, through populated farmland and villages, gave way at the high point of land to a lushly green, twisting, wild river valley that rapidly dropped to sea level.

In the overcast and intermittent rain, the local towns, Campbellton and Dalhousie, weren't too appealing so we kept driving until nightfall in Bathurst NB, and a comfortable motel.



Our normal late start on a blustery Tuesday morning leads us to the main highway south to Miramichi, the amalgamated towns of Newcastle and Chatham.

The sun slowly returned as we wandered down the Acadian coast, stopping at Cap Lumiere dune, an undeveloped, natural beach just south of Kouchibouguac National Park, near Richibucto. A little too cold for swimming though.

A little further south we poked around the fragrant wares of a small soap artisan Savonnerie Olivier in Sainte-Anne-de-Kent, tried for our first lobster supper at McPhail's Lobster Haven in Bouctouche (only to find out the the storm had prevented the boats from going out and all that were left in the restaurant were a few claws and tails), and foolishly thought we could find a room in Shediac, where famous Parlee Beach is the primary local seaside playground of urban Moncton.

Unfazed, since Moncton was only 30 minutes away, we headed to town for some sleep. Guess what? The entire town's supply of rooms was booked. By about 11pm, and rapidly tiring, we decided to continue south to the next town. Sackville, home of Radio Canada International's shortwave transmitters. Here we had the immense luck to find a friendly store clerk who took time to phone local motels and B&B's until she found us a great room at Lynda Lukey's Pumpkin Inn B&B another half-hour away in Port Elgin. It was even on the route to Prince Edward Island, our next destination.

to be continued...