St. Andrews by the Sea

Up early as there is a lot to fit in today. Breakfast is a help yourself buffet in the verandah dining room watching the sun come up ( it is only 7am). We thought taking a panoramic view of the buffet area may be too embarrassing so you'll have to take our word for it being a pretty grand affair. 

Set out past the horse statue again this time heading for the Kingsbrae botanical gardens which have been advised as a "must see". It's only a short walk from our base at the Algonquin as you can see from this map. 

You can walk across the whole peninsula in about 15 to 20 minutes (or maybe a bit more for some). 

We decide to go via Katy's Cove (a private beach) and part of the Resort we are staying in, which is along the eastern coast. There are complimentary bicycles to use but think we'll save that idea once we've checked the terrain. The Vuelta a España has finished so we don't see any need to compete with Messrs Froome et al.  On the map it looks like there's a shore path (with cartoon people on it) that runs past the other side of the Kingsbrae Gardens, perhaps there'll be a way in from that side.  We find the road to Katy's Cove and follow a path through woodland, hopefully to reach the shore. Perhaps we can walk through the cemetery and come out by the waterside path. On the other hand, perhaps not.  There is no gate from the cemetery out to the shore but instead a dense woodland(not quite as detailed as our OS maps). Deciding to turn back to the road was a good decision as we see some deer in amongst the gravestones, looks like a mother and baby.  

Next we try Quoddy Shore Drive. There are lots of building plots for sale here but apparently no access to the fabled shore path.  But there are more deer.

There's some building work going on at one of the plots and a builder who we presume is not on piece rates - he is moving a large pile of earth a shovelful at a time - surrounding him are three large earth-moving machines!  We ask if there is a way onto the path but he's not from around here.  Carrying on, we come to a dead end and a possible building plot (it says 'private property no trespassing', might be a bit of a clue), but there appears to be a path towards the shore so we take it anyway.  Wrong again - it leads to a hedge, but at least this time there is a gap, a bit of a bank, a ditch and a bank up the other side and ...voila...we are at last on the shore path! As you can see it is a beautiful sunny day, and there is just enough wind to make the walking pleasant. 

We amble along, back into some woodland, and then find a sign saying we are in Pagan Point Nature Reserve. Obviously no entrance from the path to Kingsbrae Gardens as, looking at the map, we are now well past it. Wend our way back to the gardens.

Eric enjoying a spin in the Topiary Garden.

The gardens are in full flower and nearly all are very familiar plants.

This is the Perennial Garden.

There are also some whimsical plantings and artefacts that Eric enjoys.

The Tea Tree (plants in teapots on a branched sculpture)

 Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men?

A very flowery 'lady'. Can you spot Eric?

A working miniature windmill, with an Archimedes Screw powered by the wind moving water along a channel.

There is also a children's petting area with various animals, some of which are pictured below.

Fluffy chickens - don't know what variety.

Butterscotch the rabbit is very cute.

There are also goats and alpacas. 

We find a sign for the likely birds we may see in the gardens.

But we see none of these!

We do see dragonflies and butterflies.

Then it's back to the hotel to pick up our warm clothing layers for an afternoon of whale watching out on a boat. There's a marine biologist on board and she's also a birder.  Some of the pictures are not brilliant as the sea was quite rough - so difficult to stay steady!

A Common Loon - it was calling, which is a lovely sound.

 The Pendlebury Lighthouse.

Seals sunning themselves - they try to keep as much of themselves out of the water as they can, to have maximum heating effect, hence tails and noses in the air.

Another lighthouse, but I didn't catch the name. Could be Bliss Island Lighthouse or Green Point.

We are in Passamoquoddy Bay and there are quite a lot of islands.

We cruise around for a while quite a long way out in the Sound, waiting for the Humpback Whales. They are not out playing today (or at least not here), so the Captain decides to go towards Campobello Island.  We now see the same lighthouse we were at yesterday, but from the sea.  

We also see a Minke whale, in almost the exact same spot as yesterday.  No photo today either, but it was there, honest.  We are struggling to find the whales. 

A mystery bird - answers on a postcard to...

Another Loon?

A Bald Eagle - we not only see one, but ten. A mix of mature and immature birds.

We were told this was an Osprey.  It was along way up and the boat was rocking is my excuse.

Some Razorbills. Also saw Black Guilliemots, Greater Shearwater, Northern Gannet

At last - multiple sightings of whales and porpoises.

The finger points to a whale, wait, it's two. Fin Back Whales - a mother and her calf from last year.

There are fish shoals under and around the boat and the whales and porpoises are feeding on them.

The clear patches of water behind the whale are it's 'footprint'.

We left the dock at 1:30 and returned at 5:40 - it was only supposed to be a two and a half hour trip, but I guess they stayed out a while longer to make sure we'd actually seen some whales.

A pair of swimming trunks purchased earlier in the day meant that use could be made of the resort swimming pool.  It was a bit late for the outdoor one so the indoor one had to do (didn't try the water slide though!).

Dinner was accompanied by a sunset view

With some rather strange sounding beers on the menu - third from the bottom.

All in all a very enjoyable day.

Canada x2

Woke up to a foggy morning (sounds like a song title).  View from the window was sligthtly different to when we arrived! Not only is there fog but it's also very windy - very unusual. The people here apparently say that the Great Manan fog machine is working (Great Manan is another island).

A sausage and cheese casserole (sausage optional) with baked apple, followed the cereal and fruit entree. Sorry no piccie as appetite arrived ahead of iPhone, but it was a bit like a very fluffy omelette.  This was also accompanied by a cinnamon and blueberry muffin. Side note here. Though this is the home of the blueberry, but being wild blueberries they are all very small, in fact they are tiny compared to the ones they sell in the UK shops.  They are very tasty though. 

Eric takes a last look at a pint-size lighthouse before we leave Lubec.

Next stop, Canada for the first time, crossing over the bridge that was erected in 1962 onto Campobello Island. Though it is a Canadian island it was the summer retreat of Franklyn D Roosevelt. Up until the 9/11 attacks you didn't need a passport to cross, just some form of ID. All that's changed now (of which more later).  Not only are we in a different country but also in a different time zone, so suddenly it's an hour later.  Confusingly, one iPhone gives us USA time and one Canada time - weird. 

To visit the house is free. We are there as it opens so we are able to avail ourselves of the ticket only, limited numbers, free 'tea with Eleanor' in the Hubbard Cottage after our Roosevelt Cottage tour, the latter being a bijou little place with only 38 rooms and 16 bedrooms!

The route to the house from the visitor centre is very pretty, with flower borders and ...

...some cabbage 'topiary'

The house itself as viewed from the best photo point (signposted). A convenient platform for Eric, they must have known he was coming - or maybe it's for you to put you camera on! The fog is very atmospheric don't you think?  

Inside many of the artefacts are original, including FDR's fedora. Not the wallpaper or the curtains though, as they were spoiled by the pipe smokers, kerosene lamps and candles that they used. 

The 'schoolroom' - Eric thinks the maths is too easy.

The dining room - in line with Eric but behind the table is a giant megaphone that they used to communicate with the local fishermans' boats and to call the children for meals! 

So you can see just how giant that megaphone really is!

The servants rooms were the same size and on the same floor as the guest rooms and had the same furniture and wonderful views. In comparison, similar places in the UK in the same time period had the servants roomed in the attic.  

The initial tour is fascinating, and we learn that the there are distinct links between the Island, Wales and Scotland. The name Campobello is derived from Campbell with 'o's added, supposedly because it made it sound like campo bello - Italian for beautiful field (Wikipedia).  Campbell was the name of the Governor (of Scots descent) who donated the land at this end of the Island to William Owen, one of the first settlers here. He was Welsh. The main town on the Island is Welshpool and the first large house and hotel built there were called Ty'n y Coed and Ty'n y Maes. 

Our free tea and talk followed - this turned out to be a very informative and interesting, story-led, talk about the First Lady - the free tea is grown in New Brunswick and it was pretty good too. We were following in the tradition of Eleanor Roosevelt, who used to have tea at three o'clock everyday no matter where she was (although we were having it at eleven).  Not only this but we also get to have a tour of Hubbard Cottage even though it's supposed to be closed to the public today. 

There was this amazing original window in one of the rooms - that would be good in our house.

A quick trip to the shoreline reveals...fog

From the here we headed to the northern tip of the island for a number of reasons:

a) we like lighthouses

This was on the last of three little islands, reached by various ladders, bridges and causeways. When the tide is in they are inaccessible.

Suitable warning signs before you depart for the lighthouse. It's low tide so we should be OK.

Eric say this ladder looks easy

But the other ladders are trickier. Eric is at the bottom giving encouragement.

b) the possibility of seeing whales - they were seen there from the shore yesterday

No picture due to wet fog and distance, but they were seen. Yippee.

c) the map had a pair of binoculars on it at this point, so we hope to see some interesting birds. We were hopeful for Bald Eagles - they were there yesterday too.

No Eagles but we did see a Hummingbird, feeding on what a lady told us was Jewelweed or Spotted Touch-me-not plant (Impatiens biflora possibly). She told us a concoction could be made out of the broken boiled up stems that was good for burns. 

A female Rufus hummingbird

 And a Black Guillemot.  

Well 2 out of 3 ain't bad!

The Guide at the lighthouse who lived on the island said she had recently been to Wales to visit the original Welshpool along with other locations. 

Time to return to the mainland to head on up to our next evenings stop. But first we have to negotiate US customs for the second time this trip. For such friendly people the US customs officers certainly can make you feel uncomfortable. They really seem to need you to have a very very good excuse for coming to their country, rather than just to have nice holiday. Once the the formalities are over the now friendly border guard gives us all the useful info you could want. 

So, after a short drive up the coast in some serious rain and a thunderstorm, Canada greets us with bright sunshine again as we arrive at St Andrews by the Sea, as does the hotel porter - in a kilt, spot the connection?

After settling in to the room 

we head of to the seafront for a meal and to check options for the following couple of days. On the way Eric makes friends with a horse in the gardens of the hotel.

We see some interesting murals on the town walls. Why can't they do something like this on the old Jennings building in Porthcawl?

Meet more equine friends for Eric.

A pier for walking on later - there seems to be no shore walk - houses, shops or restaurants all along.

Find a cannon along the jetty, and they are pointing across to the USA. Eric suggests they have them loaded just in case Donald Trump gets elected - who knows who he might decide invade?

But that does allow for some pleasant dining views.

Looking out from the pier approaching sunset.

And the other way - Eric has attached himself to a lobster pot float to stop himself being blown away - it's still very windy.

And so to bed.