Summer by the Sea

 After Nationals, we headed off to Shediac for two weeks holiday by the sea. I had rented one cottage for a week and once my sister decided to come with me, we extended our time and rented another cottage for the second week.

The first cottage I have rented now for three summers. It is walking distance from the marina where there is a gift shop, an ice cream shop and two restaurants. It is also not far from the beach that is just outside of  Parlee Beach Provincial Park and because it is outside of the park you can take dogs there. The first week was pretty busy with various comings and goings of my sisters, nieces, nephew and brother-in-law. Annette and I did go on a cruise of Shediac Bay.

Point du Chene wharf

Cruising

Returning to the Point Du Chene wharf

We also went to Hopewell Rocks. It's a dog friendly attraction in New Brunswick. It is located in the Bay of Fundy where you have some of the world's highest tides so that at low tide you can walk on the ocean floor.

My nieces

The Flower Pots

Me with Beckett and Keltic

Sisters and nieces

We also had some time to walk on the beach and enjoy dinners out. And, in between activities, we also visited with my Mum.

Seafood casserole

Mandarin Salad

Beckett visits with Grandma

Annette and Mum

Amber and Annette

Keltic - the water isn't too bad

Beckett - Frisbeeholic

The next week after changing cottages, Annette and I had some time to do some other tourist-type things. We went to Le Pays de la Sagouine (Roughly translated as "country of the wise woman"), the Bouctouche Dunes, the Irving Plantation and Memorial Chapel.

La Sagouine is a character created by author Antoinne Maillet. La Sagouine and other characters created by the author embody the spirit of the Acadian culture. The books and the plays are world famous in francophone regions. Le Pays de la Sagouine is a tourist attraction in Bouctouche where the characters from the books come to life. Daily from June to September, there is music and theatrical skits on the little island called Ile de Puces (Flea island), except for an English presentation everything is in French. I understood about 60% of what was said but had to translate for my sister still the music is fun and the characters are funny.

Le Pays de la Sagouine

Dorys in the water of Bouctouche Bay

Acadian  Flag vests

The Acadian Flag

Just a taste of the music

We also went to the Bouctouche Dunes and the Irving Plantation. The Irvings are a very wealthy family in New Brunswick, the patriarch Kenneth C Irving (known as KC) was born  in Bouctouche. The family still has connections there and KC and his wife are buried in the cemetery by the chapel on the grounds of the plantation. The Bouctouche Dunes is a nature center  funded by the Irving family. The dunes are 12 km long and you are welcome to use the beach; there are changing rooms and washrooms at the information center but most people just do the boardwalk. The boardwalk was nearly twice as long a few years ago but in 2010, winter storms destroyed over a kilometre of the boardwalk.

KC Irving Memorial Chapel

Interior of the Chapel

Gardens in the Irving Plantation

Boardwalk at the Bouctouche Dunes

Bouctouche Dunes

Boardwalk

Annette and I also had another evening on the beach with the dogs. It was at low tide so you could walk out and play on the sand bars. Beckett enjoyed playing Frisbee and Keltic enjoying chasing birds and a large motorized kite.

On one of our visits to see Mum, we stopped and walked the Riverfront Park trail. It's a trail that runs on both sides of the Petitcodiac river, we did the Riverview side but it also runs along the river on the Moncton side too.

The second last night of our holiday after visiting with Mum we stayed in town and had dinner so we could see the Twilight Teaser, a small taste of the air show that was on that weekend which was being staged along the water front. Part of the Twilight Teaser included some fireworks dropped by a hang glider and then by two acrobatic planes.

Twilight Teaser Fireworks

Our last day was a visit to Mum and to the cemetery where my Dad is buried. It always seems that the time goes by so quickly, you just arrive and it's time to go home.

We didn't get a good day for us to have a beach day so after getting back to my place and taking a day to relax, Annette and I went to the local water park Calypso.

I'm still on vacation but I go back to work next Monday. It will certainly be hard to get up on Monday morning.

On the Rocks

Last week, I took the dogs, with me to visit my parents. No, we did not go to Newfoundland, which is also known as "The Rock" but to Moncton, New Brunswick.

But while I was there, I visited "Hopewell Rocks" on the Bay of Fundy with Tucker and Beckett. It's the site of some of the largest tides in the world. It's in the running to be one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world, the only other site in North America in the running is the Grand Canyon. Hopewell Rocks is very dog friendly, they are allowed on the trails and down on the ocean floor, the only places that they are not allowed is in the buildings (but I did take them into the pit toilets, didn't think anyone would mind that). I took the trail down to the stairs to the Flower Pots but there also is a shuttle. Not sure if the dogs are allowed on the shuttle although when I paid for my admission, they asked me if I wanted shuttle tickets and obviously they had seen the dogs. You do have to sign saying that you have read their dog policy and leashes can be no more than 6 ft long.

I planned our trip to arrive just after low tide; which was on the day we went at 8:45 in the morning. You can walk on the ocean floor some 3 hours before low tide and up to 3 hours afterwards. At high tide, you can take a kayak tour around these flower pots as they are called.


Tucker did really well on our little excursion. It was quite a long walk for him. The trail down to the stairs is about 900 meters and then there are the stairs which are open metal stairs with the last two flights of stairs having metal grate steps. I thought the dogs would have a hard time going up but it was actually going down where they needed a bit of coaxing since they could see the ground below, I think they were a bit nervous.


We spent about an hour exploring and then headed back up the stairs. At the top, we sat on the deck of the viewing platform to give Tucker a little break, one that both Beckett and I enjoyed too. Tucker was really tired out by the time we got back up to the top, he headed for some bushes and plunked himself down.

I also took Beckett to Cape Jourimain. It's a nature and intepretive centre just where the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island starts in New Brunswick. My sister Karen, her two daughters Alyssa and Kayla and a friend Megan came over on the shuttle from the Island and, after a picnic lunch, we spent the day exploring the beach.

When Beckett found a dead crab on the beach, I think he thought it was alive from the way he snuck up on it so tentatively. He also ran into the ocean chasing the little waves. He ran right in and when the water got a little deep he got a bit of a surprise having his feet lifted off the bottom. He stood there for a few seconds and then took a few paddles to get back where he could walk again. His first swimming lesson!

The rest of the week at home was spent visiting with my Mum and Dad. My Mum lives in a Nursing Home and all the residents are very happy to see the dogs. I even did a little agility demo for my Mum and some of the residents and the activity director asked if we would do one next year that all the residents could see. Maybe by then Beckett will be doing weaves!!

It was a good week at home.