We went down to Shediac NB for the first part of our vacation this year. I rented a cottage very near the Point du Chene wharf. The wharf is a great gathering place for tourists and locals. It has a restaurant, a bar, a gift shop and an ice cream shop as well as a tour boat operator. It is also a marina with mostly recreational boats but some fishing boats do call the wharf their home port.
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| View down the wharf, the building like a Pirate ship is a gift shop. |
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| The lighthouse also doubles as the public washrooms |
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| Fishing vessel and lobster traps |
My cottage was located in a very diverse community. There were very large, probably million dollar, homes right down to little cottages like the one I rented all on the same few blocks. Some people were very unique in the way they decorated their homes. The most unique was this house; the sign says Whale Oil Beef Hooked Folk Art. Say that five times fast. They had many sculptures in the yard like the one below.
I also did an agility demonstration last year at the nursing home where my Mum resides. I organized another one this year. Last year there were only two dogs, this year we had eleven dogs at the show. The nursing home also invited the SPCA who brought some other dogs and kittens for the residents to meet.
I know the residents get a big kick out of the dogs and really appreciate having something a little different in the daily routine.
We also did the Riverside Agility trial while we were down east. We did this trial last year and it was so much fun, well worth the drive even if I was only going to do the trial.
The field is right on the river so if you have a dog that loves water, you might have quite an off course. Luckily, Beckett doesn't like the water all that much. We had a great weekend, getting four qualifying scores out of eight runs and we got invited to the Steeplechase Cash Cup for qualifying in both Steeplechase runs. Beckett loves to run here as there is an off leash field right next to the tenting area so he got to play Frisbee right after his runs.
My sister and brother-in-law came over from Prince Edward Island on Friday night and spent two nights with me at the cottage. They also came to the lobster supper that Riverside Agility hosts on Saturday night. That's quite an East Coast thing to do. Shediac is known as the home of the world's largest lobster.
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| Beckett and Keltic with the World's Biggest Lobster |
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| The lobster, another view. I think Beckett thought it would get him; he wouldn't look at the camera but kept checking what was behind him. |
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| Beckett and Keltic in Shediac |
We also spent a bit of time walking and wading on the beach with the dogs as I wrote about in
Beach Party.
It wasn't until my second last day in Shediac that I found the good beach near my cottage after one of the neighbours gave me directions. Dogs are allowed on that beach so if we go back next year, I hope to find the time to actually go swimming. You actually had to cross a small creek to get to this beach so the dogs probably would stay on the beach if I went in swimming for a couple minutes at a time.
We are heading out tomorrow to go camping at Presquile, a provincial park about 4 hours from here so stay tuned for part two of our vacation stories.
