Bathurst to Shediac, New Brunswick

BATHURST, NEW BRUNSWICK

DALY POINT

A quick drive from downtown is the Nature Reserve with a 4.3 km trail and several other trails that are well marked and great for shade and taking the dog.   BUT, if the wind has died off, the killer mosquitoes will attack!   Do not STOP anywhere!   Even with mosquito lotion on.

I opted for the saltmarsh walk.   Extreme length of boardwalk (thankfully, Tazz has gotten used to boardwalks - took years for her to feel comfortable enough to walk on bridges or boardwalks).

Of course - who would have thought?   A sign, depicting the nasty, flying insects!

Photo courtesy of Daly Point Nature Reserve

The Maritime Ringlet Butterfly is found only in salt marshes located in and around the Bay of Chaleur, nowhere else in the world.   Due to its restricted geographic location, it is recognized as an endangered species.   The peak season to see them is mid-July to mid-August.

We turn up into the forest walk - the chickadees follow you, hoping you have some feed for them.  

At times apparently, there are fox, porcupine, moose, squirrels. . . .

and, here is one

a red squirrel

BATHURST HOSPITAL

Quite a different experience than getting bloodwork done in BC.   I had to get my thyroid checked (after six weeks of a medication change).

The hallways look confusing.   Colored arrows match the signage above so you can find your department.

There are no medical laboratories outside the hospital in and around Bathurst.   (We find that unusual because in BC we have labs outside of the hospital).

So, you check in at the  main hospital lobby and you take a number and wait for everyone in the waiting room to go through (so, people that go to x-ray, lab or anywhere but emergency have to wait for their number).   Then you go to another section where they have several receptionists that take your information, enter you into their computer system and you wait again in the waiting room.

In the meantime, lab technicians are standing idle while waiting for the patients to get called in.






Bathurst has suffered some economic losses in the past ten to fifteen years.   We notice  several closed businesses.  

The connecting bridge from west Bathurst to downtown.  

Old Post Office and Customs Office

(the new tenants are the community radio station)

Economy of Bathurst:    The Pulp and Paper Mill in downtown Bathurst

1914 the Bathurst Power and Paper Company was a combined logging, lumber mill and wood-pulp paper company that supplied its own electric power from Nepisiguit Grand Falls.   Several times the mill changed hands, the mill closed in 2006 and sold to a redeveloper.   The redeveloper, which was already defunct by January 2016, was fined $150,000 in July 2016 under the Environmental Act.




Zinc and Lead:
After 49 years of operation, Xstrata Zinc's Brunswick mine closed on April 30, 2013.   It was one of the world's largest underground zinc-lead mines, providing 700 jobs.





YOUGHALL BEACH (3 kms from our RV/campground)

The Bank Swallows

They were nesting just above the beach and only in about a 15 foot bank.    These are are the smallest of swallows and although small, they dig their own nesting burrows, sometimes up to five feet long.

They feed entirely in flight and mostly over water where they catch flies, often as high s 50 feet above water or ground.  Both parents are involved in feeding.  House flies and crane flies are their staple diet.   Sometimes winged ants, small bees, moths, caterpillars.

This swallow turned and stopped:   looks like it is saying "what the heck is that?"

DAY TRIP TO MISCOU ISLAND 

(Northern tip of the peninsula)

Stonehaven Church with soldier WWI and WWII white grave markers.

Pokeshaw Beach

A small fee ($3.00) during summer months (no overnights) to park at this beach.   The Pokeshaw Rock is renowned for birdwatchers.

Saint Simon Catholic Church, Grand Anse

Grand Anse Visitors Centre

(not yet open - June 23)

Near Shippagan, at the Riviera Du Nord.   Statues depicting pioneer farmers.

Fishing boats in Shippagan

Bridge over Gulf of St. Lawrence from Shippagan to Miscou Island (built in 1996 - replacing a cable ferry)

Driving over to Miscou Island

Miscou  - Peat bogs.   

from New Brunswick Provincial Archives

A Russian named Vladimir Kokkinaki and his co-pilot were attempting the first non-stop flight from Moscow to New York in 1939 and ran into fog over Labrador.  Becoming disoriented, and running out of fuel, the pilot successfully crash landed the plane on Miscou Island.   The island became known as "Moscow-Miscou."

In the fall, the bogs become a bright red.  Unlike neighboring areas (Lameque being one), the peat moss on the island has not been harvested and is left in its natural state.

With shipping accidents occurring annually, the Commissioners of Lights for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence promoted the need for a lighthouse on the northeast point of Miscou Island.  The project was completed in September of 1856.   The lighthouse measures 74 feet (extended to 80 feet in 1903).   During summer months for $6 you can climb the stairs to the top.

Abandoned lobster traps

HISTORY OF THE ACADIANS

The Acadians are the descendants of the French settlers, and sometimes the Indigenous peoples, of the northeastern region of North America comprising what is now the Maritime Provinces, Gaspe and southern Maine.

During the 17 and 18th century, the Acadians were significantly influenced by six colonial wars.  

The British Conquest of Acadia happened in 1710.  Over 45 years the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain.    The difficulty was partly religious and the other was that an oath might commit male Acadians to fight against France during wartime.   Another concern was whether their Mi'kmaq neighbors might perceive this as acknowledging the British claim to Acadia rather than the Mi'kmaq.

With the refusal to sign, the men were forced from their families and arrested.   Within days, all the farms, barns, churches and shops that made up the Acadian colonies were burned to a crisp.   So were their crops and livestock.   A mass expulsion ensued.  Many escaped to the forests, many drowned or died of disease.

Families were separated, some Acadians landed in England, some in France, Maine, Connecticut and other New England colonies.  Over the next 20 years about 3,000 found their way to Louisiana and settled on lands that nobody wanted.  Gradually, Acadians began to marry non-Acadians.   The new spouses often learned to speak French and were absorbed into the population that came to be known as "Cajun."


Between 1755 and 1763, approximately 10,000 Acadians were deported and shipped to many points around the Atlantic.    

The Nova Scotia vacated land was occupied by settlers from New England.   The Acadians were allowed to return after 1764 - they settled far from their old homes and now settled in Cheticamp, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

HISTORIC ACADIAN VILLAGE

The Village historique acadian is a living museum portraying the daily lives of the Acadians from 1770 to 1949.   Situated in the heart of the Acadian Peninsula the site includes over 40 restored or reconstructed 18-20th century buildings from various Acadian communities around New Brunswick.

Interpreters, dressed in period costume make straw hats, soap and rope, spin flax, dye wool, split cedar shingles, shoe horses, knead dough, blacksmithing and other tasks.

The outdoor oven is heated up with firewood which takes up to four hours.  Fresh bread is baked daily during tourist season.






In order to get the temperature set, the coals are removed, then  the arm is placed inside the oven while reciting the "Hail Mary."   If her arm could stand the heat until the completion of the prayer, it was cool enough to add the area.

By the smell alone, the baker can tell when the bread is done. 

This is not typical of the large churches of Acadian parishes.   It represents a place for prayer built by the villagers.  This church does not have any heating or a confessional.

While walking across a wooden footbridge, while adults with their young children were watching the ducks below, I looked across at the marsh and saw these.   Counted thirteen.

The Marshlands along the Riviere du Nord were developed.  They were not cultivated, but harvested for marsh hay as fodder for cattle.  And, processing of fish.  Dried and salted codfish were packed in barrel for the market.






Back to Bathurst

En route, decided to try poutine.   

It is delicious with the squeaky, melting cheese curds.













Good BUT, can not compare to the fresh lobster!  Lobster season will be coming to a close in this area July 1st. (May/June season)

$10.95/lb

This lobster was 1.6 lbs (I had lobster for two days).    

(Marc has developed an allergy to shellfish)

The claw is $6.95/lb

This claw weighed in a 0.7 lbs







Grocery Prices in Bathurst are very pricey.   People have told us that although the economy suffered after closures at the pulp and paper company as well as the copper mine, grocery prices did not change.





Atlantic Superstore prices in Bathurst

Honey Crisp - $5.49/lb


















Tenderloin Oven Roast: a 1.5 lb roast is $40.61

And, there are foods that just do not entice the taste buds.

One final bit before we leave Bathurst,

They have six new courts and you can play pretty much any time as there is no lack of court space.   Most of the players play in small groups in the mornings and only a couple of days a week.   

Had a great time on our last day, playing with our little group.

   

Bye to the beautiful Youghall Beach just minutes from us.   Has been a great place for Tazz and I to hang out and although this is a super quiet day, there were times we met lots of people and learned alot about the area.

Next stop, Shediac