New Brunswick Mini Vacation

Ah, the fleeting days of summer. I feel the chill in the air, especially in the evening and in the early morning hours. Without fail, after the kettle is put to boil, I open doors and wander onto my decks. This morning I sat, coffee in hand and contemplated how I should have planted earlier and tried to figure out how many more warm nights I needed to harvest healthy, ripe tomatoes. I only lasted bare armed and legged for about 10 minutes before I had to get up and move, get the blood flowing and find a little sweater to cover my arms. Hours later my legs are still chilly to the touch, but I refuse to add more layers. It is still August. It is still my summer.

I know there will be more warm days before winter arrives. I have lived this same transition from one season to the next for over 5 decades. And somehow I am always shocked when summer starts to fade away as the leaves turn, the sun is less strong, the days are noticeably shorter. My husband always chuckles at my naivety, though he too seems to feel the season changes happen more quickly as we age. Me? I am too busy getting comfortable with the heat and the pace of life to notice that summer is gradually packing it up for another year. 

We have interesting work schedules in this house. Rejean works infield for weeks at a time and has only been learning in these past several years to grasp the days he can for himself. This summer he managed to take some vacation days here and there for fishing, biking, river swimming and snorkelling, with a few beach days with me added to the mix. My summer has been hectic for the most part; June and July disappeared in a haze of days spent indoors working. I guess that is also why I am slightly perturbed that there aren’t many beach days left and I just didn’t get in my quota this year.

However, when we have the chance, we are most apt to toss the gear in the car and head out. Two weekends ago, we did just that. We had ourselves a 36 hour mini vacation and it was well worth the effort of loading all our “stuff” and hitting the road.

This trip took us down the coast to Cap Pele and further along to Murray Beach.

We paid for a site at the Provincial Campground and after setting up, headed out for a bike ride, almost to the PEI-NB bridge.

Since we packed light this time, we biked just past our campground to a little take-out for a super, Maritime summer treat of hand cut fries, a hand sculpted, loaded burger and a fresh club sandwich. Yum!

Sunsets are best enjoyed over water in my experience and tonight was no exception.

Mosquitos be damned, we built a campfire and revelled in the peace and tranquility of our beloved Maritimes.

The next day we wandered the area, visiting the old Cape Tormentine wharf.

Tormentine was once a bustling area filled with rows and rows of cars, trucks and buses waiting to load onto one of the ferries that would transport them to PEI. The opening of the Confederation Bridge in 1997 put an abrupt end to this community’s prosperity and since then, the wharf area has seen changes. I was shocked to see that CN had literally walked away from giant pieces of equipment and left them on the pier to rot.

Of course, my second thought involved fabric and the rusting process! Oh my!!

The massive tires fascinated me.

We rode our bikes out to the end of the weed invested pier, avoiding some giant holes and pits in the pavement, ducking under an opening in the wire fencing to gain access. People were flocking down this same path with fishing gear in hand. We stopped and chatted for a bit, meeting locals as well as people from Nova Scotia and Ontario, all throwing in their lines. One engaging young boy was visibly thrilled to be pulling the fish in, snapping their backbones to end their suffering and then sharing his extensive knowledge and his minnow bait with an older couple from “away” who were new to the mackerel that were running. Another man shared his bucket to store their catch once pictures had been taken. 

We also wandered up and down some new to us backroads, marvelling in the number of properties for sale. Once such lane brought us to this amazing view of the Confederation Bridge.....

We found ourselves back in Cap Pele and donning shorties, had a quick dip though the strong wind created murky waters that made snorkelling less than interesting.

Eventually we headed to Shediac to ride our bikes along their well designed paths that connect the town to the marina and beaches. Shediac is a tourist mecca here in New Brunswick and the area was full of tourists and locals alike, enjoying the beauty of the summer day. The popular pier at nearby Pointe-du-Chene was packed with cars, bikes and people and we were amused to see this new sign posted, obviously in an attempt to keep everyone happy!

It is surprising what a short vacation can do for the spirit when you are open to opportunities close at hand.