Rob-n-Hild, Eastward Ho!

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Saint John 4.3km, 0.58 hours - walking. 142 metres climbed.

Well, today was a work day (for Hild), but we still got a couple of walks, some fun sightseeing - and a new species! Pretty full day - we even did our laundry.

So, as you may have noticed, Saint John New Brunswick (as opposed to St John's on Newfoundland) is on the Bay of Funday and just here there is another fun tidal view called "Reversing Faals Rapids". We sort of picked our hotel to be close to this spot and although it is perhaps a 45 minute walk, we drove because Hild still had work to do - and it was pretty wet! With the weather being pretty horrid we didn't fancy another 6 hour time-lapse marathon, so went out at 12.40 to see the rapids at low tide and then went back after dinner at 6.50 for high tide. Below are comparison shots:

The pictures don't do it justice, as with the naked eye you can see the water moving so much better. High tide is actually quite calm because the level is way above the rapids - maybe there is more 'action' upstream!

We had driven to a park because it was close, but it turned out to be an interesting spot in itself with lots of wooden statues. The first was of an ancestor who stopped the giant beaver from building a big dam that would have stopped the river. We are glad beavers aren't this big anymore! Other statues were of significant people in the history of New Brunswick and Saint John, including KC Irving who has been called Canada's most important entrepreneur of the 20th century and George B Oland who founded Moosehead Brewery. We have seen many Irving companies as we have travelled through the Maritimes, but for many people I suspect Moosehead might be more well-known. Or is it a mystery....

We found the Moosehead Brewery building a short distance from the falls. The name actually comes from a trademark registered by a previous brewer who was bought out by Oland in 1928, but this is the original site of that brewery. We had fish and chips for lunch - from another Maritime icon - Deluxe French Fries. This chain has grown from a single van to having outlets all over the region - we had seen them a few times, but today was an opportunity because it was NOT picnic- weather!

On our evening trip for the high-tide viewing we walked over the falls bridge to see the rapids from a bit further upstream (the side we were on being taken up by the Irving Pulp and Paper Limited and the Irving Tissue Company...). It was a good idea because although we didn't see any more rapids we saw seals catching their dinner! Not sure if you can see them in the video, but we can assure you these are seals and not beakless cormorants (there were plenty of those too!). Good to have a bit of exercize after a day at the PC, and we got a lot done!

Coming up: More work (ho hum).

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