Teen Across Canada Blog – Heading west to New Brunswick

First thing we noticed when we arrived in Moncton was the rain. It was pouring every day we were there. We went to the information centre where the girl told us all the fun things to see and do even with the weather. We went to the Resurgo Museum which was so cool. It was really interactive with videos, touch screens, games… We learned so much and it was so cool!

The next day we went to see the famous Bay of Fundy and Hopewell Rocks. We went early in the morning for low tide so we got to walk on the beach. It was just as nice as the pictures I’ve seen. Then we drove to the Fundy National Park and took a hike to Dickson Falls which was really nice. Then we drove all the way back to the rocks and saw high tide. Wow the water changed fast!

 

 

 

For dinner we went to McSweeney’s Dinner Theatre which was so awesome! First we had a delicious salad as an appetizer, then we watched the show. It was a story called Holidaycation about Tag, a skier who had a huge competition against a famous skier. It has all the 80s songs, some from Top Gun, some from Footloose and others from Dirty Dancing. The meal was incredible and the show was fantastic! I recommend it for everyone!  Right before we left Moncton we went to see Magnetic Hill… So weird! It’s a hill where you put your car in neutral at the bottom and then you end up going backwards but it looks like you’re supposed to go downhill. It’s an optical illusion that’s definitely worth experiencing.

Then we went to Kouchibouguac National Park where we met Marilyn Ingram and Philip Andre Collette, two Park interpreters. It was so awesome – they were super nice and we spent three hours talking to them! They told us stories about everything and everything and Marilyn told us the legend of the crow.

Next we went to Saint John where we walked downtown. We went through the Marketplace first then on the Victorian trail to see the old buildings around town. Then we went to see the Reversing Tides which was so cool. We saw the tides during high tide, low tide and slack tide which was really cool. We also saw a seal and three racoons! Then we went to see the Carleton Martello Tower which is one of the nine Martello Towers left standing in Canada.

We started making our way towards Quebec but stopped to see Nancy Scott, one of my Dad’s friends, in Miramichi. The next day we stopped in Fredericton and walked downtown.

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Teen Across Canada Blog – During our stay in Halifax

First we went to the Citadel which was a fort made for protecting the city of Halifax back in the late 1700s. It’s made in the shape of a star and on a super tall hill. We got to see what it would have been like to live back then. We got a tour of the grounds and saw how the soldiers dressed, went to bed, ate and slept. Then we walked over to Dalhousie University and got a tour from Alex which was really cool. It was a really nice university. Then we went and saw the new Tom Cruise movie, Mission Impossible 5 : Rogue Nation, which was so good!

The next morning we watched the Mooseheads, a junior hockey team, practice. Afterwards we went to the Sports Hall of Fame which was next to the arena. There was a whole exhibit on Sidney Crosby (because Cole Harbour is his hometown). We even saw the washing machine that he used to practice his shots.  Then we went to see a family friend, Janet. We went to her house and had such a fun time with her!

Peggy’s cove was really fun. We met super nice people from the States who told us awesome places to eat in New Brunswick. We walked all around the lighthouse and near the water where supposedly we see Whale Rock. After that we walked down to Dee Dee’s Ice Cream. It was the best ice cream ever! I had lemon and Nova Scotian berry and Mom had French vanilla and German chocolate… It was delicious!

After that we went down to Pier 21 where we walked through the marketplace and looked up some family history (I learned that my great grandfather and my grandfather landed here when they came to Canada.) Then we walked along the boardwalk to the museum. We saw three huge exhibits; one for the Titanic and a few other ships, one for the Halifax explosion and one for other artifacts.

Before we went to New Brunswick, we stopped at the Industrial Museum where we learned all about how technology has changed over the years. Then we went up to Joggins where we met Don, a 90 year old amateur archaeologist. He told us all about his findings over the years and explained other things in the museum.

That night we watched the lunar eclipse which was spectacular! We watched the whole eclipse and saw three shooting stars in the process!

Teen Across Canada Blog – Around the coast of Nova Scotia

Pubnico was one of the most informative Acadian experiences ever.  We met the first of the D’Entremonts who gave us a bit of background information.  Turns out all of the Acadians in the Pubnico region are D’Entremont too.

We went to the small village which is a recreation of a typical Acadian village. We met other D’Entremont in the house who were baking delicious molasses ginger cookies. Then we went into the Blacksmith’s shop (you guessed it, another D’Entremont), he showed us how to make a nail and told us a little bit of his history. Then we went down to the wharf where we met Olin D’Entremont who taught us how to make a huge fishing net. Then he explained how the new and old lobster traps work as well as the wooden pegs they used to use instead of the elastic bands to hold the lobster claw shut. We met Olin’s grade 2 teacher who told us so many stories about their times together. It was so fun!  After that we went to the cod salting station where we met Michel D’Entremont who explained how the salting process worked and how the fishermen lived on a daily basis. Our last stop was to see another D’Entremont who ran the boating shop and made dories, a small boat.

We stopped for a treat at the Farmer’s Market in St. Mary’s Bay, another Acadian area. We had a bunch of treats which were all so yummy. Then we went to Université Sainte-Anne where the visitor’s information centre is. We walked around campus too to get a feel for that school as well.

In Digby, the scallop capital of Canada, we went for a bike ride in town which was really nice. Of course we had to have some scallops too, since it was the capital and they were so good! The best we’ve ever had for sure!

Then was Port Royal which is a National Historic site. It’s a recreation of the place where some of the earliest Europeans came and Parks Canada was able to do such a good job recreating it because of the drawings Samuel de Champlain left behind. It was really cool to go see. That night we visited Kejimkujik National Park where we met Nick Whynot, a Mi’kmaq who taught us a few tips on survival in the wilderness. First off he taught us how to build a fire using a bow, paracord and a spindle. Nick was really good and got it in one shot, me and dad though… not so good. I didn’t even get any smoke or coal, as Nick called it. Then he told us all about things to look for and avoid in the forest as well as a bunch of stories. After that we went to another part of the park and watched the stars. We saw two shooting stars! It was so awesome… you definitely don’t see that in Toronto.

The next morning, we walked around Acadia University which had a super nice campus and then explored the cute town of Wolfville which was so cool. Then we left for Halifax and stopped in Windsor where the Haliburton house with the hockey museum was. It’s said that hockey started in Windsor, Nova Scotia because Mr. Haliburton was the first one to document it in his Sam Slick books. We saw his house which was so cool with all these little nooks and crannies everywhere. We saw a bunch of hockey artifacts from the 1900s all the way to present day. It was one of my favorite museums for sure.

Teen Across Canada Blog – Lunenburg, NS and blueberry festival

We got in to Lunenburg the day before I had to volunteer. We got settled in at the campground and had a barbecue.

The next day we had to wake up early so we could go to the Heritage Blueberry Festival, where I was volunteering. The food there was really good and they served something I had never heard of – blueberry grunt. Sounds funny right? Turns out it’s a traditional Nova Scotian recipe. It’s dough and blueberries usually served with ice cream. I met lots of cool people who were telling us where to go as we go along the coast.

The next day was my birthday! We went to the Fisheries Museum downtown and learned about lobsters and scallops. We visited the aquarium in the museum and saw so many different types of fish. Then we went down to the docks to see the Bluenose II coming in. We watched as it pulled in and saw all of the crew waving at everyone.
After that we went out to dinner at the Old Fish Factory restaurant. It was so delicious! We followed a GPS guy, Larry for a walking tour around downtown before it started raining and we went back to the campground.