Escuminac, QC to Shediac, New Brunswick

Shediac, Canada

After the best sleep I’ve had on the road so far, I munched my breakfast sitting on a log on the Bay of Chaleur. It was overcast, but the sun broke through the clouds for a little while at least.

Reluctantly, I packed up and headed west on Hwy 132, and then south across the Interprovincial Bridge, which not surprisingly crosses over from Quebec to New Brunswick, arriving in Campbellton, New Brunswick.

Province number two on my trip.

I made my way down the east side of the province, mostly on secondary roads on a route recommended by the Tourism New Brunswick folks. Traveled through the Miramachi area, and city. And I finished tonight in Shediac, near Moncton in the south east corner of the province.

The highlights of today were:

1) Just south of Bathurst, almost immediately after a billboard sized sign warning about moose crossings, a cow moose (do you call it a cow if it’s a female moose?) and a calf ran across the road just far enough ahead of me that I didn’t have to slam on the breaks, but close enough to get a good look.

2) Kouchibouguac National Park – this park is gorgeous even on a cool, overcast day. Short and long hikes, long bicycle paths, hikes, a fabulous beach complete with sand dunes. Oh and really good hot dogs.

3) Making it to the gas station on fumes…….with only a range of 1 km showing on the odometer. Phew.

The lowlights of the today were:

1) Taking a route recommended by Tourism New Brunswick called the Acadia Coastal Route, where for 2 or more hours, I saw only glimpses of coast, only lots of trees and there were very few even basic services. (i.e. washrooms and gas stations)

It got better south of Kouchibouguac and the area around Bouctouche is awesome. The northern stretch from Miramachi to Kouchibouguac was dismal at best.

2) Almost running out of gas.

I may stay put here tomorrow. Not a great park aesthetically, but the facilities are well maintained, there is reportedly an awesome beach nearby, and I need to do some laundry.

Will sleep on it.