Adventures in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia

We recently returned from a quick trip to the East Coast of Canada, and I thought I’d share a recap and some photos from our trip. My goal for this post is more photos, less text! This is going to be my mantra for all posts this summer, so hopefully I keep writing them as things get hectic. Let me know how I did in the comments below! 🙂

Kamouraska, Quebec

Our first stop on the trip was Kamouraska, Quebec. This was a happy accident! We were looking for a free camping spot midway between Ottawa and New Brunswick, and had scoped out a spot on www.freecampsites.net in between Quebec City and Riviere-du-loup. The sun was setting and we arrived to find a “no parking from 11pm – 7am sign,” so we were forced to hit the road again with light fading quickly in search of a stealth spot to camp. I used Google Maps satelite view to locate treed areas off the highway, and we managed to find a gravel road into the forest a short jaunt from the Transcanada Highway. We located a pullover spot on the gravel road and settled in for a chilly night with temperatures hovering around 2 degrees celsius, but we were cozy and safe in the Subaru!

Okay, so it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. We were startled awake in the night to the sound of a motor running, and we quickly jumped to the conclusion that someone was about to locate our stealth camping spot. Antoine scrambled out of the car to investigate the sound, but we soon realized it was coming from our Subaru. Frantic Google searching commenced, where we discovered that Subarus do fuel system tests overnight. Who knew??? Daylight the next morning revealed that we were actually in a familiar area where we’d previously camped with some rock climbing friends – Kamouraska! We exited our dirt road hiding stop, stopping for a pitstop along the St. Lawrence river to test out Antoine’s newest toy – the DGI Mavic Air! Cue the drone photography 😉

Fredericton and Moncton, New Brunswick

Next stop was Fredericton to visit Antoine’s Mom for a quick hem of his new suit. We continued on to Moncton for Charles and Adèle’s wedding on May 19th, 2018. They may have shared their wedding day with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, but their day definitely wins in my books! The weather and wedding venue were perfect for their incredibly intimate affair, and we absolutely loved celebrating this awesome couple and spending time with friends and their family.

Masstown and Aylesford, Nova Scotia

After the wedding, we packed up slowly and hit the road to visit the families of two friends in our gang who live near Greenwood and Clare Nova Scotia. It was a southwestern Nova Scotia roadshow! We hit up the Masstown Market for some delicious baked goods, because my parents taught me that house guests should never show up empty handed. Piled high with a chocolate pie, cinnamon buns and wild blueberry scones we hit the road again for our next stop: Just Us Coffee and Fair Trade Museum. Just Us is the oldest free trade coffee roastery in Nova Scotia, and we stocked up on fresh beans to bring back to Ottawa. We travelled through the quaint town of Wolfville, where I hope we will one day return to try the local wines. Next up: a visit to the Thompson residence in Aylesford where Emmanuel’s Mom spoiled us with treats in their quaint family kitchen. I was so in love with their beautiful home and expansive gardens.

Clare, Nova Scotia

Our final stop on the tour was Saulnierville, Nova Scotia at the Dugas family home. Simon’s parents graciously welcomed us into their beautiful home for 2 nights, where we experienced incredible Acadian food and hospitality. Acadian culture, incredible scenery and the kindest people you will ever meet!!! I don’t think my descriptions can even do these two days justice, so here are some photos that capture our adventures. Acadian rapure pie (pronounced “rappie”, or at least that’s how anglophone Liz pronounces it! ;), clam digging, fresh lobster feasts, cliff adventures and shopping at Frenchie’s. We can’t wait to return to Clare to visit again!

Antoine and I parted ways with Garrett and Simon, who travelled the Southeast coast of Nova Scotia with stops in Lunenburg and Peggy’s Cove. These have now been added to our next Nova Scotia visit bucket list.

We opted to take the ferry across the Bay of Fundy back to NB to save ourselves 3+ hours of driving, with a final stop in Fredericton to visit Antoine’s parents and sister. We enjoyed fresh lobster rolls and a local Fredericton craft beer on a sunny, calm cruise across the Bay. How did we get so lucky?

We wish that we were 10 hours closer to the East Coast, so these visits could be more frequent!!

Until next time… 🙂

Liz & Antoine