Life's Little Surprises

I rolled into Moncton, New Brunswick for a few days, with a strictly utilitarian agenda  -- oil change, food shop, laundry, etc. Moncton, a small town of 70,000 people, has a reputation for being culturally and architecturally challenged, so my plan was to be on task. I'd booked a hostel room at "C'Mon Inn" and had my list in hand. 

Lo and behold, Moncton is a sweet little place with a 23 km riverside biking/walking path, and an old-fashioned downtown that works. There was also a festival that weekend where I enjoyed two hours of Canadian short films (free!) with a $4 glass of wine. At the hostel, a 19th century house in a residential neighborhood, I met people from all over the world. Best of all, the locals could not have been nicer. 

Moncton is also where I discovered "chiac" which is a mix of French and English spoken in a single sentence. I loved it as I could completely understand what they said! Did you know that New Brunswick is the only official bilingual province in Canada? Me, neither! That said, it appears that the Eastern region is where you'll tend to hear both languages spoken more often. 

When I left Moncton, I debated a stop at Hopewell Rocks: 40-70 foot tall formations caused by tidal erosion in the Bay of Fundy.  Was I really going to spend $10 to look at rocks? As you'll see from the photos, I had quite a good time! In fact, I spent nearly five hours at Hopewell, touring with a guide, watching a peregrine falcon nest, walking wooded trails, and seeing the changes as the Bay went from low to high tide. This was my first Bay of Fundy experience but trust me, there's more to come!