Sep 23, 2013

I told myself last night I’d go and get a photo of the Algonquin Hotel which can accommodate 1,000 but is closed for refurbishment at the moment but I forgot so this one is compliments of the internet. The Canadian Pacific Railway used to end here in times gone by and this was where anyone who was anyone stayed



A glimpse of the fall / autumn colours on the side of the road as we headed for Bar Harbour this morning before the rain set in and once it set in it was pretty much with us for the rest of the day until we got into Camden. The day was so dark that shortly after we set out this morning the GPS unit switched itself to a night time screen and it stayed on that for the rest of the day.



We set out for the via to Bar Harbour as the sky got darker and the rain got heavier so we ultimately decided we wouldn’t see any of it and instead of continuing we headed for Camden and asked Sharen and Ken to email us a photo for the blog of what we should have seen and here it is. We have loved seeing all the little islands from the shore as we have travelled along the coast and I assume this is the ship they were on. Gives a good perspective to gauge the size of it. Very impressive!



This is the Verona Bridge, looked awesome disappearing into the mist



As we were heading to the bridge from Verona Island to the mainland we saw a huge grey fortress type building to our right with a US flag flying in the centre of it and when we got across the bridge we saw a sign pointing us to Fort Knox (the original one)so we figured we’d do a quick drive by photo shoot but when we got to the spot to go in discovered it was a pay and walk scenario so given all the layers of bike gear we turned around and left. This shot of the fort and bridge is compliments of the internet and you can see both the bridge and the fort. Apparently the bridge also has an observatory in one (at least) tower, not that it would have been too effective today to see anything



Stopping for a bite of lunch and Norm thought he’d take this shot so you could see the amount of water in the paddock behind! OK so it's a river but there was an awful lot of water around.



It’s probably just as well the weather was so crappy or I would have taken forever to get here as there have been so many spectacular houses to photograph…had it been fine. This is one across the road from where we are staying and typical of many



And a view of the harbour after we checked in and showered. We came out to sunshine and drying roads, couldn’t believe it!



These are some falls which literally run under the main street and two lots of buildings. Don’t know what it’s like in a flood!



And finally a beautiful boat near where we dined tonight. Lovely outlook to dine by

Last night’s Accommodation:



The Kingswood B & B
327 Mowat Drive
St Andrews New Brunswick E5B 2P1

What an absolutely lovely home to be welcomed into! The building is a delight with spacious guest dining and siting room and our room is large light and airy and very comfortable and the bathroom has everything we need even if not huge but everything else makes up for it. Our host is both charming and helpful and has lots of tips for local sights and experiences. The décor beautifully complements the building and it all feels lovely to experience. Good value for money with a delicious included breakfast to set us up for the day and plenty of room to park. Yum. Would love to come back at another time.

Last night’s Dinner:



Niger Reef Tearoom – Looking from the tearoom to the sea
A recommendation from our host saw us eating here and the food was superb. It was a cosy little space with friendly service and superb ambience. I could imagine sitting on the veranda on a summer evening looking out over the water. The name comes about from a ship (The Niger) running aground years ago on the reef and keeling over which couldn’t be re-floated until the next high tide so as a result the reef is now the Niger Reef and there is now a flashing red light so no one else does the same thing. Life is funny, it’s always the disasters we remember and this is a typical example.