Saturday, May 6, 2023: A detour that became a stroke of luck!
Info:
The website of St. John states that the town is a special place where the St. John River meets the Bay of Fundy. Canada’s first incorporated city is about to invent itself new.
In this industrial town there is the third largest harbor of all Canada. Almost 70,000 people live here.
There is one special thing about the Bay of Fundy: The difference between the tides is 8 m. Before mouthing into the bay, the St. John River runs through a narrow gorge which reverses the flow of the river at high tide. The Reversing Falls are a spectacular natural wonder.
In downtown there are some things to see, the City Market und St. James Square, for example. Strolling through the town offers lots of surprising insights and outlooks.
In the surrounding areas there are some special places, like Geopark, Irving National Park and Rockwood Park.
My opinion:
We camped at Rockwood Park with a wonderful view of the not so wonderful city. Nevertheless I was so fascinated by St. John that I stayed for another day. I even visited the Reversing Falls three times!
Diary:
Sometimes you end up at a place you had not even known before that it existed – and it’s just perfect!
We were standing at the campground in Amherst, and I had read on their website that they were taking reservations starting in April. To my great surprise this didn’t mean that the campground was open in April. It also didn’t mean that it was open in May.
I made several phone calls, but all the campgrounds in the area were still closed. A gentleman asked me in which direction I was travelling. To Toronto. So he recommended Rockwood in Saint John, only 200 km from Amherst, and in the right direction.
Well, concerning the direction, it was actually a detour, but as soon as I arrived in Rockwood, I realized that this was love at first sight. Therefore I paid for two nights. Even if St. John had not been interesting – which was not true at all! – there were the wood and the lakes of Rockwood … I just HAD to go hiking!
In addition the young lady at the front desk taught me all the necessary camping vocabulary. I told her that this was my first day at a campground in Canada, and she explained everything to me – with the usual friendliness and patience. Full hook-up, sewing and so on. Now we are camping literate! Even one of the valves I had brought from Austria for Annie Way’s drinking water hose fit! So she got her drinking water tank filled up with 100 litres. And me, I finally had my own washroom back!
Rockwood turned out to be a beautiful wood with some lakes.
I love Canadian geese. Not only because they keep crossing the sky flying formation and cackling as soon as my camera is in my backbag. Long ago in Ohio I had an apartment close to a lake where in spring Canadian geese were brooding. On my way to my apartment I came close to them. The ganders certainly wanted to defend their territories, which I understood, but otherwise I had to go a long detour. A Canadian gander can look tall and threatening when he – belly in, chest out, head forward – runs towards you, cackling dangerously. It took two weeks till I had enough of that. I went towards the first gander – belly in, jest out, head forward -, and guess what! He turned round and ran away. Many years later a man, two metres tall, threatened me with a knife. At that moment I remembered the Canadian geese. Belly in, jest out and so on. Guess what! Two seconds later the man ran for his life. Seems I look scary. But I love Canadian geese. They taught me an important lesson. And they spend their wholes lives with their partners. That’s romantic.
Other animals were not scared as well.
When I first came to the Reversing Falls there was low tide, and there was not much to be seen. But the water was rising, and withing fifteen minutes I saw the first rapids and whirlpools coming into existence. They were not violent yet, but impressive nevertheless.
Strolling through downtown was quite something! I have never seen so many witty, even weird or crazy show windows before! It was fun to walk along the streets! In addition to that people like to paint their housewalls with pictures – in different qualities, but always an eye-catcher.
The hall of the city market is not very large but as colorful and crazy as I had expected it after my stroll through downtown. Next to it there are the university and King’s Square, which is a nice park with the shape of a star.
There was not anything spectacular in this town – nevertheless … I felt at home immediately. Friendly people are no longer a surprise, this seems to be a Canadian quality. But the atmosphere in downtown with this weird touch was something special.
When I visited the Reversing Falls a second time, things were quite dramatic although there were still some metres missing to high tide.
It made me so curious that I returned a third time before we left St. John becauses I wanted to know what was happening in the gorge. Unfortunately it was ebb tide again.
So we left St. John where we had not intended to go because we hadn’t known anything about it. What I know now: I owe this town wonderful memories. Home is not a place, it’s a feeling. In Rockwood and St. John I just felt at home.