Visiting New Brunswick: Why It’s Not The Drive Through Province

Meggan Mullock: Hey Everyone. And welcome back to another episode of the travel mug podcast. We are switching gears this week, so exciting. And we're going to talk about another province in Atlantic Canada, new Brunswick or Nouveau Brunswick as they may say. I don't if they do but we'll go with that.

It is a bilingual province. So, you know, we won't come over of course, the whole province today, but we're going to chat about the three major cities and some worthwhile attractions in the Southern-ish part of the province. I know some are a little bit more east or west, but they are mostly Fredericton Saint John and Moncton downward.

So new Brunswick has often been seen as the drive-through province, meaning people sort of just want to get through it to either get to Quebec and beyond in Canada or maybe to the US and honestly, I did feel a bit about, you know, new Brunswick this way myself, but we've spent some significant time there in the last couple of years and we've truly come to appreciate all it has to offer, and we hope you will too.

Maybe adding it to a future itinerary. So let's dive in.

Jenn Neilson: Yes. I just wanted to say that there is a really fun song by David Myles, who is a new Brunswicker about just driving through new Brunswick

Meggan Mullock: Is there really?

Jenn Neilson: there is it's really fun. And also I've heard people call it "no-funs-wick", but we're going to prove them wrong today

Meggan Mullock: we are let's change the stereotype.

Jenn Neilson: All right. So we're going to start off with Fredericton, which is the capital city of New Brunswick. So it has like a small downtown core. There's a lot of government jobs. In the city. It also has two, uh, major universities and it's kind of along the shores of the Saint John river. So it's really important culturally, artistically and educationally, as we said, there are two universities. It also boasts the Beaverbrook art gallery, the Playhouse, which is a performing arts venue, as well as the annual harvest jazz and blues festival, which did happen this year. Very very exciting. Very exciting. It also has the highest per capita income in new Brunswick. So go Freddy.

Meggan Mullock: I tell ya.

Jenn Neilson: Very exciting. I actually, I haven't spent that much time in Fredericton. But I, I almost applied to go to university there. I, yeah, I was considering applying there, but I ended up going to massage college and that was that, but, uh, yeah, almost happened.

Meggan Mullock: It's a cute little city.

Jenn Neilson: Yes.

Meggan Mullock: What are we going to talk about?

Jenn Neilson: Next up, we're going to head to Moncton. So it's kind of geographically the center of the Maritimes and kind of the urban hub for New Brunswick. I think a lot of people probably get confused and think that Moncton is the capital. But it's not, it's Fredericton. So the city proper has a population of about 72,000, but that doubles, if you take into account the kind of whole city and outlying area, It was actually founded in 1766.

So it has a really deep history within Canada, and it is considered a low rise city. It has a lot of green spaces within the city, including Centennial park, Mapleton park and Irish town park, which is one of the largest urban parks in Canada. I know that's really cool. I love, I love a lot of green space in the city. Yeah. Um, so let's talk about some things to do in Moncton.

There are quite a few, so here are some of the highlights, so there's Tidal Bore Park. So it's a great place to see the changing high tides. That's kind of a theme with New Brunswick. They really, um, The in-between us, um, Nova Scotia and new Brunswick where the bay of Fundy is. So that's really cool.

So next up we have the Moncton museum and then magnetic hill and the magnetic Hills zoo. And then my personal favorite magic mountain splash zone.

Meggan Mullock: Have you been?

Jenn Neilson: I have, it's-

Meggan_Mullock: I've not been

Jenn_Neilson: Oh my God. I love, I love waterslides like, I love them. So I highly recommend a trip to magic mountain, even if you are an adult, it is super fun.

And then there's also Tree-Go which we've mentioned a couple of times

Meggan Mullock: We have, yes, I forgot.

Jenn Neilson: these, tree obstacle courses, I've told you before, but I failed and did the first thing and cried and, uh, so that's not for me, but it might be for you. Who knows. There's also a second location. That's just outside Fredericton.

So, um, depending on where you are in the province, Moncton has a lot of bars and restaurants and shopping and lots of stuff in nearby towns, which we're going to cover, but Moncton's a great place to go. I know a lot of people go there, with their family, like with kids, there seems to be a lot of kid friendly things to do as well.

Meggan Mullock: Well too before Nova Scotia, um, you know, exited the dark ages and we had Sunday Shopping. A lot of people would actually go to Moncton on the weekends because that was a big deal back then, because you could actually enter the mall on a Sunday. So Moncton was a big shopping hub for Nova Scotians there for a bit, but thankfully we have Sunday shopping now

Jenn Neilson: Yay.

Meggan Mullock: we're so progressive.

Jenn Neilson: Oh, aren't we just.

Meggan Mullock: I know, I know. And next we're going to chat, about the third city, uh, is Saint John. So it's known as the port city, it's just along the bay of Fundy and is Canada's oldest incorporated city dating back to 1785. It is the largest city in the province and has the second largest population in the province as well.

Some highlights. So sort of things you might want to check out while you're there, the Imperial theater, it is a centerpiece in the town where you can see concerts and plays. And we were just there and the lights on the, um, the sign outsides were flash and go around and just made it, it actually. It felt like a theater look.

was really cool. really enjoyed that. There's the Irving nature reserves. This is about 10 to 12 minutes from the city, but it includes salt marshes, volcanic rock, forest, hiking trails. We ran out of time. We were going to go there. So we'll definitely cover that next time we're in the area. Uh, there's also city markets.

So it's housed in a building dating back to 1876. There are food stalls, fresh fruit and vegetable vendors, and also craft vendors as Well, We were there on like a Tuesday and it open. So it isn't just like a weekend thing. It's open all the time. Um, yeah, no, it was cool. We grabbed coffee and sat outside.

And then we also visited Kings square park. So there's fountain benches, lovely flower beds. And then there was a restored 1908 bandstand. So it's a really great spot to stroll through or sit for a bit, take a couple pictures. It's kind pretty. And then markets square. So that's along the waterfront.

It has shops, restaurants, and bars, and it looks like it would be a really great [00:07:00] outdoor area in the summer. For lots of people milling about it looks like it'd be a really busy place. We were just there. So I just wanted to mention a couple of things, that we did or ate at and stayed while we were there.

So we had Lemon Grass Thai, food was amazing. we had to take three quarters of it home, each.

Jenn Neilson: Oh, wow.

Meggan Mullock: We actually had two meals from the food that we had there and that was down in market square. We also went to hopscotch whiskey bar. I've never seen such a large whiskey menu. I'm talking like I swear 50 to 100 different whiskeys you can order. I had the best Caesar of my whole life there. And I thought it was a smoky spicy Caesar. And I thought that he had added liquid smoke. He came over later the mystery of whiskey and he actually had me smell a specific kind of whiskey and it was smokey whiskey.

Jenn Neilson: Oh,

Meggan Mullock: And that's what made the smoky Caesar A: a Caesar with whiskey is crazy thought and then B: smoky whiskey.

It was, it was incredible. I loved so much. I know I'm not even a huge drinker, but I'm like, I could have this daily, but that wouldn't be good.

Jenn Neilson: No.

Meggan Mullock: No. And then I would have so excited to eat at the one vegetarian restaurant in all of Saint John Vegolution, everything we learned or lots of things Monday, and Tuesday's not a big day for things to be open. I don't, I don't know why, but keep this in mind. So Vegolution was closed for supper on Tuesday, but we happen to be in town until lunch on Wednesday. So we got to go. It was well worth the wait. And I had to mention the quaint and unique little bed and breakfast. We stayed at. It's called Earle of Leinster, it's on Leinster Street. Dwight and Cheryl run it. Um, they're like the sweetest older couple, and the, the rooms all have like funky wallpaper. They had like old pipes and pipes that you smoke, and violins and old photos. And they're like, you know, open the drawers in your room. We've shoved the old little knickknacks in them. Like it was a really, really fun. cool place. And the breakfast was stuffed French toast,

Jenn Neilson: Oh yum!

Meggan Mullock: It was, it was overall really great experience and it's quite central. So I would definitely recommend staying there if you're just going to be there a couple nights there in Saint John,

Jenn Neilson: That sounds amazing. Definitely. I would definitely stay there. And Thai food, Lemon Grass Thai sounds amazing. I've been, ah, I've been missing like restaurant options since we moved out of Halifax to a tiny small town. There's definitely no Thai food here. So.

Meggan Mullock: You can come back and visit us anytime in the big city.

Jenn Neilson: I gotta. All right. So let's do activities in Southern New Brunswick ish.

Meggan Mullock: Yeah.

Jenn_Neilson: we're all over the place here, but I mean, New Brunswick is kind of a big province. It's definitely bigger than Nova Scotia, but the stuff we're all mentioning, you know, you can do within a, you know, a short ish trip, like a long weekend or a four or five day trip.

I think you can probably squeeze a lot of this in. So. Let's first talk about the Fundy trail Parkway.

So this beautiful trail way extends from St. Martins through to Alma. So the full route actually just opened and now has six additional look offs, which is really exciting. So it is a driving experience, but so much more, it has hiking trails, look-offs, beaches and incredible views. So it is free to drive through if you don't intend to stop otherwise it's $10 per adult, um, and $32 for a family like, uh, a car full, I guess. The Parkway itself is 30 kilometers and has also 32 kilometers of hiking and biking trails. Have you done this, Meggan?

Meggan_Mullock: Yeah, we did it last Summer. Just in New Brunswick last week, but of course having done it once we had other things to do so we did it last year. I definitely recommend it. The stops, the beaches, the views, the little hiking trails to see little flower pot, rock formations, it's all, it's all really worth it.

And when we were there last year, the full route was not open. So we haven't done that piece yet. So. That stretch we haven't done. So now it would be even better that you could just go the whole way from St. Martins to Alma. So, I mean, I've recommended even more at this point, just because of that.

Jenn_Neilson: definitely. Where are we off to next?

Meggan Mullock: So St. Martins that we just mentioned. So it is a cute little spot with some nice places to stay and eat. I have some friends who have stayed in the area at Airbnbs, but the main attraction here are the beach side, sea caves. So we visited in 2020, you really need to shoot for low tide because of course you can only access the caves by walking on the ocean floor. When we were there, they did have the caves blocked off with caution tape. Um, but other folks we know we're able to go inside them on other visits. I'm not sure if they were just had some falling debris or like what the deal was when we were there. It may have been different even this past summer in 2021.

Um, so they are really unique and the beach is very vast. It's likely somewhere though. You'll just need about 45 minutes. So you don't need to plan too long of a stay. Cause a cave is a cave is a cave. But they're really cool to check out. And the beach is really nice. So I would say yeah, about 45 minutes to an hour.

I mean, if you have kids, you'll likely be there longer. I assume everything is longer. I don't know. Um, but for us it was probably just like 45 minutes to an hour, but it's a great place to start the Fundy trail Parkway.

Jenn Neilson: And let's talk about where you end the Fundy trail Parkway, which is Fundy National Park. You'll find Alma, which is also where you'll find the park.As per the government of Canada website for the park: "Experience the world's highest tides, not to mention pristine forest deluxe camp grounds and tastes of Atlantic Canada culture at Fundy national park. Paddle in a kayak as the waters rise up to 12 meters or more-” that the Fundy tides, they never ceased to amaze me.

Meggan Mullock: I swear to God, this is a podcast about high tides, but anyway, the whole thing, every episode, we're talking about the tides

Jenn_Neilson: the tides “walk the other worldly ocean floor at low tide or venture inland where trails lead to waterfalls deep and Acadian forest with unique camping options, including yurts and even regular music performances. Fundy is a maritime treasure.” and have you visited Meggan?

Meggan Mullock: Yes, 2020 again, this was when, um, we were able to not stay in Alma, but we were nearby. So of course we visited the park. It is really great, lovely little beaches, great hikes, great views of the ocean. I didn't see any waterfalls. So I feel like we didn't go in deep enough. And there are hikes some difficult, some moderate, some easier. There's a map that tells you, which is which so that you can make sure you choose what's best for you. And then the cost of visit is $7.90 for adults. So $7.90 cents, and then youth are free.

Jenn Neilson: Perfect. Where are we going next?

Meggan Mullock: So we are going to ever famous Hopewell rocks. It is really a fun time. Um, you are going to pay money to look at rocks. I just really want you to be prepared for that. seems wrong,

Jenn Neilson: There are nice rocks though.

Meggan Mullock: They're so pretty. So it's $14 for adults and $8 for kids. You then walk into some wooded paths down to the rocks and then down some stairs that are pretty steep.

A few flights really keep that in mind, if you have mobility issues, it is quite a ways in, and then is up and down stairs also, of course, because all we talk about is tides. You really need to plan to go at low tide. I mean, otherwise don't go. Um, it's super important. So if you do go, of course at low tide you get to walk down on the ocean floor and see the flower pot shaped rock formations and explore the caves and the beach there.

We were likely there for over an hour and a half, just looking around, honestly, in amazement. It's just really, really cool. And as we post pictures of the next few weeks, I will definitely include some of our time there. It's definitely touristy, but it's touristy, you know, in that way for a reason. So you're not necessarily harming nature because you are literally just walking on the beach there.

And then, getting pictures of these really cool structures that are like, you know, thousands of years old or whatever is really cool. And there are a few guides when you're on the beach as well. So when you have any questions, they're there to answer them for you.

Jenn Neilson: right. That's awesome. All right. So our next one I'm really excited about. So Walton Glen Gorge trail slash lookout. So it's been called the grand canyon of New Brunswick.

Meggan Mullock: Tis true.

Jenn Neilson: Very fun. You walked on a short trail, like maybe a kilometer to a spectacular Gorge view. And this is from the hiking new Brunswick website: "The lookout is on the edge of a cliff that drops around 40 meters into the gorge below on the cliff face across from the lookout is Walton Glen falls. There's also a large waterfall that you can see in the valley below the lookout. The Gorge cuts its way through the forest on its way to the little salmon river. And of course the bay of Fundy beyond." That sounds amazing.

Meggan Mullock: It really was awesome. And I do, you talked about some, uh, some friends in New Brunswick. I don't think it’s overly popular overly well-known. Like I had never really heard of it until we started doing some research last summer. And we also visited this as part of our trip last summer. And honestly, can't recommend this enough. The hike is easy. And then the payoff is huge. So I definitely recommend that.

Jenn Neilson: Yes.

Meggan Mullock: So next, we'll talk about the reversing falls, cause we need to talk more about the bay of Fundy. So this is actually in Saint John along aptly named Saint John river. So the river passes through a narrow Gorge before emptying into the bay of Fundy. And this actually creates a reversal of sorts of the water due to the change of tides in the Bay of Fundy. So of course you have to be aware of a tide times to-

Jenn Neilson: Always.

Meggan Mullock: Always people, if nothing else check the tide times. And that way you can sort of get the view you want. We didn't stop. We passed the bridge where you would be able to go to see it on the way at a Saint John, but we had other plans. So, we didn't necessarily do that, but of course I've heard it talked about a lot. Have you ever seen that, Jenn?

Jenn Neilson: No, I haven't, but that's really cool. I mean, as I've said, the Bay of Fundy, never ceases to amaze me with these crazy freaking tides.

Meggan Mullock: I know.

Jenn Neilson: I, yeah, I need to go there. And I also need you to tell me about the next thing on the list, because when you told me you were doing this, I was so freaking excited can't wait to hear all about it.

Meggan Mullock: it. was all I ever dreamed So we went and visited just, I guess maybe a week ago, Saturday when we were there Llamazing Adventures. So this is located in Haute Aboujagane. I'm sure I did not pronounce that correctly in New Brunswick. It's near Shediac. So this was actually a business started in 2020, and it has made quite a splash.

They're super busy. So it's ran by Josie, the owner. And her partner, Monica, who's actually a vet tech. And it started out of pure love and passion for animals. So, Josie actually purchased a few llamas and then she took them like on a little adventure to the beach. But there are people friendly and well socialized, and then people kept approaching her to.

Can I, you know, can I rub the llama? Could I, you know, take it for a little walk? And then she kind of realized, well, maybe people would actually get enjoyment out of doing this and maybe it could be a business. And then Llamazing Adventure was born. So really our walk consisted of four llamas and four alpacas.

And so what you can do is you can either pay to walk your own Llama. Or you could share it with a friend, which is what I did with my husband friend. We shared llama. Huh. And really, it made more sense for us a, because our, we were lucky our Llama was in the very front. We led the pack, but I was able to walk in with her.

He took pictures and video, and then he was able to walk out with her. And then we got some pictures and video of him. But if we each had our own, really wouldn't have been able to capture the moment as well. And the walk we did took about an hour and it was the river walk. There are options available, so you can do a beach walk, et cetera.

We had the privilege and fun to walk. Brenda, she was lovely gal llama , it was a really fun experience. Honestly, it's a great local business. They love the animals. You can tell it's a passion project for them. And really it was just. A lot of fun. I can't recommend it enough. I think for the two of us for one hour, if I remember correctly, it's not exactly cheap, but it was about $84 for the two of us. And Brenda. Yeah,

Jenn Neilson: Oh, that's so fun. I'm so jealous

Meggan Mullock: was really cool.

Jenn Neilson: When I saw your videos on Instagram, I was like, oh God, I want to do this so bad.

Meggan Mullock: Yeah.I mean, they've only been around for a year and she said last year they were going like flat out seven days a week. Like it was their first year and they weren't sure exactly their schedule, what do yet. She said they Got a little burnout. So this year they did the. Wednesday to Sunday. and then they had two days off and it was much more regulated, three walks a day before they were doing many walks a day.

And the animals get rotated in terms of whose out when, et cetera. So I think this year and their second year, they were able to sort of get things down a little more, um, you know, how they wanted it, which was great.

Jenn Neilson: Yeah. Yeah, definitely doing that when I go to New Brunswick.

Meggan Mullock: You must.

Jenn Neilson: sounds amazing. So next up, we're going to do this Sussex Bluffs hike. So it's a wooded hike and about like moderately challenging. Maybe not super challenging for the average person, but it is like uphill a bit. So you climb along to several openings over looking at the Dutch valley below where you can see from land and trees of wildlife and fields and streams. And it sounds idyllic. Did you do this?

Meggan Mullock: We did. This trip, we didn't do as many hikes as we did last year. And we didn't do the whole thing. We could have hiked further and went higher, but honestly, where we were was perfect for us. And, uh, the opening was really vast. You could see everything below. We just sort of sat there, took some pictures to start, but then we sat there and just took the whole thing in for awhile. And it was just really peaceful and lovely. And when you come out into the opening, it's one of those moments. Everything is just really cool down below. So it was just really fun. I would say overall, we were there a maximum of two hours and it's not hard to find it's on Google maps. So, definitely a fairly easy hike, but with a good payoff at the end,

Jenn Neilson: Sounds- Sounds amazing

Meggan_Mullock: It was llamazing

Jenn_Neilson: everything is llamazing!

Meggan_Mullock: Exactly.

Jenn Neilson: We also wanted to mention, there are , many beaches in new Brunswick, including the famous Parlee beach, which I've never been to, but I've heard many great things about it,

Meggan Mullock: Yes. Honestly, the beaches they're lovely. The sand is very different. It's more PEI ish looking then Nova Scotia looking Parlee beach was great. We also went to one called Aboiteau, uh, it was also beautiful and there's actually in the parking lot. There's like a brewery and stuff. So I can imagine in the summertime, probably a really happening place, but yeah.

There's a beach much like a Nova Scotia on every corner. So you can really, if you want to go to the beach, you can definitely, but that in there as well,

Jenn Neilson: All right. Now, for my favorite part of the episode, which is New Brunswick fun facts. All right.

Meggan Mullock: tell us your fun facts.

Jenn Neilson: First fun fact is New Brunswick is the only Canadian province that is constitutionally bilingual, which I find really interesting because, you know, we have a lot of French also in Nova Scotia, but we are not constitutionally bilingual here. Even though we have a lot of French speaking people-

Meggan Mullock: I think it's one of those things when it's constitutionally that I think it sort of causes probably a little bit of trouble for all sides when comes to like jobs. And do you have the right language skills in terms of talking to some folks they're like, It does cause a little bit of strife in that way. I think it's, it's a cool thing and it's great to have like sort of that bilingualism piece, but there's always another side to it. I think.

Jenn Neilson: Yeah. I mean, I think I like that they're trying to protect like the French Acadian language there. , because I think it could really easily. Die out if we're not careful, same with Nova Scotia. Um, but yeah, I'm sure nothing's perfect. I'm also causes problems. Um, our next one fact is a lot more fun. McCain foods limited the multi-billion dollar company, famous for its frozen French fries. Canadian. So the McCain brother's first French fry plant was created in 1957 in their hometown of Florenceville, New Brunswick. And one third of the world's French fries come from New Brunswick.

Meggan Mullock: Shut your face. Not, I mean, the other two-thirds have to be PEI, but like, wow. had no idea

Jenn Neilson: I assume they mean frozen French fries and. All French fries, like,

Meggan Mullock: Aren’t all French fries frozen?

Jenn Neilson: well, no, you can make homemade French fries, like from a potato.

Meggan Mullock: Sure, sure. I suppose you could. That's crazy.

Jenn Neilson: I know, know. Bananas. All right. And that the last one is Moncton is home to magnetic hill, which we did mention, but we didn't tell you what it was. So I guess if you're not familiar with it, you're probably like, what the hell is magnetic hill? So objects seemingly roll up hill on magnetic hill and you can actually, um, go there in your car and put your car in neutral and like magic your car will roll up hill.

Meggan Mullock: Have you done this? I've never, I've never I've yet to do

Jenn Neilson: have, it's been a very long time. I was a child, I think when we this. But yes, I mean, very cool. I don't know how it works. It's I don't know.

Meggan Mullock: Sure. It's on the internet.

Jenn Neilson: I'd probably is on the internet and you could find out, but we didn't.

Meggan Mullock: Listen, do your own research, people research it. If you want to see it.

Jenn Neilson: It's it's fun. So thank you so much for listening to this episode of the travel mug podcast. You can find us on our website at travelmugpodcast.com and on Facebook and Instagram at The Travel Mug Podcast, we'll share mostly Meggan's New Brunswick pictures, and I'm going to dig up pictures for me at the waterpark.

Meggan Mullock: I think you should.

Jenn Neilson: I know I have them. I'm gonna have to dig out an old camera somewhere, but I know they exist and it's very fun. So we'll chat again soon, everybody. Bye.

Meggan Mullock: Bye!