Driving along the Acadian Coast / Drive we found ourselves in a predominantly French speaking community / province the further north we headed. Finding a lovely 2km boardwalk just out of Bourtouche, we took in the sun and wandered up the boardwalk, then back down the beach, admiring the dunes, the surf, the jellyfish and the many families taking in the beautiful weather.

Finding a little gem of the coast, we arrived at a lighthouse where the local ladies created jewellery made from sea glass they had found on the shoreline. The story behind these stones is that years ago people threw their waste, glass bottles etc into the ocean. Over time the ocean smoothed the glass down, giving its beautiful colours and shape, creating the jewellery that we found. Some of the common colours – green, blue and white were beer, whiskey and rum bottles, as well as Vicks, where the rare glass red, pink, black are hard to find. One of the ladies there had over 1,000,000 pieces of glass, as she had collected pieces from when she was a child – is now making a fortune, as others in this area discover the value of sea glass – Kate LOVES it!!!!

Continuing on our drive, Kate found some amazing spots to visit, next stop, Kelly’s beach in a National Park – for a quick swim, then off to our B & B in Miramichi, a small town 100km’s south of Bathurst. We stayed in an old mansion that had been remodelled, decorated and furnished on the inside to resemble what the house would have looked like. It was home to the local Governor and his wife. This 6 bedroom, 2 storey mansion overlooked the Miramichi river, with breathtaking views (and very affordable!!)
The lovely couple that run the place (a teacher and an ex-united nations employee) gave us many wonderful ideas to further experience New Brunswick. Quickly dumping our things upstairs (we were the only ones to stay in the house…..very cool – they are full up for the next 7 days due to a festival) we tried to see a moose in the wild. Finding a lovely pond just on the outskirts of the city, we played the waiting game, patiently sitting until bordering on dark. Unfortunately no moose were sighted, but it was lovely to watch the sun set over the area!