Au revoir Quebec.....Bonjour New Brunswick?

Monday, August 27
We left Camping Nature Ocean and made our way along the southeast along the Gaspe peninsula. The Gulf of St Lawrence is left behind and the Baie de Chaleur takes over as the waterway slowly decreases in size until it ends at Pointe-a-la-Croix where the Restigoushe River enters the Baie.

The road is a little less winding and hilly on this side of the peninsula. Still lots of beautiful villages along the way.

Beautiful drive past the Baie de Chaleur

Saint Bonaventure Catholic Church in Bonaventure

Lunch stop at Bonaventure, QC

Bonaventure Centre. Nice building.

Gift shop. Nope, didn't go inside.

Bridge over the Restigouche River from Quebec to New Brunswick

Campbellton, New Brunswick

We crossed the Restigoushe River and into New Brunswick. Just over the river is a new campground run by the town of Campbellton. This is a nice spot to spend a night or more. The sites are level and all new services of course. They also have a nice interpretive center here that focuses on fishing and other outdoor pursuits.

Our site at Campbellton

The bridge from the river bank at the campground.

Display of fly rods. The top one was from the late 1800's.

Huge selection of flies.

Beaver was an important resource in the fur trade.

Early outboard motor

Atlantic Salmon is world-class in the Restigouche River.

Looking upstream on the Restigouche.

Campbellton Light House. No longer in service

New Brunswick is a bi-lingual province and the folks around the northern end where we are speak mostly French. So even though we have left Quebec the language and culture are the same. This is Acadian country. When the English defeated the French in the Seven Years War (1763) the English tried to expel the French settlers from their freshly-conquered territory. Many were expelled but many also moved to safer areas and with the help of local natives settled in areas of New Brunswick.

Fishing the Restigouche near sunset.

Sunset over the Restigouche River at Campbellton, NB.

Tuesday, August 28
Neither of us felt like moving very far or very fast. We both have slight colds and we've been pushing ourselves with sight-seeing every day so we were a bit wore out. Never the less we broke camp and headed down Hwy 11 toward the Acadian Village near Caraquet, New Brunswick.

The Village is divided into two main areas, the 1800's and the 1900's up to about mid-century. All of the buildings are not in their original locations and have either been moved here, taken apart at their original location then moved and rebuilt, or are replicas of original buildings. Regardless of their origin, they are historically as accurate as you will find.

Acadian Village Visitor Centre.

I love these old fences

Vegetable gardens. Each homestead had one.

1773 house

The 1773 house had dirt floors.

1852 house

Upgrade to wood floors by this time. These one-room homes had families with 8, 12 or more children. Sometimes Grandma and Grandpa lived in the house too.

Outdoor bake oven

A commercial shed from 1855

The sheds housed trade goods. This barrel and press was used to store fish.

This was the Robichaud homestead from 1846

They sheared sheep and made wool for clothing and blankets. Note the dyed wool hanging in the back. They used local flowers and plants to dye the wool. The darker colours (red, blue, green) used dyes that were imported

The wool 'source'!

They use breeds of animals that existed in the mid-1800's.

They made their own shingles......

.......and windows

The blacksmith shop

Inside the grist mill (1895)

These are actually quite modern. No grist wheels here.

Grist mill from 1895

Covered bridge

The electric car that transported visitors through the 1900's display buildings. No suspension though!

The barrel maker at the Cooperage. Each piece of wood went through a special saw that cut the correct angles.

Nice job!

Gas station from 1936.

Inside the sawmill from 1949.

They had just finished running the saws and were cleaning up for the day.

Huge blade, Must have been three feet across.

The Hotel Albert, from 1907. Actually the original burned down and this one was rebuilt on this site to exact specs as the old one.

The registration desk area of the hotel.

Barber Shop inside the hotel.

The General Store from 1924

Acadien house from circa 1928

From 1915

Tinsmith Shop from 1905

House from 1920. Many were modified to meet their owners needs. Look carefully under the gable of the left portion. See the window mounted at an angle?

Boring day! No plow to pull.

Not part of the display. These three vintage Citroen's were in the parking lot.

The humidity and heat were really wearing us down so we gave the 1900-era buildings just a quick look and made our way back to the main building, had a cool drink and took a break. The Acadian Village is very well done. I took tons of pictures and these posted here are only some highlights. The period actors add a lot to the displays and were very eager to answer any of your questions in either French or English.


Back on the road we headed out on Hwy 11 toward Miramichi. We stopped for the night at Walmart in Miramichi. This was the hottest night we have ever spent in the trailer with no AC power. The humidity was well over 80% and the temps were high 20's (mid-80's) at 10 PM.

The bridge over the Miramichi River at Miramichi.

.....and that was Our View From Here!