Fredericton and the Third Province

After 6 hours of driving, we arrived at the Holiday Inn Fredericton, NB. En route we sadly did not see a single moose, despite all of the signs and the 300 moose-related road accidents annually. We did however see and drive through the world's longest covered bridge...which looked like an old train shed over a river. We also took in Potato World in Florenceville, whose town slogan is "the french fry capital of the world", being the home of McCain and growing one third of all the potatoes they use here. We took a scenic route down 105 through the St John river valley which was astoundingly beautiful, and was a welcome break from the Trans-Canadian Highway. It is so strange driving an automatic with cruise control and to constantly searching for a non-existant clutch and gears. Arrival into Fredericton was marked by a brilliant hotel; greeted with complimentary beer, plus more free beer and nibbles ("Why?" "Because it's Wednesday...") and being given a suite with a huge lounge and the biggest bed I've ever seen! We walked the hour into Fredericton which, despite being the capital of the province, is essentially contained in two streets (the population is only around 50,000; New Brunwick only has about 750,000). We'll maybe see it a little more tomorrow before heading on again; it seems likely a lovely place, just rather sleepy and quaint.Read more