Day 55 Sat- Piers, Flowers, & Whirlpool!

Darn sleep it’s over rated..had very little again….had a cup of tea before and after dinner not something I have done for a long time and guess it was enough to hype up this poor old mind…Mind you we were stupid enough to watch an old movie until 1130pm Airforce 1 honestly first movie we have watched this late the whole trip… not sure why we were that dumb, but we were….then once John’s asleep he starts sawing down forests and honestly I am not lying every time I put my head to the pillow I can hear the people talking in the next room and the TV going… it’s very weird but I have had this experience a few times like this on this trip…🤪🤪🤪🤪 maybe I have really lost the plot…I couldn’t hear exact words but I could hear muffed sounds…so I got up at 1am to have some natural sleeping pills …by 1.30 no luck so had the 1/4 if a real one yep that did the trick…woke dead on 5am..,,better than none hey…..
Anyway up to get all of 4 days worth of pics off my phone….too many now…grabbed brekky with a microwave oats….put some real apple in it did the trick…
Then lacked and off we sped…

The road honestly was very boring but we had some really stunning and interesting places we diverted to along the way….
The animal count for today because we ended up on a dirt road for nearly 100k trying to stay off the Hwy…2 Bunnies, 1 Chipmunk, 1 MOOSE yeah finally seen a moose again in the wild…it was a bit if a way off but we could see it was a female…😩 was so hoping for a male……..but we did see wildlife on the road…

There were some really pretty sights around water ways with the wild flowers 🌺 🌸 growing along the road edges…seeing these wild flowers growing like this actually stayed with us pretty much most of the day…while on the dirt road the trees were totally different…very, very thick and nearly enveloping the road itself….grieving very close to the edges giving it a feeling of being closed in even though it wasn’t …I was naughty and was praying to see a bear…but well God supplied a Moose…so better than none…we did try to sneak up slowly in the car closer to her….but she was a bit clever and headed to thicker woodlands…and it was thick…….there were a lot of the roads were graded here there any everywhere…some you could tell were from logging others well who knows where they go…we only past about 3 cars so my theory of them was they are growing WEED like they do back hime in areas similar to this is blown out the door now it’s legal here to buy it and John tells me after my crazy notion that they can have 4 plants for individual use…😳😳😳🤪🤪🤪 my glory they must be so many stoned here…
I think John found some of that weed because he told me he saw a wild Turkey 🦃 hmmmm🤔🤔🤔 I think you have lost it…but he said it looks just like Bob from home long story about Bob…but our wild turkeys except he didn’t have the colours like our Bob…mind you I didn’t see this Turkey so I think he was having a hallucination 🤪🤪🤪!

Anyway on we headed eventually ended back on bitumen…rugged bitumen..,some of the dirt track was better than the bitumen…eventually we made it to St Stephen….was this place a treasure trove of sights….my glory so pretty, so quaint and how I wish I could spend more time here…but we only have about 30mins to look….it had an artist market today….to make money for a Hospice… but no time to look…they had whale tours not filled today, but no time to even consider this….and they had the best cutest shops around that I would love to explore…but no time for that….so I grabbed pier shots, cute shop shots, murals abounding so I grabbed some of those……a few church’s as we drive out of town….it’s like our European trip in 2000….quick off the bus grab your pics, quick on the bus we go…. Same, same back in the car. Mainly to do with kilometres we have to go from one point to the next….she’s a big country….we think ours is but this one is massive even more so….and this us exhausting….you say why kill ourselves like this….well it’s a long story…one for another day…for now it is what it is and in we go…..

Next on the list as we drive up the Hwy is to ….St Andrews where we were actually right across from the US of A again..,I couldn’t believe it…and after we had been down looking around this point we discovered another border crossing…just up from the Chocolate Factory…..
Now back to the wharf and where the tides we discovered are extremely high…on reading about the tides later in day they get to 17 metres or 5 stories high in some areas along the coast here…Wow that’s crazy…we only have 10-11 meters in WA at above Cape Leveque…. Where the tides are crazy there..,here even more so….

It was worth a stop here just to see the wharf…I love old pillions….such character…. We wandered into the tourist Info centre which was next to us…a lovely young man of about 16 was manning the info centre for the morning….. he was helpful with giving me some maps and info sheets and then told us about the chocolate factory/ Museum Ganong…..this family chocolate factory who were the first to make chocolate bars in Canada and it was in St Stephens…. Story of the chocolate factory below…When we tried to go to it just to buy some chocolate …it was closed due to some Digital issue…🤔 really guess it wouldn’t have happened way back when….No chocolate, and No tour…but a great story below…😁

We drive up the street which actually lead to the US border….had to quickly turn we didn’t want to end up there….from here we headed back to the Main Street in where you guessed it was a Tim Horton’s….my goodness has this company spread itself far and wide…….I would say to nearly every community plus more in some communities across Canada….. for once John had a hard time…they were training some Filipino Workers and they must not have have understood him but got everything in his order wrong….I walked in after a quick loo visit to see him utterly frustrated which he never does…anyway after remaking a few things we finally got what we normally get…not every Tims has it together we are discovering….

Anyway fed and having had our drinks off we took up the Hwy towards our next destination where I had found a Covered Bridge at Little Lepreau… on the map…so set Nav for there…..sadly it’s not used anymore but considering is still in pretty good condition….it was made later than the Longest one in 1910….still worth a look…and to make it even better with all the wild flowers around it…below the bridge was a gorgeous scene of a tranquil running stream…the reflections in the water were just right….plus to get to see the stream better you could walk a short way into moss covered forest….so pretty…wild flowers and moss I was in my element….I made my way down on some rocks to get a better look…with my ducky foot and elastic shoes going side ways I came so close to having an early bath..😳😳🤪! It was a close call as I fell on the rocks and trying to steady myself…all the while thinking to myself what if a bear came out if the woods….😩😩😩 anyways I righted myself eventually pulling myself with some tree branches back up on the higher bank….silly me I have absolutely no balance at the best of times….but with my ducky foot in craggy sharp rocks I was asking for trouble…when I told John all he could say was……you are your fathers daughter…🤔🤔🤔🤔🤪🤪🤪…..

From here we took a road towards a bay on McPherson’s Beach Rd…my golly were the wild flowers prolific here….firstly was a bay and to my joy, of joys old pier posts barely alive around the beach Front of some houses….I was in my element here….rough, jagged and craggy piece’s of wood around the bay…all the rocks around the sea water in this area are very dark and moody looking…the old pier reminds me of wounded hearts and souls….rugged, scared and yet a beauty left behind in amongst the pain they have suffered….I wish I could get down in amongst them…but we parked in front of somebody’s house so I didn’t want to push my luck…Then onto the rugged bay with more wild flowers around the end of the road…perfect sights….but I really don’t think I have captured the essence of its rugged beauty….

Off we headed down towards Saint John’s for lunch…the plan was to go to the Food Market’s in the middle of downtown…but we saw a sign for Reverse Falls….and thought maybe we will see them first…well this turned into our lunch spot, over looking from a gorgeous restaurant above the Reversing Falls below… and bonus of bonuses it was change of tide right when we sat for lunch…how blessed were we to be there unplanned at the right time….God is an awesome father giving simple yet amazing gifts to his loved ones…

The meal sadly for John was awful… he had fish and chips that for some reason the fish was soggy and unpalatable…I had deep fired shrimp 🍤 as they call them here…only a few but my perfect size…John had to have some of mine with his being so awful….it’s his turn today…

The lady who was the manger says she wouldn’t charge for His meal..they were low on everything as it opened only yesterday and apparently had a staff party last night and drank all the Alcohol bar a few white wines and a few beers…John ended up with a Grapefruit flavoured beer ….not happy Jan…but he drank it….
All the time we were here and they had seated us right in front of a massive glass window with first class views over the joining of the sea and the river where the reversing effects could be witnessed… it really was like watching multiple whirlpools then like a washing machine thrashing around the cloths….also while this was occurring we witnessed were some little black sea birds ducking and weaving through the torrent of swirling water… it was a spectacular sight…but much better before the tide became higher….more dramatic…once the water started to rise the trashing became less and less…..

After lunch we walked down to the lower part of a viewing platform to see the action closer…another restaurant sitting right next to the many stairs heading down…and there were heaps of rotten stairs to climb back up….well it was closed up sadly…. it also had a wonderful view over the action….but not in use, not sure why…maybe Covid who knows…..my pics just don’t do justice to the action happening …..due to our time we couldn’t go onto Saint John for a look at anything let alone the markets….

So on we headed…to Shediac….where we had booked our home for tonight….on the way in we had read about a Giant Lobster….and yep we found him and yep my goodness is he humongous….Kids sitting all over him…..the whole area was so very new looking around where he was…the tourist info centre was huge and very new…quaint painted little cottages selling wares etc….it looked lovely…… all around the area were huge caravan parks….and massive road works occurring making it very ugly looking….opposite to where the Lobster 🦞 is based…..
We made it to our motel…nothing flash that’s for sure,,,,but it does have a good size fridge bonus but nothing, absolutely nothing to make coffee….😫😫😫😫 looks like microwave water….crappy really but nothing we can do….

We walked over to the Asian restaurant for dinner…and honestly it was a total waste of $60…it was truly an awful meal…we couldn’t eat the dishes bought out due to the Pork dish being so tough we couldn’t chew it…and the fried rice which we paid extra to add veggies was totally tasteless….I can’t wait to start doing my own cooking so we can get some decent food into us….we are both gaining weight and it’s not for the meal sizes because we aren’t eating a lot..it just all heavy oily, or bread based foods…I feel terrible…plus we aren’t getting any exercise at all…long days in a car and no time to head out for walks even….

I know I sound negative……but other than some stunning sights…Canada is over priced and doesn’t have a good food culture…although Tim and Jess would disagree…but they are able to afford a better class of meals……we are in the lower level where to be honest good food is slop and or the fast food joints which aren’t all that bad…but heavy bread type foods….it is what it is….but travel has its upside of seeing unreal, unforgettable sights, but the down side of finding good food….guess we can’t have it all……

Ganong Brothers
July 15, 2015
On June 5th 1873, two brothers James and Gilbert (G.W) Ganong founded Ganong Bros., Limited in St. Stephen. Primarily a producer of boxed chocolates, it now provides many chocolates for Laura Secord stores. The Ganongs were descendants of Huguenots who fled persecution in France and emigrated to New Amsterdam in the second half of the 17th century, the family name “Ganong” is a corruption of the original French language name, “Guenon”.

James Harvey Ganong (January 9, 1841 – April 21, 1888) was a businessman in St. Stephen, who co-founded Ganong Bros. chocolate making company in 1873 and the St. Croix Soap Manufacturing Co. in 1878.

Born in Springfield NB, James was the eldest of the six children of Francis Daniel Ganong and Deborah Ruth Keirstead. In 1863, he married Susan E. Brittain of Saint John with whom he had seven children. His father was a farmer and a merchant and as a young man, James worked as a shopkeeper and as a travelling salesman. He lived in Massachusetts for a few years where two of his children were born. In 1873, he and his brother Gilbert moved to the border town of St. Stephen on the St. Croix River across from Calais, Maine. There, they established a grocery business and within a few years added a bakery and confectionery manufactory plus expanded their retailing to include a store in Calais. Successful, in 1878 the brothers, in partnership with Freeman H. Todd, built the St. Croix Soap Manufacturing Company but in 1884 they elected to dissolve their partnership. Gilbert Ganong retained the store, bakery and confectionery business while James took over the soap factory. The soap-making business continued to do very well and became widely known for its Surprise Soap brand that eventually was distributed nationally.

James Ganong was actively involved in community affairs and served as mayor of St. Stephen. He died unexpectedly in 1888 at the age of forty-seven upon which his son, Edwin, took over the running of the soap business. Gilbert Ganong died without issue and James’s son Arthur would take over the chocolate business. The St. Croix Soap Manufacturing Company was best known for its Surprise Soap that became a national brand which lasted until 1946. Advertising helped sell the company’s products such as the innovative 1894 publishing of The Surprise Cook Book, a recipe collection by the then widely popular American writer Marion Harland. It was formally registered as The Premium Cook Book, the title used by the American Technical Book Company who published it in the United States. The book was reprinted in 1990 by the Atlantic-New England Heritage Committee. In 1913, Edwin Ganong sold the St. Croix Soap Manufacturing Company to Lever Brothers of Toronto, Ontario, a subsidiary of the British conglomerate. Ganong became president of Lever Brothers and moved to Toronto where he remained until his death in 1944. Two years later, Lever Brothers Ltd. closed the St. Stephen plant.

Ganong Brothers Limited has been one of the Canadian chocolate industry’s most important companies. Arthur Ganong was the first to make any sort of a wrapped chocolate bar; Ganong began selling the first chocolate bars in 1910. In 1920 they began using the brand name “Pal-O-Mine” for their chocolate bar. The company also was the first to introduce a heart-shaped box of chocolates in North America. The heart-shaped boxes were originally used for presents over the Christmas season before it also succeeded around Valentine’s Day. In 1911, Ganong Bros. purchased the bankrupt White Candy Company in Saint John and operated a factory there until 1931. Ganong’s long history is showcased at its Chocolate Museum (Fr:Le Musée du Chocolat) which opened in 1999 in their old factory building in St. Stephen. Exhibits describe the Ganong brothers and the company, and include hands-on and interactive displays about the process of making chocolate and candies historically and currently, and a display of historic chocolate boxes and antique candy-making equipment. Visitors can also taste chocolate samples. The building also houses the Ganong Chocolatier company store. In conjunction with the community, the museum co-hosts the St. Stephen Chocolate Festival, which has been held since 1985. In 2000 the town was registered as “Canada’s Chocolate Town”.Read more