Moncton to Bathurst

We were up a little later than planned last night. We had to catch Conan O'Brien's debut on the tonight show which lasted until 1:30. So we were not up quite as early as hoped. We had a great included breakfast at the hotel and hit the road.

Here is a better picture of our car.

Our first stop was the K. C. Irving Eco-Centre on a giant sand dune near Bouctouche where we took a long walk on the boardwalk. There was also a long hiking trail back to Bouctouche. We didn't plan to take it, but decided to take a short walk along it. We were soon swarmed by mosquitoes and were glad we were not doing the whole trip.

From the beach we could see this wind farm on Prince Edward Island. We will visit there later in the trip.

From there it was just a short jaunt up the coast to Kouchibouguac National Park. Although the main feature here is another dune, it is a much bigger park with a wide variety of terrain. We toured the dunes and beach, then drove through the park and out the north end on a secondary road. The villages and residences on this route were very proudly Acadian, painting Acadian colours and symbols on telephones poles and other items and flying Acadian flags.

We stopped in Miramichi for supper, then pressed on to Bathurst for the night. We tried to get a McLobster at McDonald's based on more than one recommendation, but we were disappointed to learn that they are a seasonal item and won't be out until later in the summer. Boo Hoo!

Weather started out clear and sunny, but clouded over as the day wore on. It was near 20 degrees, but quite windy. Everything is very green. The sides of the roads are lined with trees, so you think you are in a forested area the whole time, but who knows what is behind that row of trees.