You enter New Brunswick from Québec almost surreptitiously, through the back end of Campbellton, a largish town that looks hard away from its neighbour. And yet soon it is as if you have never left Québec, as you drive through Acadia-ville, with its flags and utility poles painted Acadian colours.

At first the Acadian Coastal Drive was charming, but in the end it just was too much of the same good thing — sea and little houses and flags and peat bogs and fish for sale and more fish for sale.

The boring bore of Moncton

So we turned towards Moncton. In 1954, Nicholas Monserrat wrote that traffic in this town was a snarl-up. It still is, 43 years later. We wrestled our way through and did our laundry. Then we waited for the famous Moncton Tidal Bore. We waited, armed with cameras and camcorder, along with a score of other eager spectators, standing above the muddy banks of the river. Finally a ripple moved slowly upstream and slightly disturbed a duck. This was the famous, but boring, bore! They tell us it was once much more impressive. Hmmmm.

I wanted to experience Magnetic Hill the next day, so we stayed at Magnetic Hill Campground. Bad mistake!

Magnetic Hill

Magnetic Hill, at 8.30am on a drizzly morning, was deserted and fun. We got to go twice. It cost us $2! Apparently if you get there even earlier, or late at night, you get to go free, but I thought it was worth $2! For those who've never heard of Magnetic Hill, it is a stretch of road where an optical illusion gives you the feeling that your vehicle is rolling uphill when put into neutral. It does too!

On to Fundy National Park, where we camped at Wolfe Point as the rain began to pour. I'd brought firewood. We weren't allowed to have a fire. Ho hum...