Day 4 - Saint John, NB Part 1

Feeling better today, thanks to Buckley's liquid gels, Vick's VapoRub, Fisherman's Friends lozenges and about 48 hours of sleep over the past 4 nights and afternoon naps.  I made it through the entire workday without feeling the need to crash under my desk for respite. (Not that I've ever done that....oh wait there was that one time...).

This is going to photo heavy post, so I'll break it into two parts.  First, Saint John itself and the second part, the excursion to Saint Martins.

We arrived late evening on September 20 in Saint John New Brunswick, about 11 p.m.  Once the ship was cleared, guests were able to disembark.  I don't if anyone did...I was fast asleep.

The following morning, I did a wander on the ship with my camera. I bought a new zoom lens from my camera this summer and I appreciate it's ability to zoom in on objects in the distance. 

The sign is to the left of the tall building in this second photo, and I was on deck 15 of the ship.

I found it interesting that the heliport has lighthouses.  I wonder if they aren't simply decorative.  

These houses/townhouses were so pretty. I love the architecture and their location near the water.  

Later I had breakfast with Conna before she left for her excursion at 8 a.m.  My excursion was scheduled for 9:30 so I puttered around for bit for a bit before I headed down to the lounge to wait for the call to disembark. 

We made our way through the terminal to waiting buses.  Our bus had 44 passengers plus our guide, Barbara and driver, Joey.  Both were wonderful ambassadors of Saint John.  Barbara was especially knowledgeable and brought a basket full of items for "show and tell".

Our first stop on the excursion was Reversing Falls.  Barbara suggesting it should be the reversing river, since there is an underwater cliff not visible from the river's edge.  The Saint John river empties into the Bay of Fundy, however when the tides in the Bay are at high tide, it actually stops the flow of the water from the river and reverses the flow.  It's truly amazing to see in person.  Here are several photos from the morning stop.

We had about 15 minutes at this stop before we left the city for the drive to Saint Martins. (see part 2)

When we returned to Saint John that afternoon, we had a stop at the market.

Barbara explained that all the hanging artwork was created by the elementary school children in celebration of Canada 150. Later this year the artwork will be auctioned off with the funds benefiting charity.  What an awesome idea!

Pretty pumpkins!  

And less pretty (at least to me) is the live crustaceans available for sale.














I made a quick dash through the market before heading over to King's Park and the Loyalist graveyard. 

This structure is a two-tiered gazebo.  I can imagine it must be fun when there are activities going on in the park.

This is a lousy photo of the cemetery due to the lighting but it was pretty clear the stones were old.

None that I saw were legible.












The gates that bordered the graveyard were gorgeous, but I bet at night, it would be very spooky!  Great place on Halloween, perhaps.  

We only had about 20-30 minutes so it was hurry up and get a few photos and get back to the bus for our return to the Saint John River.  
Before the bus stopped at the site, there was an audible gasp from the passengers.  The river truly was flowing in the opposite direction.  Obviously photos don't do it justice, but I think the distinct change in color is the result of silt flowing back into the river.

We only had a very brief stop, as it was nearing 3 p.m. and all-aboard was 3:30 p.m. with sail-away shortly after.  

As we left the port we received a salute from the pilot boat. 

It was a fantastic day, sunny and warm, and so very interesting.  I definitely plan to return some day to explore this beautiful province.  A day was simply not enough time.