Roger Kenner
Montreal, Qc,
Canada 2002
| St. John: Balmoral Court Motel in the Fog |
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We awoke at 08:00 and I quickly dressed to go out to fetch some of the free 'continental breakfast' that was offered by the motel: Muffins, toast and coffee. I brought these back to the cabin, we sat inside at the small kitchen table and enjoyed them. We got ourselves ready slowly. I had to unpack and repack all the bike gear, stowing it in the suitcases for the trip home and bringing out all of my street clothes.
It was not until 11:00 when we got on our way. Sheryl’s stop at the Tourist Information Office the day before had armed her with a comprehensive list of places she wanted to check out:
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Charlotte Street. 25 United Bk. Exch. Union Street 160 Loyalist City Coins 196 Book Broker Canterbury Street 11 Shaka's Haven herbal 15 Book Trellis 55 Red House Bookshop |
Prince Edward Street 105 Scholar's Den Antique Auction: Viewing: 1-2 1460 Monawagonish |
| Back and Forth Around St. John | |
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| (Map Removed from this Lite-version.) |
Our first destination of the day was to be the Irving Nature Park, an entire local peninsula and marsh left in its natural state. We would spend from 11:00 until 14:30 there. Around the motel it had been foggy. It remained foggy as we descended the hill and found our way along the back streets to the nature park. Fog enveloped the beach where we stopped on the causeway leading out to the peninsula. We spent some time at the beach, taking a walk together. Just on our approach to the beach area, Sheryl had noticed lots of wild rose bushes in full bloom and wanted to return to get rose petals.
| St. John: Irving Nature Park Beach in the Fog. | |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Beach in the Fog. | St. John: Irving Nature Park Sheryl Picking Shells on Beach |
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We proceeded to drive around the park peninsula, making a number of stops. We soon came into a sunny portion, though we could see the fog still hanging back over the inner bay and the city. We had some climbs out on the rocks. We stopped at a rocky cove. We took a walk out on the marsh boardwalk at the high tide. We came to a big bar-b-q stop where we were high above the water and could see the fog bank clearly. Finally, completely around the peninsula, we stopped at the sunny side of the causeway beach. The far end of the causeway was still deep in fog.
| Irving Nature Park |
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| (Map Removed from this lite-version.) |
| St. John: Irving Nature Park Tidal Mud Flats |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Looking out towards Open Ocean |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Sheryl in the Trees |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Fog Bank Offshore |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Sheryl on the Beach |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park | |
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| On the Rocks | Plants on the Rocks |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Venus Flytraps |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Rocky Promontory & Fog Bank towards City |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Marsh Boardwalk at High Tide |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Looking East across Marsh at High Tide Fog Bank over City |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Looking East along Beach Fog Bank over City |
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At 14:30 we drove back into town, from the sunshine back into the dense fog. We made a second stop at the Reversing Falls. It was now 15:00 and the 'falls' were going in the opposite direction, with the massive tidal surge heading inland through the gap.
| St. John: Reversing Falls: Tide Coming In |
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| Compare with Evening Before |
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| St. John: Reversing Falls: Tide Coming In: Upstream |
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| Compare with Evening Before |
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| St. John: Reversing Falls: Signs of the Old Bridge | ||
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| St. John: Reversing Falls: Incoming Current at High Tide |
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My curiosity piqued, it was time to respond to Sheryl’s. We drove out to the other end of Manawaganish Boulevard, past our motel, to an Antique auction, which we checked out from 15:20 to 16:00. I was bored after a few minutes and so left Sheryl to explore while I hiked over to the edge of the cliff, to get a great encompassing photo shot of the Irving Park peninsula below.
| St. John: View over Lowlands from Monawagamish Rd. |
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| St. John: View of Irving Nature Park from Monawagamish Rd. |
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| St. John: Walkabout: Tiny House |
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We took a walking tour to explore the Old Town's most interesting architecture. We walked south along Geramin Street (the street below the market, which was closed on Sundays) and then back along Canturbury Street.We were back at the car by 18:00.
| Downtown |
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| (Map removed from this lite-version.) |
| St. John: Walkabout: Church Spire in Fog |
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| St. John: Walkabout: Church |
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| St. John: Walkabout: Church |
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| St. John: Walkabout: St. John Synagoque |
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Sheryl was not done at the beach. She wanted to pick some wild roses from outside the park, so we drove back over and I hiked down to the beach, now beset by both fog and dusk, while Sheryl picked. We were both happy. It was now low tide and the whole beach had an eerie look about it. From the water's edge, it was impossible to see the car through the thick fog.
| St. John: Irving Nature Park Beach in Evening Fog |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Beach in Evening Fog |
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| St. John: Irving Nature Park Looking Towards the Car in the Evening Fog |
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We drove, then, back into town once more. We had decided to have dinner at a seafood place on Water Street, right across from the music tent of the Festival-by-the-Sea. We got there at 19:00, but had to squeeze into the one remaining table outside, and then wait a long time for service. We had a great meal of steamers, lobster bisque, lobster, clams & mussels and wine, all the while listening to the 'Men of the Deeps' in concert. The city was still wrapped in fog and everything was damp. Electric heaters had been set up outside to keep us warm.
On the way back to the motel, we stopped at Tim Horton's to get a caffeine night cap.
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