St Andrews, New Brunswick – High Tides and Small Town
Posted by: Brian in Everyday Living
On August 11, 2009 we arrived in St Andrews, New Brunswick in Canada. We stayed at the Kiwanis Oceanfront Camping Park with a wonderful view of the ocean. The passage into Canada from Maine was uneventful except for the fact that pepper spray (aka mace) that was not marked for animals is classified as a weapon in Canada and cannot pass across the border. We had read what “could and could not” be brought into Canada and knew there was a possibility that the pepper spray could be a potential problem. Now the Providence of New Brunswick has 3 new bottles of pepper spray to use.
Another issues we thought we may have was the produce in our motor home. In Bar Harbor, Maine we gave one of the other campers half of a bag of potatoes because they were on the “no no” list for importing into Canada. After we had to surrender the mace to the border patrol, I guess they thought we were so honest that they would not search the entire motor home so we could have kept my potatoes and stocked up on some other foods that we discovered were outrageously priced in Canada.
There was a limit on dairy, meats and beverages that could be imported into Canada so we did not stock up on food before we left Maine- which was a BIG mistake. After arriving at our campground Tuesday we rode into St. Andrews to see the town, exchange some US dollars for Canadian money, and pickup a few groceries. One good thing is that we were lucky with the exchange rate was in our favor, one US dollar was worth $1.07 in Canadian money. In Canada they have a one dollar coin (loonie), a two dollar coin (toonie), a penny, nickel, dime and quarter in addition to $5, $10, and $20 bills. The bills are brightly colored and the coins are thicker and heavier than the US coins.
We went into the only grocery store that we had seen since arriving in Canada which was called St. Andrews Save Easy, which we thought would mean good savings, unfortunately we had the wrong idea. The metric system is used in Canada so the shopping trip was really interesting, the milk was in a 4 Liter jug, the grapes were priced per kilogram and some things came in smaller packaging so you could not compare the prices to American prices. Here are some examples of price differences in Canada, the 4 liters of milk was $6.91, the grapes were $7.25 per kilogram and chicken was over $10 per pound (once converted into pounds). Four liters is slightly over one gallon. Zachary and Carson will be learning the metric system so we can calculate prices in the grocery store for the rest of our stay in Canada. We purchased chips in the half price bin and skipped chicken and other produce because of the prices; we really thought the loaf of bread was cheap for $2.00 until we discover it had less slices as the bread that we normally purchase in the US. We joked and said that it may be cheaper to eat out in Canada than to buy groceries and we may also lose some additional weight if we eat lighter for the next five weeks.
The boys had to get into bed early on Tuesday night because Godwin Academy started on Wednesday, August 12, 2009. The nightly routine was worse than usual because St Andrews is one hour ahead of the Eastern Time Zone so they technically lost an hour of sleep.
On Wednesday, August 12, 2009, we officially started home school which was a week later then we had wanted due to the books arriving late in Maine. We got started around 8:30 am after waffles and milk for breakfast. The schedule allowed for us to teach straight through lunch and stop around 12:30. Zachary and Carson study similar lessons as they did at Veritas, which includes- math, English/ grammar, Wordly Wise, Spelling, History, Science and Bible. The classes are in 30-45 minute increments along with some additional reading time before bed. Once our routine is more definite we will start school around 7:45 each morning and end around 12:30- 1:00 with extra time after lunch for any subject that may need additional time or review. Carson is learning new words each week and he is learning to site read in addition to his phonograms that he learned at Veritas. Zachary will be contributing to the blog soon as his weekly writing lesson.
Both boys worked well for the first two hours and then we had what as supposed to be a stretch break but it turned into over a one hour science and natural walk. In this area the tide goes out so far that you can walk what seems like forever from the normal shoreline before the water is deeper than your ankles. The water level in St. Andrews changes about 25ft each tide change. This walk was fun for everyone especially getting to see all the native sea creatures in the tide pools. We saw jelly fish, starfish, crab, seal, mussels, sea urchins, sea plants and grasses. Bella enjoyed the walk too because she got to play in the water and eat barnacles that were attached to the rocks. The sea floor was made up of dark pink colored rocks instead of sand along with rocks of all shapes and sizes.
When we arrived back to the motor home and washed off the mud from our walk we finished up our lessons for the day and had lunch. After lunch we decided to take a bike ride into town to allow the kids to play at a park that we noticed as we rode through town on Tuesday. Once at the park the boys found some other boys, from Ontario, to play with and enjoyed a couple hours of hide and go seek.
After the bike ride we rode further into town to find a place called Tim Horton’s, which we had seen in several New England towns. Tim Horton’s is like Dunkin Donuts which more pastries, sandwiches and soups. We enjoyed some Timbits (donut holes) and the boys each had a donut. We still miss Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee.
The rest of the afternoon into the night was spent researching our upcoming stops in Canada and talking with some people that we met that were from North Carolina and South Carolina who were doing the same route we are traveling but backwards. They were very helpful with campground resources, places to eat and things to see while traveling through Canada; they had really done their research!
Since there are no street lights the stars were beautiful on Wednesday night. The lighthouse could also be seen in addition to other blinking lights in the distance. The faint smell of the ocean water and the amazing stars made for a nice walk with the Bella before bed. On Thursday we left St Andrews heading to Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick to visit the Fundy National Park for more hiking, biking and enjoying nature.
St. Andrews will be remembered as our best view at a campsite spot. Look at the pictures to see for yourself.
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That was quite a view! And I liked all the sea critters.
I’ve been to St. Andrews and enjoyed my visit. Nice little town. There’s a very good restaurant with a great view, can’t remember the name, and a nice resort. First time I was in the area, I went to Wal-mart in Cailis, Maine (border crossing), and a moose was kicking cars in the parking lot…
Phillips Family, good to hear from you. St. Andrews was certainly a nice little town. We didn’t stay long but had a great view of the water from our camp spot. Thanks for keeping in touch.