Memel Falls

I forgot how fun it is to go to new places! I had so much fun EXPLORING Memel Falls. No adventure is complete without going the wrong way for at least 10 minutes, right? We'll get to that later. 

One of my favourite friends was home for a visit; so after a squishy sleepover at her cottage and a yummy breakfast, we hit the road for Memel! I had heard about Memel Falls quite a few times, and I have been trying to get there for two summers now! I am so glad we did. 

It's about 20 minutes down a semi-rough road, but our Honda Civic made it, so I think you should be ok! Another thing I really like about Memel is the short and fairly easy hike to get there. It's only about 10 minutes to get to this beautiful view. 

From what I could see, the swimming hole is deep all around so there are lots of jumping options. I'm not saying it doesn't require common sense though. :)

There are ropes to climb up and a little bridge to cross to get up on the cliffs. 

This is where you'll find some good views of the three-tiered waterfall. 

And I love this view: 

The trail is a little hard to find and navigate, but if you go on a weekend, you can likely find people to guide you. We had to ask a couple of people. There is an opening before the wooden bridge that you go down:

Cross the river:

(but this view is on the way out!)

Follow some pink ribbons for about 5 minutes: 

(Also on the way out.)

until you get to the ropes to follow down to the falls. 

It was pretty busy the day we went, but we still had an awesome time.

I love my friends and I love Albert County. 

Oh, I guess I should mention that it was kind of gross in some places because people, unfortunately, don't clean up after themselves. Please leave it cleaner than you found it! FYI - no service out there! 

Enjoy! 

Saint Andrews

Saint Andrews holds a special place in my heart. I have fond memories of going there as a kid with the family. It really is a great place for a day trip with a family or without. I thought this would be a good adventure for my mom and me to do together; so on Monday, we headed out on the 2 1/2 hour drive to Saint Andrews. 

We started the day off right with "take out" from Clam Digger. Now, if I haven't already stated on here, I don't like seafood (I know, I lose MAJOR maritime points - I'm working on it), but my mom got the fish and really enjoyed it. I actually loved what I'm pretty sure was home-battered chicken fingers. From what I've gathered as a non-seafood lover, this is the place to go for some fresh, deep-fried seafood goodness.

After an extremely filling lunch, we head to the aquarium. I remember coming here as a kid and loving to touch all the creatures in the touch pool. It's a pretty cool experience! 

But since I was a kid, they made an entirely new facility that has a lot to offer: touch pools, huge tanks with seals and other underwater animals, a visual of the highest tides in the world, daily feedings of seahorses, seals, and salmon, and more! Check out all they have to offer on your trip here. 

One thing I love about Saint Andrews is the beauty of the waterfront shops and pier. Before whale watching, we did a quick tour of some local shops. I managed not to buy another beautiful mug and just came away with an underwater phone case. :) 

And now for our adventure of the day! This was only my second time going whale watching so I was pretty excited! After a final trip to the bathroom (no bathrooms on board), we headed to Fundy Tide Runners for our trip! 

We got suited up in these sweet flotation suits that I actually loved. The last time I went whale watching, I was super cold, so it was nice to be warm out on the water. Feeling like an astronaut was pretty cool, too.  After a safety talk from witty Captain Dave, we were on our way! 

We traveled on a 24 foot Zodiac. This made the journey out to the whales quick and intimate. You're really quite close to the water/whales. It was a full boat with 12 passengers - two families of four and my mom and me. It's cool being in an environment like that where you become friends with strangers for 3 hours. Dave made it easy to do so, remembering almost everyone's names and giving each kid a chance to steer the boat as we cheered them on! 

Between jokes and driving, Dave pointed out a few key landmarks. This was our "haul": 

A million (ok, like 100) seals! 

A lot of porpoises (they were hard to capture): 

East Quoddy Lighthouse: 

And a whale!! 

We saw a minke whale, affectionately called Rudolph because of his bent dorsal fin. It's so cool/impressive that Dave knows many of the whales they see, because many of them have been traveling there for over a decade. Fundy Tide Runners has been in the business for 23 years now, so they're experts! 

Even though the weather wasn't great, and we didn't see as many whales as I would have liked, it was awesome to be out on the water and see Saint Andrews and the Bay of Fundy from that vantage point. It was a really great experience hanging out with fellow travellers and seeing all kinds of wildlife. Although they don't guarantee a whale sighting, their record is almost perfect during peak season. The Friday before our trip, they saw a couple of right whales, which is one of the rarest whales in the world!  

After our whale watching adventure, we raced to Ministers Island to get there before low tide was over! Yeah, you read that right - you can only get to the island during low tide, when you can drive across the ocean floor! It's a pretty neat experience. The island is named after one of the first owners, a minister, and it has SO MUCH interesting history to take in, but I won't get into a lot of it here. 

The extremely impressive buildings on the island were owned by Sir William Van Horne, an American responsible for building the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). It was expected to take ten years to build; but under Van Horne's leadership, it was completed in five. The multi-talented man, had Covenhoven built - a 50-room summer home with walls constructed from sandstone cut from the shore, a windmill, leading edge gas plant, carriage house, garage, circular bath house and farm buildings. The centrepiece of the agricultural buildings is the livestock barn, a massive two-story timber structure with a hipped gable roof, which was home to Van Horne's thoroughbred horses and prized herd of Dutch belted cattle" (MinistersIsland.net).

Covenhoven

The living room. 

The billiard room.

The Bathhouse. 

There are also hiking trails to explore on the island, but we didn't have time to get to those today. We did see some wildlife though - horses and a deer! 

I didn't plan out my day very well, but all the timing ended working out great. I would highly recommend planning your day around the tide, feedings at the aquarium, and availability for whale watching! Or, stay overnight and you can take your time. :) 

There's really so much to do and see in Saint Andrews! You've got your quaint town, history, science, adventure, and shopping! We didn't even make it to the block house or the Kingsbrae Garden! Will have to go back again soon . . . 

*This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own! 

BYE GUYS! See you next time! 

Walton Glen Gorge

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IMPORTANT NOTE: This blog was written in 2017 and there has been construction since then. I’d like to leave the blog below as is. Call me sentimental.

To make the hike much shorter, you can come from Saint Martins and take the Fundy Trail Parkway to the “Walton Glen” stop. This has clearly marked signage and a new accessible and short path to the lookout.

To get down to the eye of the needle, Hiking NB says, “Coming back from the lookout, after about 200 meters, you will find a wide part in the trail on the right. Enter the woods on a trail off the end of the wide part. Continue straight past the first junction. If you turn right at this junction you will end up back at the lookout. At the next trail junction turn right and the trail will soon start to descend steeply down into the gorge. Follow the trail down into the gorge until you come to the stream and then follow the stream down through the gorge.”

Explore!

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What better to do on a holiday Monday than go on an off-the-grid adventure! A couple friends and I have been wanting to do this hike since last summer, so we did our research, wrote the plan in the group chat and left Moncton around 8:30 (okay, more like 9:00 - I’m usually late). 

This spot came on my radar just last summer. There are kind of two parts to it - the lookout and the "eye of the needle". I knew this hike was going to be a difficult one and it definitely lived up to it. The views were amazing and I would say it matched the effort it took to see them. :) 

It will really make you wonder if you’re in New Brunswick at many spots! 

About 20 minutes past Adair’s Lodge, we parked on the side of the road and started our trek. The first hour and a half was pretty much all on ATV trail. We found a couple of different ways to get there in our research and then got some more advice from some fellow hikers on the trail.

We meandered to a waterfall, McLeod Brook Falls, down this sweet set of stairs, then came back up to the ATV trail to get to the lookout. 

I had read to do the lookout first as you won’t want to do it after hiking all the way down to the eye, and I’m so glad we did! By the end we were exhausted and I wouldn’t want to have missed this view! It has been called the "Grand Canyon of New Brunswick" and you can see why. 

(This is the second highest waterfall in NB.)

After lunch with an amazing view, we followed the pink ribbons back down to the brook toward the Eye of the Needle. 

After a few river crossings, climbing down ropes, our “dad” friend warning us to be careful (thanks, Mark), and about 60 more mins, we made it to the Eye of the Needle. 

Obviously, this section is amazing!! But the trek down is breathtaking too! 

I’ve said it before, but I’m obsessed with rocks and water, so this was just up my alley. There was enough water to swim, so we all (except one) swam through the eye of the needle, and relaxed in the sun for a little bit. 

(PS - the water was “out of this world” freezing!!)

Over the course of the hike, we saw at least 4 waterfalls. It was really cool! 

We decided to try to “book it” out of there, and made it back to our cars in 1.75 hours. The whole venture took us 6 1/2 hours! A long and GREAT day! 

Time for the nitty gritty . . . 

There seem to be quite a few ways to get to the lookout and the eye, so do your research and have fun figuring it out! :) As always, Hiking NB has great directions and he also updated it because of the construction on the Fundy Trail. Be aware of this construction as the trail head may be in a different spot, depending on where they’re at with construction. (Can’t wait for them to finish the Fundy Trail!)

Getting to the Eye of the Needle is a very difficult and often dangerous hike. Please be careful and be prepared! 

Disclaimer: I've heard that there often isn't enough water to swim and sometimes the highest waterfall isn't running, depending when you go. 

Tips: 

• Screenshot those directions as you’ll lose service before Adair’s

• Be prepared for river crossings

• Bring a bathing suit!

• Be prepared for a long hike. :)

Here are some different options for you to experience “the gorge”. 

1. Hike just to the lookout - 1.5 hours one way (to catch the first waterfall, McLeod Brook Falls, on your way, go down the stairs in the woods to your left).

2. Hike just to the gorge - 2 hours one way

3. Hike both A and B! (what we did - 6.5 hrs total incl. breaks)

4. Hike both A and B and go about a half hour further and you will meet the ocean! (That’s what I’m told).

So thankful for a beautiful province with so much to discover. 

Quiddy Falls

This adventure was one of my last of summer 2016, but I thought I'd save sharing it for the beginning of this summer! This swimming hole is just a beauty. It's a little bit of a drive to get there, but it's worth it. 

One of my best friends and best cousins were here and I wanted to show them one of my favourite NB spots. After visiting my sister in Sussex, we headed out for an end of August swim. The hike in is only about 15 minutes and it's really quite beautiful. Some parts look enchanted! 

There are sections that are quite steep that you have to shimmy down on a rope, but where it's so short, I wouldn't say it's very difficult. I know kids around kindergarten age have been fine on it. 

It was a little overcast that day, but it was warm enough for a dip. I find the water here not super cold, compared to a lot of swimming spots (ex: Crooked Creek).

(iPhones come in handy sometimes!)

I have seen people jump from on top of the waterfall, but I can't say I'd recommend it! Seems kinda silly to me. :) But, the view from the top is really nice! It reminds me of a quarry. 

We opted to spend our time under the waterfall instead.

That's some pure joy right there! 

There's also another little waterfall before the big one - bonus! 

Sadly, I haven’t been here since they’ve redone all the roads around there for the Fundy Trail Parkway so I can’t provide up to date directions, but I’m sure they are out there somewhere!

PS - this is also known as Wallace Falls. 

Happy adventuring. 

Matthews Head

Well, there's nothing like a camping trip with a bunch of friends in one of my favourite places (Fundy National Park) to kick off summer. I have high hopes for this one being one of the best yet! A few months ago I booked an Otentik for some friends and then ended up booking a second, and the experience did not disappoint. 

After a great camping experience, a short sleep, and a morning around the campfire, we headed out to hike Matthews Head. 

I consider Matthews Head a great pre-summer trail, as you get some pretty incredible views along the coast, it's a loop, and it's a perfect length - not too short and not too long (in my opinion). If it's still too cold to swim, breathing in the ocean air is a great alternative.

The first half is downhill, which takes you to the first look out: 

Make sure you don't miss it - you have to go left at a fork. 

The trail has a bit of history attached to it as well. It is named after Tom and Ellen Matthews, who settled there in 1865. The first section of the trail is an old wagon road that brings you to what looks like the foundation of a 19th century homestead. If you keep your eyes peeled, you'll find it semi-hidden in the grass on the right a little bit before the first lookout pictured above. 

About 2/3 of the way, you get a good look at Squaw's Cap and the rugged Fundy coastline. 

The trail also takes you through a few different kinds of forest.

This section is probably my favourite: 

And of course, the second half is mostly uphill and gets a little steep at the end, but all in all, it's not too challenging - about 1 1/2-2 hours. And there's nothing wrong with taking a break at some red chairs! 

How's that for candid? ;) 

So, next time you're in Fundy, check out Matthews Head!