Eastern Canadian scenery

What we've seen so far of Eastern Canada is beautiful. Maybe it’s partly the fact that everything is green, the flowers are blooming, and the weather is mild enough that I can believe summer is coming, but it’s also that there is a natural beauty here that hasn't been erased by urbanity.

 Quebec, east from Montreal to Riviere du Loup, is a mixture of rolling farmland, and trees, with plenty of small rivers, and the St. Lawrence River, widening as it heads eastward until it resembles a small ocean (and then becomes a part of it). The scenery is dotted with farms notable by their silos, and towns, identifiable even through the trees by their church steeple. At first glance it appears that much of the land has been tamed by human hands, but it doesn't take much looking to find natural wilderness.

For example, the walking trail from our campground took us on a one kilometer loop through the woods, down to a lovely little creek, where the kids found slugs to examine and sticks to beat on each other with. It felt like we could be in the middle of nowhere – except I could still hear the highway traffic.

Turning right at Riviere du Loup, the scenery changes rather abruptly as you climb in elevation, away from the St. Lawrence. The farms disappear, giving way to forest as Quebec gives way to New Brunswick. The highway travels through land that reminiscent of northern Alberta or BC, full of trees & rocks and very alpine feeling. High chain link fences on the edge of the highway (just like the ones in Banff National Park) and plenty of Moose signs added to the similarity. I kept looking at the horizon, expecting to see mountains. But instead of those towering behemoths, there were low hills covered in more trees. 

Occasionally the trees would part briefly and a sparkling river or lake would flash by. The land here is full of running water, and eventually the highway tracks along another widening river – the St. John. The river heads south, and so the highway travels between it and the border of Maine for quite a ways before the river and it turn east, towards the coast. Much of the drive, the land appeared to be empty of people, but they are just hidden by the sea of trees. Communities would rise up from the forest, only to be hidden again in a curtain of green.

The St. John River carves the land in this area of New Brunswick, and we took a brief stop to enjoy the waterfalls at Grand Falls, and then camp along the shores of the widening river. At Woodstock (the oldest town in NB), the river is calm and wide. The hills on either side of the river are full of acreages, flowering trees and green expanses (and more trees, of course); all in all, a very serene place to just sit and absorb the scenery. Continuing towards the coast (on hwy 7), the densely treed landscape slowly slopes down to the ocean, and the highway and river part ways for a while. And then, all of a sudden the river is back; just before the expanse of the Bay of Fundy appears. 

Wow. 

Time to explore...