| We travelled south through New Brunswick although it
is only about 30 miles to the US border. We had a bit of a queue to get in
from St Stephen to Calais. This is the 5th busiest crossing between Canada
and the US but only has two people on. We had a bit of a circular
conversation, Do you own the camper, Where do you live, repeat, but it got
sorted fairly quickly. Then it was the fruit police to confiscate our
oranges and lemons and we were through. |  |
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We stopped at the visitor centre to get a map of Maine and spotted this
artistic tractor trailer. Then onward through some pretty empty country.
They were trying to improve the road, they had stripped it but..... |
| So down to Bar Harbour and Acadia National park seen
here on a model. Bar Harbour is the yellow bit at 3-4 o'clock. The increase
in traffic was really marked in the last ten miles. It seems few Americans
go north of Bar Harbour. |  |
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We elected to take the bus tour given that all the buses were free. It
should keep the traffic down more than it does. We were picked up at the
campsite and changed buses at the visitor centre. We stopped at an Sieur de
Monts Spring area where they had created a wild garden with over a dozen
different habitats. Gardening here must be a nightmare because a natural
plant one side of the path is a weed on the other. This is Bog Cranberry. |
| This is the wetland habitat with water lilies in
profusion. |  |
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Also at this site is a small museum (Abbe) of native American archaeological
finds and dioramas of the seasons and the various tribes who inhabited the
area. This one represents the Niponiw (now part of the Passamaquoddy tribe)
in summer. |
| There is quite a collection of arrowheads dating from
different periods, also another collection of axes. But they only classified
them as middle and late archaic (9500-3000 years ago), Susquehana, and
early, middle and late ceramic (3000 to 500 years ago). |  |
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We caught the next bus along and went round the coast. By now it was raining
heavily and looking pretty miserable. The views were similar to those we saw
round Cape Breton on the Cabot Trail. We decided to head into Bar Harbour
and a bit of shelter. This was not a day for walking the hills. |
| Bar Harbour is a busy tourist trap. But where else
could you buy clocks like these. We liked the 'Retired' clock with only the
12, and the 'Sex' clock (not shown) with only the 6. |  |
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The harbour was full of the usual collection of small fishing craft and
small yachts and cruisers. |
| Of course there were a couple that were not so small.
We are now in civilisation and you don't need a passport. This one seemed a
little excessive though with two skidoos and another boat on top and a
derrick to launch them. The one below was rather more impressive. We
caught it going out although it was rather more distant by the time all the
sails were up. (Digital zooms tend to pixelate.) |  |
| The campsite had its own totem pole/statue. This is
Glooscap, part of the whispering giants series. |  |
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So onward southwards, passing Fort Knox (not shown) and the power station at
Searsport across the river from it. This is the Penobscot river and was
where the unsuccessful Penobscot Expedition took place in 1779. The
Americans failed to take Fort George from the British. |
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And over the newly opened cable stay bridge. The 420ft tower has on top an
observation tower accessible from the fort. The new bridge replaces the
Waldo-Hancock bridge built in 1931 which will eventually be dismantled. |
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| We also found a model boatyard where they make a
number of kits to build boats. The kits are excellent but quite expensive
and would take hundreds of hours to complete. This is a Bluenose model
imported from the far east. It is one of the best we have seen but it is
nearly 50 in long and high. Getting it home would be a problem. |  |
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