Celebrate my 30th birthday

Cookies & cream from Halo Donuts

Well I didn't end up doing anything on my actual birthday which I'll get to below but for the third year in a row my cousin Julianne and I went on a road trip for the weekend to 'celebrate'. This year we went to New Brunswick to do a few things in the province I haven't done before. 

We left from Truro on July 15 to cross the border. This day was our busiest as we made our way to the Hopewell region. Our first stop was in Moncton at the Bass Pro Shops store which was huge. For lunch we had a donut from Halo Donuts and we sat in the park across the street as it had some shade from the very warm sunny day. Then we made our way to the New Brunswick Railway Museum which is in the small town of Hillsborough. Every time I visit these kinds of museums, I always appreciate that I am living now as it amazes me how people lived over a hundred years ago. This museum was housed in multiple buildings while they also had some trains and an airplane out on the grounds. In the big barn visitors are able to go inside a few of the train cars to see what old ones looked like. 

Overview of Hopewell Rocks

Afterwards, we drove to the Ponderosa Pines campground where we were staying and set up the site before heading to Hopewell Rocks. Just like Nova Scotia has Burntcoat Head, NB has Hopewell Rocks where you can walk on the ocean floor at low tide. Hopewell is a bigger property than Burntcoat but the tide doesn't seem to go out as far from the cliff so that was a bit disappointing. We would've probably only stayed for half an hour but I got a nosebleed while we were walking around. It was cool to see the arch. My cousin is able to make a fire so we had hot dogs and s'mores for supper which was nice. 

Lighthouse at Cape Enrage

The next day we drove to Fundy National Park but slowly as check in wasn't until 3pm (though I thought it was at 2 o'clock). We made a couple of stops along the way including the Sawmill Creek Bridge and Cape Enrage lighthouse. That evening we were going to hike one of the trails in the park after we checked in but my legs were too sore from bug bites. I had received like 35 bites on both my knees and both ankles and for some reason they swelled up so it was painful to walk. Even though we had booked for two nights at the park, we checked out after just one because my plan was to do walking so we just cut our losses. If you don't like using tents or know how but don't want to spend the money for a hotel, I recommend going to a national park that has an oTENTik. They are wood a-framed structures that have beds and can sleep up to six people with a table inside. 

Me in a train car 

Looking out at the Bay from Funday National Park

On the Monday, we decided to drive the Fundy Trail Parkway however it was raining and foggy still by the time we arrived at the entrance. You have to pay to drive the parkway so we decided not to go through and turn around to drive home a day early. 

Summer to remember list

- Celebrate my 30th birthday ✓

- Walk on the ocean floor at Hopewell Rocks ✓