This page is about a tour that we took from Saint John, located on the Bay Of Fundy, & then to St. Martins, in the Canadian Providence of New Brunswick.

Of all of the tours that we took in Canada, this was the most second interesting and beautiful. We can certainly recommend it!

We wish to thank Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for much of the information we obtained about this area.

St. Martins was first settled in 1783 by a group of loyalist soldiers known as the King`s Orange Rangers. They had originated in Orange and Duchess Counties New York and were disbanded at Halifax. New Brunswick was, at that time part of `New Scotland` or Nova Scotia.

The original name of St. Martins, was `Goolwagagek`* A Micmac Word meaning 'haunt of the hooded seal', according to DeMoulles map of 1686. Over many years it was translated as 'Araquaki'. Later translations of the name produced Roquaque and finally by 1762 it appeared on a map (presently in the Library of Massachusetts Historical Society) as Quaco. It has remained unchanged ever since that time.

The newly settled community was christened St. Martins by one of the original grantees - Matthias Moran after his ancestral province in France. Matthias Moran was the founder of the prolific Moran Shipbuilding family. This family together with the Vaughan family accounted for greatest number of vessels built at St. Martin`s yards. An additional thirty-seven families are considered major builders of St. Martins vessels. This small village was to become the third largest producer of wooden sailing vessels along the eastern seaboard of North America.

The first of the more than 500 vessels built at St. Martins was launched in 1803 and named the RACHEL. The last vessel was launched in 1919 and named the SELINA K. GOLDMAN. When the days building sailing vessels ended, many men who comprised the talented workforce of the village found employment at the Saint John Shipbuilding Company where they used their expertise in shipbuilding to produce the great modern commercial and naval vessels used today. The last vessels on which St. Martins men shipbuilders were involved were the Halifax Class Frigates built for the Canadian Navy in the 1990`s.

The unique architecture of the village was, in many instances copied from European buildings, the detailed designs of which were brought back by sea captains and incorporated into their own homes in St. Martins.

A disastrous fire on May 31 1900 destroyed over 68 buildings in the village. Many of these homes were the finest examples of Victorian architecture to be found anywhere.

After almost 200 years of history; the community of St. Martins was finally incorporated by an Act of the New Brunswick Legislature on November 9, 1967.

Tourism is now the major industry. Today it's become a sightseers delight. Points of interest include St. Martins twin covered bridges, the only place in the world where two covered bridges and a lighthouse can be photographed during the same visit.

Other sights of great interest are: miles of unspoiled beaches, fresh and salt water fishing, an active harbor,sea caves, Anvil Rock, and the salt water marshes just to name a few. And is `The Gateway to the Fundy Trail .

It is reached by taking the Fundy Coast Drive out of Saint John, heading east. It is an easy drive of about an hour.

Taking the Fundy Coast Drive out of Saint John, heading east, brings you to the town of St. Martins, a charming little village, also located on the Bay of Fundy coast. As I have earlier mentioned, it was settled in 1783 and it originally was the site of ship building and shipping. Today it's become a sightseers delight. To drive to St. Martins you exit off route 1 just 18 miles past the Saint John airport via route 111. From Sussex, St. Martins is only 28 miles along route 111 west. From Bangor it takes about 4 1/2 hours.

A brief description of the tour is:

Less than an hour away from Saint John is the picturesque fishing village of St. Martins, a beautiful window through which to take a peek at life in New Brunswick.

During our scenic drive to St. Martins, our local guide entertained us with fascinating folklore about the village, including the thriving shipbuilding era of bygone days.

Upon our arrival at St. Martins, we stoped at the harbor and witnessed the effects of the extreme high and low tides of the Bay of Fundy. It takes a total of six hours for the tide to come in and six hours also for the tide to go out. This area is a favorite with artists, with its lighthouse, lobster traps, and fishing boats, creating a charming scene. We strolled over the covered bridge and explored this working harbor.

After a light lunch of delicious seafood chowder at the beach restaurant; we enjoyed a walk along the beach; where time and tides have carved echoing caves in the sandstone cliffs.

On the beach the local guide showed us a rock with a light colored line all the way around the middle of it. Folklore has it that when you possess such a rock, you make a wish. When the wish comes true � you then pass the rock on to someone else. This type of rock is called a �wish rock.� Everyone had a great time scouring the beaches searching for a coveted �wish rock.� Fortunately Eve DeLange found several.

She plans to give them to family members for Christmas.

We then took a brief tour of the City of Saint John and spent about a half hour in the farmers market, known as, the Saint John City Market.

Saint John City Market:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Designated as a NHSC 1986.

Established 1785.

Year built 1876.

The Saint John City Market is the oldest continuing farmer's market in Canada, with a charter dating from 1785. Located in Saint John, New Brunswick and completed in 1876, the current market building has a unique roof structure that resembles an inverted ship's keel. Made of wooden trusses, the structure was reportedly built by unemployed ship carpenters of the day. Also, the floor slopes with the natural grade of the land. The architecture is in the Second Empire style.

Some of the businesses in the market have been operating continuously there for more than 100 years. Facing onto Kings Square, the market is connected to the city's indoor pedway system.

The market was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1986.

In the market we were introduced to Dulse (Palmaria palmata).
Dulse is made of a red algae with leathery fronds (leaves). It is collected by hand by harvesters plucking it from the rocks at low tide. It is perennial and when either plucked or cut, new growth appears from the edge of the previous season's leaf. It is harvested mainly in Ireland and the shores of the Bay of Fundy in eastern Canada, and is especially abundant around Grand Manan Island, situated in the Bay of Fundy, in a line with the Canadian-United States of America border between New Brunswick and Maine. The harvest season here is from mid-May to mid-October. After picking, the seaweed is laid out to sun dry for 6-8 hours; if the weather is not suitable, it can be stored in seawater for a few days, but it soon deteriorates. Whole dulse is packed for sale in plastic bags, 50 g per bag. Inferior dulse, usually because of poor drying, is broken into flakes or ground into powder for use as a seasoning; sometimes it is added to corn chips. In Nova Scotia and Maine, dried dulse is often served as a salty cocktail snack and bar owners often offer it free - it induces thirst.

Dulse is a good source of minerals, being very high in iron and containing all the trace elements needed in human nutrition. Its vitamin content is also much higher than a vegetable such as spinach. In Canada, one company has cultivated it in land-based systems (tanks) and promotes it as a sea vegetable with the trade name "Sea Parsley".

Click on our link to: Maple Cookies & Maple Syrup to try some Dulse. No obligation to buy, of course!

Before we had traveled to St. Martins; we had spent about an hour at the Reversing Falls on the Saint John River located in Saint John. We observed this area from the parking lot in Fallsview Park, Saint John, New Brunswick. It was here that we had our first taste of Dare Maple Syrup, Maple leaf Cookies. Cookies To Die For! See our link to Amazon on this page and order some for yourself!

The Reversing Falls are a series of rapids on the Saint John River located in Saint John, New Brunswick where the river runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy.

The diurnal tides of the bay force the flow of water to reverse against the prevailing current at this location when the tide is high, although in the spring freshet, this is frequently surpassed by the downstream volume of water. The rapids, or "falls", are created by a series of underwater ledges which roil the water in either direction, causing a significant navigation hazard, despite the depth of water. As a result, vessels wishing to enter or exit from the river must wait for slack tide.