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Travel to New Brunswick with David Wickers

These days it’s rare to find a destination that’s easy to reach (a six or so hour flight from Heathrow), is as big as Scotland, has wonderful natural sights, delicious food and interesting places to stay, yet one that few Brits have even heard of, let alone would be able to find on the map.

Welcome to New Brunswick, one of the Maritime Provinces on the eastern seaboard of Canada. I flew there a few weeks ago, accompanying a group of British travel writers (see photo!) who were keen to see just what this little known province has to offer their readers.

We flew there with Air Canada via Halifax in Nova Scotia, followed by a short hop to St John. Our first two nights were spent in the delightful seaside resort of St Andrews at the west end of the province, close to the US border with Maine. First settled by loyalists, who swore allegiance to King George III rather than the American revolutionaries, it’s long been a popular retreat from the heat for city folk - not only from Montreal and Toronto but also from Boston and New York.

We spent one night in the Fairmont Algonquin, the 120 year old, mock Tudor old railway hotel, oozing with character, another in the Rossmount, an 18-room inn owned by a Swiss chef which has, not surprisingly, a superb restaurant drawing on produce from local fishermen and farmers, plus an enormous vegetable plot.

New Brunswick is a wonderful place for soft adventures. From St Andrews we zipped off by Zodiac – hence that photo of me and the journalists swaddled in Guantanamo orange survival suits – on a whale watching trip with Fundy Tide Runners and were rewarded with sightings of two Minkes.

Day three was a cross country drive on roads described by one of the journalists as being “as quiet as a Christmas Day.” We stopped at Kings Landing, an authentic recreation of a 19th century village, complete with costumed characters going about their traditional ways and original historic buildings, and had lunch in the capital, Fredericton, famously home to Lord Beaverbrook and well stocked with historic sites and museums . Our night was spent on the thickly wooded banks of the Miramichi River, one of the best in the world for salmon (as fished by a celebrity hotlist that includes Marilyn Monroe and Prince Charles). Eight of us went a’casting and eight of us caught nothing but big fibs, but the experience – led by a guide who taught us how to cast (and pray) – was memorable. Some of us stayed in the Pond’s Resort, others in O’Donnell’s, both similar in style (rustic lodges beside the water, with log fires, kitchen facilities and a choice of one to three bedrooms), plus restaurants.

The third leg of our tour took us down the east coast of New Brunswick, which is fringed by beautiful sandy beaches, the waters as warm as southern England on a summer’s day, and spiked by huge sand spits and barrier islands inhabited by scores of seals and seabirds. We got up close and personal to both aboard an enormous voyageur canoe in the Kouchibouguac National Park, later followed by a boardwalk hike along the Dune de Bouctouche.

This French speaking part of the province is the traditional home of the Acadians who were originally thrown out of Canada by British colonialists in a shameful act of ethnic cleansing. There’s even a mock French heritage village, Le Pays de la Sagouine, showcasing New Brunswick’s Gallic roots in a lighthearted ‘ooo la la’ style with ribald humour and foot tapping bands. We stayed in Moncton at Maison Tait, a 9-room, Queen Anne style grand maison in seaside Shediac with, again, another passionate chef.

One of the all time highlights of our one week trip was a morning spent kayaking around the Hopewell Rocks which have been eroded by the sea into the shape of flower pots. The Bay of Fundy experiences the highest tides in the world, with the difference between high and low water being as much as a four story house. We then headed to Cape Enrage for incredible sea views and sea food served in a new restaurant that forms part of the historic lighthouse.

After a short hike along one of the trails in the Fundy National Park we returned to Shediac for a ‘Lobster Tails’ cruise on the Bay. The skipper, in between nautical matters, demonstrated the art of trapping these leggy crustaceans, explained how lobsters walk, mate and end up in the lobster pot, told us how they should be cooked and showed us all how we should eat the ones we were about to be served. And very delicious they were too, though we all wished we’d paid more attention to the ways of shell cracking.

IF YOU'D LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS FACINATING PART OF CANADA, PLEASE CONTACT US VIA EMAIL OR CALL 020 7483 6555.

FOR A COPY OF OUR CANADA TAILOR-MADE BROCHURE, PLEASE CLICK HERE

David Wickers' recent trip to Oman

Bridge & Wickers Director David Wickers recently travelled to Oman - read his report here

Free wedding in the Seychelles!

La Reserve Hotel, a 40 room family-owned property in Praslin, Seychelles is now offering a Free Basic Wedding Package including:


• Free Dressed Location
• Free Bottle of Sparkling Wine
• Free Wedding Cake
• Free Wedding Coordinator

The happy couple are entitled to a Special Seafood Dinner & ½ Carafe of wine on their Wedding Night. Complimentary Excursions apply too

The hotel is situated on Anse Petit Cour, in a Marine National Park, with its own exclusive beach and protected by a reef that provides the gentlest of waters for swimming and snorkeling.

Conditions:
1. Valid until 31st October 2010.
2. Minimum stay: 3 nights on Half Board basis

Contact one of our Indian Ocean specialists to find out more via email or call 020 7483 6555

Go with the flow: The traveller's guide to waterfalls - pulished in The Independent 3 July 2010

We were featured in Harriet O'Brien's excellent piece on waterfalls yesterday.

Here are some excerpts that cover our world of travel:
 

The world's most visited?

Putting on a magnificent show on the border of the US and Canada, the Niagara Falls receives around 25 million visitors a year. Yet in terms of size, the water features here are relative minnows. With the longest drop measuring 57m, Niagara Falls is only about the 50th highest waterfall in the world. What makes it spectacular is the combination of volume, height and width. During the summer, 154 million litres of water cascade here every minute, with four of North America's Great Lakes – Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie – funnelled through this space en route to Lake Ontario. There are actually three separate falls: on the US side, the American Falls and the narrow Bridal Veil Falls are divided by little Luna Island. These pale in comparison to the stunning Canadian Horseshoe Falls that form a great curving wall of water some 670m across. Contrary to national stereotypes, it is the Canadian side that is the most commercialised – wax works, amusement malls, casinos, you name it they have it. But that's because the views are best here: simply walk along River Road and you get stunning panoramas of all three falls. In Canada the Niagara Falls is an easy day-trip destination from Toronto, about a 75-minute drive away, while in the US the falls are a 45-minute drive from Buffalo airport.

Elsewhere in the Americas?

Canada, meanwhile, boasts several "reversing" falls, a phenomenon in which fresh water tumbling into the sea appears to be forced back in the spray and turbulence of incoming tides. The most accessible – and best known – are the pragmatically named Reserving Falls (actually more rapids than waterfalls) just outside St John in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick.

Making a splash in Africa

A great curtain of water falls between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Measuring some 1.7km across, Victoria Falls is said to be the world's widest and is known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya, or the Smoke that Thunders. Both sides are fairly easily accessible – via Livingstone in Zambia and Victoria Falls town in Zimbabwe, each with a well-served airport.

Which side of the falls is best? Tourism in Zimbabwe all but stopped recently yet with the country now slowly showing signs of recovery, visitors are starting to trickle back.

While in Africa, visit the world's second-highest waterfall: the 948m-drop Tugela Falls in the Drakensberg Mountains of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Bridge & Wickers (020-7483 6555; www.bridgeandwickers.co.uk ) offers a trip to this area in its new, luxury programme of African holidays. Its two-week KwaZulu-Natal self-drive itinerary starts with a visit to the Drakensberg Mountain region, with three nights spent at the beautifully positioned Montusi Mountain Lodge, an easy drive from the Royal Natal National Park. The Tugela Falls can be seen from the road into the park; better still there are two spectacular hiking trails – one to the foot and one to the head of the water. The 14-day holiday costs from £2,645 per person (based on two sharing) which includes accommodation, most meals, and car hire but not international flights. 

And the very highest?

Equally inaccessible and majestic is the Sutherland Falls in New Zealand's South Island. This dramatic, tiered waterfall is in the remote and beautiful Fiordland National Park and can be visited only on foot. It lies off the Milford Track, a spectacular walking trail that takes four days to complete, with accommodation provided in Department of Conservation huts along the way. Adding to the challenge, from the track you see the 580m waterfall at a hazy distance and you need to take a tough, 90-minute detour to get a close-up view. Information and booking from the Department of Conservation – 00 64 3249 8514; doc.gov.nz .

Jewellery making in Mozambique

Feeling creative, love jewellery and want to visit Mozambique? - combine all three with this exciting 5 night package where you will receive one-to-one tuition from an expert local silversmith as part of your package at Ibo Island Lodge.

Details here




If you'd like to discuss this further, please call Sam or Megan on 020 7483 6555