Our Matt Lucas in the Travel Travel Gazette - read about his trip below, click to enlarge

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

Matt's recent trip to Canada

Senior Consultant Matt Lucas recently enjoyed a trip to Canada as a guest of APT who specialise in escorted tours of Canada.

Read Matt's report here

For details of the Canada tours that APT offer please click here.




Please call or email Matt or one of our other Canada specialists and have a chat if you have any questions about escorted tours or want to put together your own tailormade trip to Canada.

Win A Holiday to British Columbia

Win a 10 day holiday for two to experience British Columbia with Bridge & Wickers. Includes flights with Air Canada and accommodation in Vancouver, Whistler & Victoria.

Good luck!

Enter here

Newfoundland made easy!

Spectacular Newfoundland in Canada is now one step closer thanks to new daily direct Air Canada flights from London to St Johns.

The new flight will operate from Heathrow throughout peak season (May 27 - September 26 2010), opening up this undiscovered corner of Canada to an increasing number of UK visitors. Guests can take advantage of any number of flexible, self-drive itineraries in this dramatic eastern edge of the North American continent.

Bridge & Wickers’ Newfoundland and Labrador Adventure is a 14-day self-drive itinerary taking in the abundant wildlife, deep fjords, wild islands and untouched rivers of this vast expanse – even icebergs in August. Amble along the Atlantic’s fishing ports, passing through friendly towns and villages, soaking up the rugged lifestyle which embodies Canadian culture. Newfoundland is pioneer country - akin to the wilderness of the Australian Outback - with just enough development to allow for comfortable discovery.

Discover small communities practising ancient Indian crafts, explore the expansive landscapes of Gros Morne, one of the country’s most beautiful National Parks, see icebergs at Notre Dame Bay and watch seabirds at the Cape St Mary reserve.

Bridge & Wickers - this weekend's travel sections

As well as our regular presence in the weekend travel sections, we featured Atlantic Canada in the AITO supplement with this weekend's Daily Telegraph.

Click here to read the piece.

Other Bridge & Wickers mentions in the press this weekend were Fiji in the Aberdeen Press & Journal and Tasmania in the Independent.

They all make excellent reading and food for thought for that next trip!

Don't forget to order our latest brochures for more information on all of our destinations - visit us at www.bridgeandwickers.co.uk

TEN THINGS TO DO IN VANCOUVER

Vancouver, along with the Rocky Mountains’ resort of Whistler, is the official host for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Rated as one of the best places in the world to live, it also offers visitors a broad spectrum of attractions.

After a recent visit, Director David Wickers gives his top ten recommendations:

1. Eat seafood, including local specialities wild Sockeye salmon and Arctic char. I’d recommend top chef Frank Pabst's Blue Water Café and Raw Bar on Hamilton in Yaletown, the city’s warehouse district. It’s one of several old buildings transformed into a ‘bricks and beams’ bars and restaurants. Be sure to book: 604 688 8078

2. Rent a bike and explore Stanley Park, Vancouver's giant green heart. The 1000 acre wilderness features giant Douglas firs, cedars, hemlock, spruce and other confers. Follow the 6.5 mile sea wall trail that encircles the park, passing beneath the soaring Lion’s Gate suspension bridge across the Burrard Inlet and the park’s famous collection of totem poles.

3. Become a ‘Grouse Grinder,’ someone who climbs to the 1250m summit of Grouse Mountain. If you don’t fancy the steep 1.8 mile trek, you can go up the easy way, by gondola.

4. Buy crafts, including First Nations’ works, on Granville Island. The bonsai 37 acre neighbourhood is reached by bath-tub size ferries that shuttle back and forth across False Creek from the end of Hornby Street on the 'mainland.' Granville is a mix of terrific food market, cafes, galleries, restaurants, a kids’ market, theatres, bike and kayak rentals, a children's market and chandleries.

5. Go to Gastown. According to local lore, the cobbled streets are “for the good, the bad and the ugly” but with its Victorian houses now being bought by the city’s high flyers, it's getting gooder by the week. There’s a particular buzz in Salt, found on the still shabby Blood Alley (which got its name from the butchers who used to trade there). The menu couldn’t be simpler – wine, cheese and cold cuts – but you do need to book (604 633 1912).

6. Escape for the weekend to the Sunshine Coast, just a 20 minute hop by floatplane. For a taste of Canada at its natural best, get the pilot to drop you off at the jetty belonging to the West Coast Wilderness Lodge where you can hike, fish, ride the rapids, seakayak, heli-hike, mountain bike or just soak up the magnificent panorama of mountains and water from the resort’s hot tub.

7. Hit the beach at Kitsilano, or ‘Kits’ for those in the know, the old hippy now trendy neighbourhood. The water’s safe for swimming although there’s also a heated saltwater Lido pool.

8. Visit the Capilano Hatchery where you can watch salmon climb ‘ladders’ as they make their way upstream to spawn (best seen late summer). Some three million fish a year are nurtured here before being released into the river as ‘fingerlings.’

9. Browse the stalls in Chinatown’s Night Market on summer weekend evenings, with sights and smells more Canton than Canada. Vancouver has the third biggest Chinatown in the west (after New York and San Francisco).

10. Stay at the Shangri-la, the newest hotel in town and one of the first ventures beyond Asia for the Chinese owned chain of luxury hotels. It has just over 100 rooms, an outstanding Michelin chef Jean Georges Vongerichten restaurant and a Chi spa. Three nights with Bridge & Wickers (020 7483 6555) starts at £342pp, excluding flights. British Airways which operates two flights a day to Vancouver.

Read David Wickers' latest piece on Nova Scotia following his recent trip...

Not only is Canada's Maritime province so easy to reach, just a six hour or so flight from home, but it offers a fascinating mix of Canadian pleasures within easy touring range. You could even go for a week and have a rewarding experience - although there's easily enough in this single region to justify a two week summer holiday.

Top of Nova Scotia's natural assets is scenery, both inland - which includes the Kejimkujik national park (a great place to go canoeing) - and the hugely scenic, shoreline reminiscent of Maine. Most iconic scenery is to be found at Cape Breton which alone has 1000 kms of shoreline.

Nova Scotia's coastal waters also offer whale watching (from Digby between May and October), the sight of the world's biggest tides, maritime heritage (including a museum in Halifax with a Titanic exhibition and a Scottish Heritage Centre where there’s an 80 foot vessel Hector that bought 200 Scots from the Highland Clearances, an incredible feat of human endeavour. Other heritage sites include the town of Lunenburg, with its World Heritage old gridded core of 18th and 19th century buildings Fortress Louisbourg important national historic site, a huge repro of what it would have looked like when in French hands in C18 and staffed by folk in period gear going about their French 18th century ways.
Other essential ingredients for a memorable holiday are also here in abundance, from terrific seafood (lobster a speciality) to vineyards, plus lots of interesting inns to stay.

For more details on Nova Scotia and to request a copy of our Canada brochure, please click here

Canada Self-Drives

We have recently added some brand new self drive itineraries for Canada onto the website ranging from 6 to 16 days and covering Britsh Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Quebec and Nova Scotia giving you even more choice of options for a trip to Canada from whale watching in Vancouver Island to gazing at Niagara Falls.

All the itineraries featured are just a flavour of what we can offer, so please contact your consultant who will be happy to tailor-make a perfect holiday to Canada.