Hopewell Rocks

V Strom V Twin gets good fuel mileage.

WE have rare moments when Brenda and I can actually indulge in adult adventures.  First of all, like an MG... the motorbike only seats two. That pretty much means one of them is left out as I generally sit at the controls.

Yes... what would a PEI adventure be without the Bridge.

No biggie as it turns out, Brenda is perfectly happy being a passenger and Anna does pilot the Big Bear at times with either Mom or I as pillion.

With this being Annaawayatcampweek... I had a nice circumnavigation of New Brunswick planned.  My first choice of the Sunrise/Cabot Trail was a wash as the forecast was for lots of rain and cool temperatures.  It's one thing to encounter wet weather while enroute but having to start, ride and finish in wet weather is not a whole lot of fun and restricts what you do.


 

From the look out.

We were looking good for a clockwise 1300km tour with stop-overs somewhere around St. John and again around Bathurst up in the far north, just shy of the Quebec border.

With the V Strom prepped, tires pressures adjusted, oil level checked and chain lubed...



I packed our luggage in the side cases and we had the trunk pretty much free for locking purses and other electronic gear.  No tenting... this was going to be an indoor accommodation ride.

Ya gotta be in good shape to do all this walking and climbing.

Getting away pretty much at the planned time Tuesday we rode in bright sunshine to the other side of Moncton, crossing the city into Riverview, where I once had a shop and then down the Fundy Coast to Hopewell Rocks. 



Having never been here I really didn't have any expectations, thinking there would be a look out of sorts and a little parking lot to park the Suzuki.  First of all, highway 114 is a twisty little road that I had ridden on last year's Dawn to Dusk ride, in the rain no less.

Well... you can't imagine what the area is like, built up with several motels, restaurants and camping parks, the Rocks tourist attraction itself has many large and very busy parking lots.  Having paid the admission, we walked through the gate and into the main building looking for lockers to stow our gear.  Second surprise, no such facility! 

Islands at high tide, we'd be 40' under!

What... with all the motorcyclists on the road these days in such an accessible and well built up facility, having no locker is a major faux pas and I made a point of bringing that to the attention of the reception desk and the comment sheet I deposited in the box.  I was told that many riders and passengers opt to leave their gear next to the bins on the outside of the building.  This is hardly an viable alternative, riding gear can be extremely expensive and leaving it exposed to any would be thief unconscionable. We locked the helmets to the bike and carried our coats with us which made for some awkward moments and extra fatigue.  My jacket alone probably weighs close to 7-8 lbs!



Brenda and I did the downhill walk of some 800 yards to the look out to Flower Pots Rocks and then several flights of stairs to the beach itself, in very warm weather and no breeze to speak of.  While most people are there in shorts and sandals/flip flops... we were trudging in boots, jeans and jackets on our arms! 

If you've never been here via this obsure tiny little back woods NB road... you are in for a surprise.

In one word; Fabulouso!

Washing off the muck!

We walked all the way to the emergency stairwell at the far end of the beach and with a gradually incoming tide that measures 46' from bottom to top, it's quite the experience.  Your admission covers you for two days in case you want to view them at both low and high tides.  If you only have a single choice, chose low tide, when you can walk the gravel (and sometimes muddy) beach and revel in the enormity of these formations of nature.

By the time we'd walked back up the 800 yards of the well groomed pathway, we were ready for a bite to eat at the very well kept cafeteria style eatery on site.  You can chose the Low Tide cafe or of course the High Tide cafe.

WAS it worth the admission and extra trouble carrying our riding gear... yup!  Next time I come here, we'll be driving the three of us and spend an overnight at one of the nearby motels outside the park.  At high tide you can kayak the many Islands now surrounded by the waters of Fundy.