14th September, 2018

We arrived fairly early in the morning in St John, NB and moored alongside the quay. Val and I did not have anything particular booked so we made our way down the gangplank to the terminal (no lengthy queues here) to be greeted by delightful immigration staff and volunteers who assisted us in what to do and how to do it. What a contrast to NY. Even the weather was fantastic with the sun shining and all lovely and warm. So off we set into town, a short walk away.

First up we walked around the Trinity Royal Preservation Area, some 20 blocks of old buildings and wonderfully quiet streets, another marked contrast to New York. New Brunswick was effectively captured by the British in 1758 during the Seven Years War and though the fort was destroyed in 1775 by the American Revolutionary forces, it was rebuilt and in 1783, about 3,000 Loyalists settled from the USA. Today Greater St John is about 128,000 and very British/Scottish. There was a terrible fire in 1877 when much of the city was destroyed so much of what is there now is Victorian.

We did visit one house, known as Loyalist House, which is a wooden clapboard building built in about 1817 and a delight to visit as I hope the photos show. Oddly, I forgot to take a picture of the outside…

We then dropped into the very cheerful covered market, had a coffee and caught up with the wifi. We also strolled around the Loyalist Graveyard and the local park with its unusual two-tiered bandstand. The whole city has a very nice community feel to it. Even the pigeons looked lovely!

It was time now for some lunch. I am still sticking to my 5:2 diet, so it was Val’s treat to have a whole lobster to herself. And it was delicious she tells me! A very happy bunny!

Not much else to report other than I managed to get my glasses fixed (an arm had fallen off) and we had to be back on board by 3.30 prior to setting sail for our next destination, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Very impressed with St John, though. Sadly we did not have time to see the Reversing Falls, where the very strong and rapid tide forces the St John River to flow back up stream. It is the main claim to the city, but time, as ever, was against us. Maybe next time.

Val did get tempted by some vintage fur coats at the kiosks in he terminal, but managed to resist. As you can see from the photos, it was a lovely sunny day with a very pleasant sail away past another cruise liner. Still time for a game of table tennis!