​Long in the shadows of its Maritime neighbours, New Brunswick has come into its own as a province packed with family-friendly experiences, gorgeous scenery, delicious seafood and wonderful people.  It also tends to be less packed with tourists, which means fewer crowds, better prices, and perfect for family road trips.    Canada’s most underrated province overdelivers, if you give it a chance.  Here’s my report (and video below) from a multi-generational trip to New Brunswick this summer, visiting the cities of Moncton and Fredericton.

All visitors should bee-line to Magnetic Hill, a short 15-minute drive from Moncton’s city centre.   The central draw is an optical illusion in which it appears your car will roll itself uphill, in neutral.  It’s a fun, quirky attraction, and a little hair-raising as you begin to pick up speed in reverse.  Read my Canadian Geographic column about Magnetic Hill for more information about the illusion and how it works.  The whole experience is over in minutes, but the area has other attractions to keep families busy while you’re there.  Across the street is The Boardwalk and Butterfly World, where the kids will go-go-go with go-karts, batting cages, bumper cars, balloon fights, mini-golf, and other attractions.   Back across Front Mountain Road is the Magic Mountain Splash Zone, billed as “the largest man-made tourist attraction in Atlantic Canada.”    The biggest waterpark in the Maritimes definitely gets busy on hot summer days, and you can relax: there’s no sliding uphill here.
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Further along is the Magnetic Hill Zoo, the largest zoo in Atlantic Canada with over 400 animals, including lion, tiger, cougar, zebra, bear, and cheeky lemurs.  It also has a fantastic playground for your own cheeky monkeys to get their swings in.  Animals are divided into regional zones and the zoo has won various awards for its conservation programs.  Exhausted parents might want to stop into the family owned and operated Magnetic Hill Winery to pick up a fruit wine before heading back to the city.  We stayed at the excellent Chateau Moncton on Main Street, conveniently located close to everything you might need.   If you’re looking for great sushi, head to Pink Sushi on bustling Main Street which got thumbs up across our three generations!

It’s a two-hour drive to the provincial capital of Fredericton, a small city that packs a cultural and historical punch.  The weather decided it needed a break from the hot summer days, so we took shelter from the rain in the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.   I added Salvador Dali’s Santiago El Grande to the Canadian Bucket List back in 2013, a striking painting rich with symbolism and meaning, and best appreciated lying down with the painting towering over you.  Since my last visit, the gallery has undergone extensive renovations, and Dali’s masterpiece has been relocated to its own room towards the back.  There are new paintings, sections and exhibits, including the Grandfather Akwiten, the oldest birchbark canoe in the world, locally crafted in the 1820s by the Wolastoqiyik First Nation.   We grabbed a quick, garlicky shawarma, and headed to Science East a couple blocks away.  Located in the old Fredericton York County Jail, it’s a quirky venue with interactive exhibits about electricity, gravity, biology and the forces of nature.  Quirky because downstairs is a historical exhibit in the former cell of serial killer, and upstairs I noticed info-panels about a double hanging in the court yard.    Staff at Science East have even complained about the place being haunted!  My son has a fun time with the exhibits, but we were disappointed to learn it was a rare open day for Science East.  With slashed public funding, Science East has had to close its doors to the general public.  Hopefully it will open again one day (come on corporate sponsors!) because any time a science museum closes, Ignorance cackles with glee. Maybe an enterprising local will start up night time ghost tours inside the building too.

The moody weather didn’t invite a visit to the pool at Delta Hotel, so I took my son to Kingswood Entertainment Centre for an indoor treat.   We played laser tag and tried candlepin bowling for the first time in one of the centre’s 30 lanes. He got his jollies out inside the large indoor playground, and we teamed up to battle monsters in the Cosmic Zone arcade.  Juggling the interests of an 8-year-old and his grandmother, my son won that day but grandma would triumph in the morning.  We drove a half hour to Kings Landing Historical Park, a living museum that recreates loyalist settler life in rural New Brunswick from the 19th century to the early 20th century.  Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Kings Landing has over 70 restored buildings with period-accurate furniture, occupied by reenactors in costume to breathe life into the settlement.   We took the horse and buggy car and explored the past, stopping into the General Store, the School, the houses and barns.   My son picked and ate ripe apples from the many orchards about, and took great delight checking for chamber pots under the beds.   Although Kings Landing was never an actual settlement, the attention to detail is extraordinary.   I picked up a few books on a desk expecting them to be fake, but they were original editions dating back to the 1820s!

The weather finally cooperated so we roamed around Downtown Fredericton, popping into art galleries and various eclectic stores, admiring some of the unusual cars that had gathered for a festival.  We walked past Officer’s Square and the Historic Garrison District, and ate ice-cream by the fountain outside City Hall.   Back at the Delta swimming pool, we eavesdropped on a beautiful wedding, enjoying a perfect afternoon with a bag of lobster flavoured Covered Bridge Potato Chips (fortunately back in operation after Canada’s best potato chip factory burned down in a fire earlier this year).   I left my son and mom back at the hotel to join fishing guide Matt Nason at the floating dock behind the hotel for a chance to hook the elusive Triple Crown.

Fredericton is the only place in North America where you can potentially catch the three prized fish of muskie, striped bass and sturgeon. You don’t have to travel far along the Saint John River to do so either, and no fishing license is necessary.  Different species gather in various spots between the Westmoreland Street Bridge, the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge and Princess Margaret Bridge.   We first trolled for the muskie, which are typically 30 to 40 inches long and put up quite a fight.  Unfortunately none were biting the juicy night crawlers on the hook. Then we went for the ‘stripies’ and sturgeon, and struck out again.  I remember fishing with a local in Jamaica who told me that “every day is a fishing day, but not every day is a catching day.”  It’s always a good day to be on the water though.  Matt told me September is the best time of year to go for the Triple Crown, and that all three fish are catch and release.   As the sun set on the smooth waters, casting shadows across the steeples of Fredericton, it was beautiful just being on the Saint John River, admiring the views, and enjoying the conversation.   A gorgeous sunset concluded the fishing expedition, enhanced by the illuminated kayaks of Wolastoq Adventures, which depart from the jetty behind the Delta Hotel.
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There’s plenty to keep families busy in Moncton and Fredericton, and we haven’t even got to the province’s biggest draw, the Bay of Fundy.  With world-class art, living history, and fun, quirky activities, there’s truly something for everyone.

With teeth like razors and skin like barbwire, piranhas have the sunny disposition of a Filipino death squad.   Sharks may be the grunt soldiers of aquatic terror, but South American piranhas are riverside hit men, shredding their prey with efficient ferocity.   Found within rivers from Argentina to Colombia, they hunt in large packs, sending out scouts to locate the prey before initiating a feeding frenzy characterized by a scene of boiling water.   Kayaking through piranha infested waters along the Orinoco sounds more like an adventure tourism sales plug than a reality, until my Warao guide Pina hands me a stick, some gut wire, and a crudely fashioned hook.   Rather alarmingly, all I need to do is splash my stick on the water surface to attract the beasties, and within seconds, my bait has vanished.  The combination of heat, storms of mosquitoes, and inhuman humidity make me want to dive into the river, but the combination of bloodthirsty carnivorous piranhas make me want to stay on shore more.   Although they only grow to 2ft long, nature has equipped piranhas with deadly tools, from interlocked teeth to excellent hearing and unparalleled teamwork. Each fish takes a mighty munch and instantly moves out of the way for his pal.  Theodore Roosevelt, on an expedition to Brazil in 1913, described a horrifying scene of a cow being attacked and stripped to the bone in minutes. ​

Cut to: The following day.   For hours, a torrential downpour dumps its moist guilt on our twin-engine open-roof speedboat.  I’m excited at the prospect of sleeping on a real bed tonight in a rustic shack so much more attractive than another wrapped up buggy night in a hammock.  Large tapirs are running up and down the wooden boardwalks in this remote jungle lodge, while banana-beaked toucans and chirpy macaws rest on the tables at the bar.  Drinks flow.   Hey, lets go watch the sunset at the congruence of three tributaries!  Hey, let’s bring our sketchy free pouring barman along!  Swimming with piranha: a good idea at the time.  Of course, the local Warao swim, drink and bathe in the same waters, and in truth have more problems with rabid vampire bats than bloodthirsty piranhas.  For piranhas tend to attack weak fish first, and healthy humans last.  Still, how big a thrill is a jungle adventure in the Orinoco Delta?    As big as a piranha’s appetite. ​

Special thanks to Ford Canada and Travel Manitoba for hosting my visit to Eagles Nest. ​