Saturday, September 05, 2009

Mon Voyage À L'Acadie: Part 8: New Brunswick Aquarium & Marine Center, Inkerman

So from the fleet, mom and I drove into the Town of Shippagan and decided to see what the New Brunswick Aquarium had on display.

There was this very beautiful quilt that you need to enlarge to enjoy. It has many ocean creatures on each panel and is very imaginative and clever.


Basically, the aquarium displayed the fish that are native to the waters in the area, many of which we had been, um, eating! But these jellyfish were not the case.


And though we ate many lobsters, none were completely white!


Nor where any blue!


These seals were exactly the same as the ones we saw around Bonaventure Island. I was so excited, because I just love seals!


So I took a closeup of one...


This is what a seal does when it is not ready for it's closeup. It swims to the bottom and lies there with it's tummy up and plays dead.


But here's a chipper one ready for a closeup! See, he/she is even smiling! But I didn't have a fish to reward this lovely pose, so I walked away sad.


Then we drove on heading for Inkerman Parrish on our way home. All of these areas are inland wetlands consisting of marshes, swamps, bogs, ponds, etc.. As a matter of fact, New Brunswick is so wet that my female host told a really neat joke about it. Here it is:

A man from New Brunswick dies and goes up to Saint Peter's gate. Of those not admitted immediately, Satan is sorting through people who will go lower and those who will go to purgatory. But then there are a few set to the side who are just standing there waiting around. He sees that he will be sorted soon. When it is his turn he asks Satan "What are those people waiting for?" Satan answers "They are from New Brunswick and they are too wet to burn."

Ba dum bum! I'll be here all night, enjoy the veal...

Well, back to the trip. So, as we drive along, we see many osprey nests, so I got out and took a photograph of one. Click to enlarge and you will see that the bird is stretching his wings. See the tall trees in the distance? Would you believe that there is a huge church behind those?


This is Catholic Church of Saint Michel in Inkerman Ferry that was built in 1916. Inkerman Ferry is such a small town that there is not even a grocery store in it. It is stuck out in the middle of no place. If you enlarge this photo you can read the sign next to the building to see the church's name and the stone tablet underneath the rose window hast the date of the building's completion.



Note the twin silver domes and brick with stone masonry which is typical of the Catholic religion's churches in this area. Also, the church is decorated for the upcoming festival.

Here it is from another view:


See! There is nothing near it at all. I wish I had the time to go miles away and photograph it... It is just standing there in the middle of nothing. A miracle!

10 comments:

youreviltwin said...

i love seals, too- they are so CUTE!

Sue said...

Thanks YET! Me too!

Stan said...

Seals are so cool. The first ones I ever saw were on a wharf in San Francesco. I have never seen or heard of albino lobsters! Or blue ones! But I have seen blue crabs so that makes sense. They have those osprey nests here in NJ too up on poles in an effort to save them. The church looks funny with that little garage next to it on the left.

Sue said...

Stan - I saw the seal in San Fran too! We have ospreys in CT too! That garage is for the rectory right next to the church.

Lucien said...

SUE - I love seals as well and on a trip to Marathon Keys Fla we stayed at a boat-hotel where we tied our boat right next to our bungalow on a canal. In hat canal was a seal we got to swim with and play with all day. Pandora was her name and she and I swan and rough housed for hours on hours . She would then make this awesome leap OUT of the Water and over the side of boat boat and land on the deck. She would of course get fish rewards and ride out to the end of the canal and jump out and swim back to her pen. And the end of the days' fishing as we can back - Pandora was there to greet us on our return .. It was the most amazing month of vacation I ever had . I was so sad to leave my Pandora

Sue said...

Wow! That is amazing Lucien! Marathon huh? I've only ever been to Key Largo. That seal was almost like a pet!

Anonymous said...

Now you have seen the east of Canada
you will one day after to take
the train from Toronto across
the Northern Shield, across the Prairies and through the Rockies to
Vancouver. Its a great trip.

Maritimes are beautiful.


Your Prairie Friend
Jim

Sue said...

Jim - I would love to see Vancouver! I have been to Seattle and I hear Vancouver is a lot like that. But I would also love to see Victoria Island! So much to see, so little time [and money]!

BTW - some of my cousins hail from Manitoba. Isn't that exciting?

Anonymous said...

Indeed it is. More exciting
if they hail from Winnipeg.
Here is a link on youtube
to give you a hint of what
Winnipeg is like. Its from
the air but you still get the idea.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwStausUkLg

Sue said...

Oh, but I have been there on business once! And I do believe that two of them do live in Winnipeg! So you should keep your eyes open and go blindly about asking folks if they are my cousins!!! LOL!