Kouchibouguac

Kouchibouguac is a very nice park. It overlooks the Northumberland Strait at the mouth of the Kouchibouguac River. It is not particularly hilly, down right flat along the water. The main campground is quite large with a mix of powered and unpowered sites, most are wooded but there is a fairly open loop in the fully serviced section. After two night in the woods, we’ve moved out to the open section and have one of, IMHO, the best sites in the park. It is open, but has one tree that shades part of the site and gives some privacy. It also overlooks the end of the river with a view to harbor on the other side of the river. There are only four sites with an unimpeded water view, and ours is one.

The birding has been fair both on the water and in the woods with lots of different habitats and it has been easy walking on the trails and bike paths. It looks like a great park for cycling with about 50 km of flat gravel bike paths. This is the only time I’ve regretted not bringing a bike on this trip.

We went for a walk this morning at Kellys, the main visitor area with a beach. It was a much nicer morning than yesterday, with sunshine and less wind. We started on the boardwalk out to a barrier island and beach. After that we strolled and birded along the bike path that follows the shore. The only hiccup this morning was that the washrooms were closed all over the park. A tree fell on the main power line into the park during the storm last night and took out all the power. Even the Kellys snack bar was closed…no poutine and ice cream today.

By the time we got back to the campground office to check in to our new site, the power had just been restored.  Checking in was no problem and we didn’t even have to pay the daily park fee since today is Canada Day.

It is sunny and warm and a good afternoon to laze about.

Tomorrow it is on to PEI.