St. Andrews is located in the southwest corner of New Brunswick at the tip of a peninsula bounded on one side by the St. Croix River. Maine is on the other side of the river, two kilometers away. The peninsula extends into Passamaquoddy Bay which empties into the Bay of Fundy.  Our campground is at the tip of the peninsula right on the water. We were able to experience the effect of the extreme tides of the Bay of Fundy as the water receded from the shore out about 100 yards.

        Low tide with wharf in background from restaurant on main street.

The town was founded in 1783 by American Loyalists and many of the original buildings still stand. The Algonquin, an enormous resort hotel built in 1889, sits on a hill overlooking the entire town.

Original inhabitants of the area were the Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Micmak, branches of the Algonquins. They established weirs in the bay to collect fish, particularly herring. The technique was later adopted by immigrant settlors. Weirs can still be seen at low tide although herring fishing has given way to salmon farming in the bay.

Samuel de Champlain attempted the first French settlement in the New World on St. Croix Island which sits in the St. Croix River, between St. Andrews and Maine. The first winter was particularly harsh and the settlement was moved onshore.

St. Croix island in the right middle of picture, Maine on the far side, Canada in front. Seems like either side would have been a better choice.

Our plan was to use our last day in St. Andrews for birding, but the wind and rain curtailed that idea. Instead we packed up and headed for Baddeck, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, a short nine hour drive away. We were drenched in St. John, but ahead of the rain the rest of the way with just a few sprinkles here and there. We made it to our campground at 6 p.m. with the owner waiting to show us to our site. Once again we are camped in the middle of a forest. Rain is forecast for the day so we’ll probably visit some of the museums in town. Exploration of the Cabot Trail will wait for another day.