Paul then wanted to go canoeing on Lake Bennett. I had planned to go with him alone, but Christopher and Danielle decided they wanted to come with, so all four of us went. The canoe guy looked like a discarded relic of the 60’s, with a floppy hat and gregarious, off-kilter mannerisms. We rented a canoe and a kayak and Paul took the kayak while Christopher, Danielle, and I went in the canoe. Christopher sat in front and paddled throughout, I sat in back, and Danielle in the middle. Danielle paddled occasionally on the way back. In general, I had to keep switching from one side to the other to keep us in a straight line.

We got up around 9:00, had cereal for breakfast, then decided to take a walk down one of the many trails in the park. The one we chose was Laverty Falls, which involved a twenty minute drive, and led to an isolated area where three brooks combined to form the Laverty River. After driving down a paved, curvy park road, we found we also had to drive down a primitive gravel road for several kilometres until we came to the start of the trail. Then we walked for 45 minutes, all down hill until we arrived at a beautiful stream with a water falls about 30 feet high. We spent about ten minutes at the top, then Paul and Danielle went down to the bottom. I followed shortly afterwards with Christopher. As I was jumping over some rocks, I fell into the water, nearly smashing the camera on the rocks. I took off my socks and shoes as did Paul and then both of us plunged in for a refreshing dip. Helen stayed at the top because her knee was sore, but Christopher and Danielle soon joined us. We spent about a half hour swimming in the water, sitting under the water fall, and enjoying the lovely environment

Then we began the long journey back to the 4Runner. It took us about 45 minutes down, and about an hour to get back up. We drove back to the town of Alma to get some groceries and have lunch at a little café on the main street. We had chicken burgers and cheese burgers, Paul had a fish sandwich, and Helen also had fish. The potato wedgies were delicious. Christopher had two glasses of chocolate milk. The waitress gave us some helpful information about the tide, and how people sometimes get trapped out on coves or sand bars when the tide comes back in. Then we bought some groceries, ice, and firewood and headed back to camp.

We drove into Alma again to pick up some soft ice cream at this combination craft and ice cream store. A young lad looked at us rudely and the girl behind the counter was also rude. The ice cream was $6.50 for four spiral (chocolate and vanilla) cones. Then we drove back to the campsite. We noted on the way that the tide was almost completely out, which gave us an impressive view of the ocean bottom up to more than a kilometre from shore. The Fundy area, of course, has the highest tides in the world, sometimes in excess of 40 feet.

Back at camp, Paul, Danielle, Christopher and I decided we would like to stay another day. Helen didn’t seem overly pleased with the idea but got out-voted.

It took some time to reach consensus about an evening activity, but finally we went to the Caribou Trail to see if we could see some moose. We began with some hesitations, because it was almost 8:30 at the time we departed and it appeared that the trail would take an hour and half, leaving us in darkness in the woods. However, we made brisk time. We arrived at this huge open area in a muddy bog but did not see any moose. However, the sunset was pretty and the quiet was pleasant, broke only by bird sounds. We made it back just as darkness started in earnest, and then, on the way back to the campsite, finally spotted a moose (Helen saw it first) in a marshy area on the side of the road. Better yet, it had a calve with it. We stopped, turned around and watched for a moment or two, until it grew alarmed suddenly and bolted, followed closely by its young calf.