Moncton, is a key city in New Brunswick. A drive to the city of Sussex may be quicker and more directly via a land route, but you’ll miss all that is to offer along the Bay of Fundy.

Hopewell Rocks Ocean Tidal Exploration Site is one of the top attractions in New Brunswick. The effects of the world’s highest tides are the most visible. Why? The highest tide is at noontime but by mid-afternoon it gets so low that you can walk on the ocean floor and see what’s called the “Flower Pot Rocks”. This fabulous attraction, located in Hopewell Cape, offers an informative Interpretive Program in the Centre. You can then either take a shuttle or hike down to the main site. From there it is 99 steps to the bottom of the ocean. If you choose to, you can kayak during high tides via Baymount Outdoor Adventures. For bird lovers: beginning in mid-July, over a four to six week period, two to three million shorebirds congregate in waves along several key locations in the upper reaches of the bay feasting on mud shrimp. www.thehopewellrocks.ca.

Pull your car over to view Cape Enrage, located on the site of an old lighthouse. If you’re up for more adventure, drive to the cape where the site offers rappelling, rock climbing, caving, kayaking and beachcombing for fossils. Here you can also walk along the ocean floor and view saltwater marshes with ancient Acadian dikes. www.capenrage.com. Continuing on toward Sussex, there’s more nature at Fundy National Park, the first of Canada’s national parks in New Brunswick. I passed this one up, but you can check it out on www.pc.gc.ca/fundy.

Now let’s get to the area surrounding the city of Moncton. Since I’ve already visited the Reverse Waterfalls in Saint John, I might just as well take in another phenomenon; Magnetic Hill. You drive to the bottom of the hill having to use your gas pedal. Put your car in neutral and the car seems to magnetically coast back up the hill. I’ve not only done it but also watched a tour bus do the same. Why not take advantage of this oddity and create an area of attractions like the Magnetic Hill Zoo and Magic Mountain Water Park.

Stop in Moncton to check into the Crowne Plaza Hotel and have dinner at Vien Dong on Main Street. I didn’t spend much time around the metro area as I wanted to venture off to Shediac and Bouctouche. Shediac, is purported to be the Lobster Capital of the World. It was there at the Pointe-du-Chene wharf that I boarded the Shediac Bay Cruise.

I learned about how lobsters were caught, that you’re not allowed to take a female that has obvious eggs, the difference between and male and female, the components of their bodies and how to eat a lobster. Most people dine on the tail and claws missing much meat in the body. We were able to apply our knowledge. It seems that restaurants in New Brunswick to not serve whole lobsters. I also had the opportunity to steer the boat while the guys running it took a break. Not to worry. I’ve taken the wheel of many boats before. www.lobstertales.ca.

Wanting to learn about the Acadian culture, I was off to Le Pays de la Sagouline (Sagouine Country) in Bouctouche. Created from internationally renowned Acadian novelist and author Antonine Maillet's imagination, this is a real live village, in an enchanting natural setting with theatre, music, comedy and dance, that allows visitors to discover the unique Acadian culture.

To get a better feel for the cuisine I dined at Le Chateau a Pape, located at 2 Steadman Street South, with a wonderful view of the bay. Needless to say, I had the local seafood and a few Adadian treats.

An even better treat awaited me at Olivier. Did you know that your skin is the body’s largest organ? Consider not just the chemicals that you consume going into your blood system, but also the ones that you place on your skin. The main plant, located at Ste-Anne-de-Kent, is where you can see “the cleanest show on earth”, as one of the staff tells you about and demonstrates the art of making olive oil based soaps. However, it doesn’t stop with just bars of soaps as this Soap Economuseum produces creams and shampoos to both cleanse as well as help rectify your skin problems.

I put together my own spa package to bring home that began with cushiony slippers, wash glove with a soap pocket and back washer for those spots on your back that you just can’t reach. Start with the body scrub to exfoliate my skin and into the shower to rinse off and wash with the vitamin E and carrot soap. Get the soap to exfoliate my feet as I don’t see me using the body scrub every day. Shampoo and conditioner for my hair and cream for those few spots that seem to have eczema. We seem to miss those dry elbows.

Olivier doesn’t just cater to women. You can get all-in-one hair, face and body soaps, Ylang Ylang shampoo, body lotions as well as a shave kit. The Sea Shave kit comes with a shaving brush, hand-made ceramic bowl and seaweed soap. Throw in an after-shave cream to keep that “baby face” soft. www.oliviersoaps.com.

In regards to travel, the Greater Moncton International Airport is the largest of the airports in New Brunswick. Fredericton and Saint John have airports as well. There is a $15 fee when leaving GMIA due to the Airport Improvement and Reconstruction (A.I.R.) Fund.

The money comes from the Airport Improvement Fee (AIF) and “used exclusively to pay the long-term debt and for expansionary infrastructure linked to growth. These fees are collected separate from the ticket.”

Although French is the spoken language throughout this village, you can join a tour guide for a daily English presentation and you learn about the Acadian culture through its history, past and present! Accompanied by our fiddler, they will even show you how to play the spoons! For the sweet tooth, you’ll get to taste one of their famous Acadian desserts! www.sagouine.com.

Acadians were French who migrated to Eastern Canada. History has it that they were exiled and at that time Louisiana was a French colony and so they sought major refuge there. That is where the term Cajun derived. Many returned to areas of Canada, but most of the Acadian culture is now concentrated in New Brunswick.