I ❤️ Canada! Buctouche, NB is a gem of a coastal town. The roads curve along the seaside waves and cast endless views – ocean waters, clam traps, red rocks, rustic sea shells, an occassional light house, and red, white, blue, and yellow Acadian spirit sprinkled across town.
Without traveling much, there’s a lot to do.
So Much to Do!
The Irving Buctouche Dunes – Beach + Boardwalk
We spent a day at “the dunes”. The kids enjoy cooling off and swimming in the water, about 1-3 feet deep at medium to low tide for the first hundred feet from the shore. We walked the boardwalk to the end, it measured at 0.5miles long. The entrance area has many amenities – An open visitors and nature center, a viewing tower, covered picnic areas, grill (reservations needed), restrooms, changing rooms, and a shower area for rinsing off your feet – yes, yes, yes. Accessible parking is right by the entrance and the boardwalk is accessible too. General parking is a quarter mile walk, across the street from the entrance.
Kayaking + Paddleboarding
The coastline here is very shallow. Low tide is too low, but high tide can be too wavy, windy. The perfect conditions are mid-tide calm waters, low or no wind. White caps indicate a good time to hug the shoreline, or find other activities.
Searching for Seaglass
So much glass!! About one in every 20 pieces has smooth enough edges and a softened, salted sheen to be considered “real” seaglass.
Poutine Rapee, Fritco, Date Squares…
Flavor is the best part of traveling! I love experiencing local flavors – what the locals eat. The REAL Acadian poutine – a large snowball sized ball of grated potatoes with seasoned pork in the middle, boiled. I LOVE it with brown sugar. Most dont love it at all… but the real Canadians agree the Poutine Rapee in Buctouche is the best!
Poutine Rapee – Ball of grated potatoes around seasoned pork filling, boiled.
Quebec Poutine – French fries, gravy, cheese curds
Lobster + Lobster Rolls – the true season begins early August, we were too early to get fresh Lobster. And I was too late to get a bite of the Lobster rolls Steve picked up.
Fricot – Chicken and dumpling soup seasoned with Summer Savory
Date Squares – Oat bars with a soft date fruit filling
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie – my grandmother made it, so we harvest from the same rhubarb plants she grew, following her recipe.
Strawberry + Raspberry Picking
Michaud Farm + Poirier Farm are near the Dunes – we picked strawberries and headed to the beach.
Michaud Farm also has a farm stand nearby with produce, jams, sauces, and meats.
Poirier farm features different varietes of strawberries, you can get just the flavor you’re after.
La Fluer de Pommier features u-pick raspberries, sells cherries (not u-pick) , honey, summer savory, apples in the Fall, and a wonderful farm stand.
We visited the week of July 12th at the peak of strawberry season. The following week Raspberries were awesome for picking too. Blueberries arrive mid-August.
Magic Mountain
Magic Mountain is an amusement park in Moncton, New Brunswick. It has a small amusement ride area and a water park. We go for the water park and love it. This year we went at 3pm to save money and it was actually perfect. 4 hours is plenty of time to go on all the slides.
Jumping @ the Pier
The kids LOVE jumping off the pier. Other than Magic Mountain, this is the top requested activity by the kids. It’s about a 10ft drop off the area where the boats come into town from the ocean