It is a late start to the day but we are headed off to Grand Manan Island. It is exactly that a very large Island home to roughly 2300 people.
The only access to the Island from New Brunswick is the 1.5 hour ferry ride from mainland NB or by land through USA via Canada to USA across a bridge to Canada and you must have a passport to make that trip. Since we haven't renewed our passports and it would be much further to travel through USA, then we were headed in by ferry.
The rule is, it is free to enter into Grand Manan by ferry but you pay to leave (almost sounds like hotel California) and you are required to book 1 hour ahead of time and you must be there 45 minutes before leaving to confirm your position. We just squeezed in at the last moment to be on the ferry for 130pm with a return time of 715 and back on mainland by around 9pm-ish. Then it would be at least another hour plus to get back to camp. We paid our $12 per person and auto fee for a grand total of $56.00 after taxes.
It was a very nice ride, we had a lunch on the ferry and enjoyed going up to the top deck and watching the view. Off in the distance barely a spec, someone saw whales and half the boat went to go see. I guess if you have seen a spec in the water before it isn't as exciting, I had no interest. Personally I enjoyed watching the horizon and spotting land and then seeing the sights of life as if on a new found country. Could this be our new home someday?
On arrival it took only minutes to get off the ferry and off we went to see the sites of Grand Manan. There were a couple of lookout spots that we thought we would check out later on the way back, and a few tourist gift shops and restaurants right at the heart of where the ferry landed and then it was open roads with lots of houses one after another.
Something I found strange was that several businesses had metal bars on the windows. The kind you see in certain neighborhoods more than others. And then there were several beautiful mansions with gated yards and surveillance camera notices. Is this necessary in a small community of only 2300 people? In a place that takes 1.5 hours to get to by preregistered passengers? Is there actually an issue with crime here? I found it all very strange.
There isnt much of a business or retail or even basic ammenities area. Certainly no Wally world here and I doubt a thrift or antique shop. So to enjoy such shopping opportunities would leave no choice but to head to the mainland and the nearest real shopping would be Saint John approx 45 minutes away. Add that to the 2 x ferry rides and it would make for a very long day. Im not liking it so far.
There were many beautiful homes but many more not so beautiful. I found GM to be what I call a very tired comunity. It made me sad.
It also made me sad to see that most of the beach was private. I know we didn't tour the whole island but we did do more than half and only found 1 public beach and a boat launch.
The houses on the beach where very close together, like at a lake cottage. I don't want to be having a bbq of hotdogs and smell my neighbor bbq'd steaks. Kind of takes the wind out of having hotdogs....
We found a house for sale on the beach. The house was weathered and worn but still in our minds it was a start and a possibility. We contacted the very rude real estate agent who informed us that the house was sold but she had another and vaguely gave us directions all while informing us that it too had an offer on it. The price of the 1st house was nearly 400,000 for a shack and the other was even more and not on the beach. Both more than what we are prepared to spend. Especially when in need of repair and more things required on our list of wants.
We were back at the ferry and it was barely 4PM, what were we going to do for another 3 hours? Well we put ourselves on the waiting list and we were able to catch the next ferry out. Turns out we were not the only ones. There were at least 4 other vehicles trying to get out too. We did all get on.
Getting back on to mainland earlier than planned, allowed us to stop in Superstore on the way home and pick up breaded cooked chicken for supper with corn and leftovers from Friday.
So the verdict is that we will not be buying a house on Grand Manan. We left with so many questions as to what happened or didn't happen for that small community.
Today we are thankful for Superstore and dry mainland.
Here are a few pictures taken from the ferry. Sunny when we left, and then cloudy, windy, foggy, damp.
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