Fun Days In Fundy

Our car's accumulator (I didn't even know our car had one) chose to die in the early morning of the second of a four-day holiday on a remote side-road deep in the heart of a nature reserve. The lights flashed, the horn honked but a sickening silence greeted the turn of the ignition key. We had stopped to admire one of the two covered bridges that still remain in the Fundy National Park and, as we waited for rescue, the first of the many unexpected rewards of this mishap crept up on us.

It was some while before a fellow tourist passed, and even longer before the ranger he alerted came to our aid. In that time, the sounds of the forest embraced us; the hum of insects, cry of birds, sigh of the wind, tinkle of the stream - sounds seldom heard in the city. Whatever irritation we felt leached away into the calm of our surroundings. No matter if it was ten minutes, an hour - or longer. A memorable moment.

The ranger was courteous, efficient and knowledgeable. He got us started, but warned us not to switch off until we had reached wherever we could get help to start again. He recommended the small hamlet of Alma, twenty kilometres away, where we could find accommodation and a service station.

We were mobile again, the day golden, the forest welcoming; we ambled contentedly to Alma where, of course, everything was closed for the holiday. We did find a bed and breakfast, and our host waved a magic telephone and found an obliging mechanic.

He introduced us to the accumulator and warned us that without a replacement, (he didn't have one), we were well and truly stuck.