The Olympics may be over, but I’m not entirely finished with Canada yet. Atlantic Canada, that is. Although our visit to New Brunswick was relatively short, it deserves a mention. In NB, we stopped in the province capital Saint John and a fun little town called Shediac, home of a really big lobster.
Shediac is the self-proclaimed lobster capital of the world, and appropriately, home to the world’s largest lobster, in best Australian style. (What with the Big Banana, the Big Cheese, the Big Chook and heaps more, Australia is the country most often associated with big things.)
Looks like I have a soft spot for these slightly tacky tourist teasers and was amused to find yet another Big Thing, this time in Canada. Directions for anywhere in town begins at the Big Lobster.
Oddly, my 8-year-old loves lobster and would gladly sample some of Shediac’s sizable shellfish. But lobster for weeks on end is a bit hard on the budget, so in the lobster capital of the world we had … chicken. And all around us in the restaurant, people spoke French! Turns out Quebec isn’t Canada’s only French-speaking province. New Brunswick is actually bilingual, but Shediac seemed to be mainly French-speaking. This pleased me enormously as I emphatically believe the world needs more than one world language. I left Shediac in a very good mood.
LOVE love love that huge lobster!!
I had never heard of the fantastic lobster in Shediac but I’m not that surprised. We Canadians take our BIG things very seriously. (Why not, right? We definitely have the space!) On a road trip of epic proportions from Ottawa to Calgary we saw a number of BIG things including a Canada Goose and a teepee. Thanks for this bit of fun!
How cool. Never heard of this, but I’ve seen some in Australia, like The big merino.
Just want to say I’m glad you focus on this part of Canada, I think it’s very overlooked even though it’s so beautiful and real.
That is interesting! I thought it was only Quebec where French was spoken.
These big sculptures seem to become a great photo opportunity – every town and city should have one!
I’m from New Brunswick and yes Shediac is a francophone area but i must correct you on something the capital of New Brunswick is Fredericton noy Saint John
Don’t know why I thought Saint John was the capital – perhaps mixing it up with St John’s in Newfoundland. Thanks for the clarification 🙂
The pictures are adorable!
Say, do you travel Canada often? If so, Visitors to Canada Insurance is a must!
[…] New Brunswick, Canada Sophie presents PhotoFriday: A Big Thing in Canada posted at Sophie’s World, saying, “Shediac, NB – the world’s lobster […]
Wow 🙂
Shucks. It was only a statue? I thought ya found the real-deal and were being mean to the kid for not letteing her eat it. Always entertaing. You ate chicken?
Didn’t know there are big things in Canada too. In Australia they are crazy about it 🙂
I love visiting the big objects, in fact, I have seen much of what you listed in Australia.
The giant lobster is cracking me up 🙂 Who would have thought?
What a great place for a photo op! 🙂
Love the photos & the story. Lobster prices have actually been on the low side lately & lobster fisherman have been suffering. I did my best to help them out when I was in the Maritimes last summer – eating lobster rolls, lobster salad, whole lobster & prices were always reasonable.
Oh my gosh, look at the size of that thing! Sometimes these tourist attractions can be a guilty pleasure. And who cares — as long as you leave there smiling!
I’m Canadian and I had no idea that Canada was home to the world’s largest lobster, nor had I heard of Shediac before.