Travel blogger says Moncton is 'the place to be'

Canadian travel blogger Andrew Gunadie never expected Moncton to be fun.

When he visited the city last October, he booked only one night at a local hotel at first because everyone told him it's just a place to pass through, he said.

But after exploring the area and talking to the locals, Gunadie, who goes by the online moniker Gunnarolla, realized it's "the place to be."

"It's unexpectantly charming," he said in his latest Youtube video Moncton: One place in Canada that you must visit.

Gunadie said he posted the video in response to a request by Canadian Geographic to name his favourite place in the country. 

While he previously visited other cities on the East Coast, he didn't know anything about Moncton and only went there because he found a cheap flight from Toronto.

Once he arrived, he met up with some friendly Monctonians, though, who took him around town and referred him to visit nearby sights, including the giant lobster statue in Shediac and the dunes at Bouctouche.

But nothing impressed him as much as observing the highest tides at Hopewell Rocks, he told CBC Shift New Brunswick earlier this week.

"I knew about what the tide was but I never really observed that phenomenon," he said.

Exploration hub

Gunadie described how he found solitude and peace while exploring the ocean floor near the rocks.

He also raved about the province's beautiful sunsets and the seafood.

"No one does lobster and those kinds of things like Atlantic Canada," he said.

While Gunadie admitted that he would have liked to spend more time exploring the city itself, he said it's a good hub for exploration and hopes to return one day.

"Very Canadian, very friendly, very easy to navigate," he said. "It wasn't overwhelming, there is definitely a charm there."

He added that no one paid him to go to Moncton, or compensated him afterwards.

"This is genuinely what I've experience and I had such a great time," he said.

"Sometimes it's just about putting your finger on a map."