New Brunswick, Canada

Mon, Jul 22

We are back in the land of the little numbers - on the speedometer.  And the land of big tides.  And Atlantic daylight savings time.

This morning we passed into Canada at Calais, Maine.  This is our second time in Canada this year. Considering that we had never been to Canada before, that's quite significant.

We decided to stop at a campground within a few miles after we got into Canada to get our wits about us.  We've got to reacquaint ourselves with kilometers and those small numbers on the speedometer.

After settling in, we decided to take a drive in the car to a peninsula that seemed to offer the promise that we could see the Bay of Fundy and begin experiencing the tremendous tides that are here.

And, as often happens, we stumbled onto another gem - St. Andrews.  We certainly had no expectations, and Wow! were we surprised.  St. Andrews is a beautiful little town on the tip of the peninsula.

We had a terrific dinner at a restaurant overlooking the bay.  I had lobster again, but only as part of the meal - not the whole lobster tonight.  We arrived when the tide was starting to rise, and in the hour or so that we were there, there was a significant change in the landscape as the water rose toward the restaurant.

After dinner, we walked around the beautiful downtown area for a while.  They have taken the sides of some of the buildings and have painted beautiful murals, something that we've seen in several "progressive" historic towns - and they really add a lot.

We will be somewhat limited in our Internet access while here.  Our plans with Verizon does not include Canada.  They  socked it to us when we were in Ontario earlier this year with over $100 of extra charges - and that was after I had purchased some extra usage.  I ain't happy with Verizon.  But most of the RV parks have Wi Fi, so we should be able to stay in touch.

Tues, Jul 23

Today was a rain day!  It has actually rained the whole day - a first for us in the RV.  Except for the day it snowed all day when we were in Sedona, Ariz.

It was an interesting drive.  There is an interstate quality road that appears to run the length of Nova Scotia (at least East/West along the Bay of Fundy).  After about 30 minutes of driving in the rain on the highway, all of a sudden the driver side windshield wiper came apart and obviously didn't wipe the windshield.  Without going into detail, we managed to use some ingenuity, duct tape, and zip ties and get things back to working order.  Glad we did, it rained the rest of the trip.

We stopped at a hardware store to see if we could find a more suitable solution to the wiper problem. We got a few items that we think may be a better, more permanent solution AND Clara found a pot which she thinks she can cook lobster.  So the next chance we get, we're going to buy the lobster and cook it ourselves.

We've stopped in St. Martin at an RV Park that I made reservations for last week, which I don't usually do.  We are overlooking (through the rain) the Bay of Fundy and will be able to observe the tide as it does it's thing.

This afternoon we unhooked the CRV and rode around in the rain.  It has been interesting and we may decide to stay another day.  There seems to be enough of interest to do so.

St Martin is a coastal town with a population 386 located on the shores of the Bay.  There are two covered bridges over the river/tidal basin in town as well as an old lighthouse (which is now a visitor center).  If we decide to spend another day, there is a beautiful drive along the Bay that we may do.

I just can't get over seeing the boats sitting on the ground.  They have developed a way to keep the boats upright when the tide goes out by somehow placing an angled wood supports on the side away from the pier to keep the boat from tipping over.

A covered bridge and a lighthouse.  I don't think you'll see this combination very often.

This "creek" fills up at high tide

We stopped by the local grocery store (this is the whole thing).  It is located in an beautiful old building and Clara says the prices are reasonable and the selection is good.

Tonight is a two movie night!

Wed, Jul 24

This morning we decided to head toward Fundy National Park. It was a lot of back roads – and very bad back roads, but we have made it. And it was really worth it.

The countryside that we are driving through is green, rolling hills, much like many places in Western North Carolina. The trees that are grown in NC for christmas trees are abundant.  

The primary attraction of the area are the incredible tides. It's hard to believe, even though I've read about it and seen some of it. But now, we are at the point of the worlds highest tides. And it really is incredible to see the impacts of 35+ foot tides.

After we settled into our campsite in the National Park, we took the CRV and went a few miles to the little town of Alma, which claims to the the “Home of the Highest Tides in the World”. We arrived when it was pretty close to high tide.

We went to the docks where the lobster were being unloaded from the boats and had the opportunity to talk to some of the deck hands who were milling about. They let the kids – and Clara - handle the lobster as they were loading them on trucks for delivery.

The poles are the channel markers

High Tide

Low Tide

Then we took in some of the hikes and sites in the park. After this, we decided that we were going to put Clara's new pot to use tonight and cook some lobster.

This claw would be enough for a big dinner

We went back into Alma and Clara eventually picked a 2 pound (for me) and 1 ½ pound (for her) lobster. We came back to the motorhome and sure enough, we cooked them. And they were delicious – just as good as I have had.

Sure hope it doesn't bite me when I put him in the pot!

Kinda falls off the plate, and it was the small one!

After dinner, it was getting close to low tide, so I rode back down to Alma to see the difference. This is when it really strikes you how vast the tidal range is. The shoreline had moved a mile or more. I could hardly make out the shore from town. It is fascinating how the boats and docks are adapted to the tides.

At low tide, we see lots of people out walking on the "floor of the sea".

This boat seems a long way from water

I try to imagine what it would look like at Cape Lookout if we had this range of tides. Can you imagine the entire bight at the Cape exposed and just a creek running through it. That's what it would be. The deepest water in the bight is around 20 feet. A 35 foot tide would expose the entire area.

Thurs, Jul 25

It seems we've been switching from air conditioning to heat and back every day. Last night we had the heat on, and this afternoon we had the air conditioning on.

We got up early this morning and drove the 45 minute drive to the Hopewell Rocks Provincial (State) Park.

The Rocks are a major attraction, however we can only “walk on the floor of the ocean” within 3 hours of low tide. The the rest of the time, the water is covering the area. Low tide this morning was around 8 am, so we could hike on the floor until around 11 am.

Again, the immensity of the tidal changes amazes us. The explanation for why the tides are so high in this particular area (the highest in the world) has to do with the geology of Fundy Bay. The Bay is funnel-shaped – wide and deep at one end (West) and shallow at the other (East). The tide is pushed increasingly higher as the water moves up the Bay. By the time it reaches here, the average tide is 33' to 46'. The difference is caused by the relative positions of the sun and moon.

The tide rises at the rate of about 1 foot every 10 minute, 6 feet per hour, or about 36 feet on average for each 6 hour 40 minute tide swing. You can literally see it as it creeps upward.

Clara is holding seaweed that grows on the rocks, still wet from the high tide.

Another analogy is that if the tides around Beaufort were this extreme, all of the sounds around Beaufort would be exposed at low tide. You could literally walk to Shackleford Banks from Beaufort.  

Tomorrow, Nova Scotia!