Our goal today was to check out the extreme tides that the Bay of Fundy is famous for. The bay has the largest changes in tide of anywhere in the world sometimes as much as 40 feet between high and low tide. Today’s difference is a mere 22 feet. Hopewell Rocks is a favorite spot for viewing the tides and a picturesque place to walk around on the ocean floor among the fascinating rock formations. Low tide was at 12:20 so we left the campground with enough time to make the 40 minute drive and get there to see it. The first thing we saw leaving camp was the view from our campground overlook where the boats at the dock below were now sitting on the bare ocean floor!
We drove through quaint little towns like Alma and Riverside Albert surrounded by green countryside and views of the bay. PJ drove and I snapped way too many pictures of old barns and abandoned shacks, a favorite subject of mine. Maybe one day I’ll do a shacks only post with some of my favorites.
We arrived at Hopewell Rocks, paid our admission and joined 10,000 of our closest friends as we hiked the trail and made our way down the steps to meander around the seaweed and sand on the low tide beach. But not before stopping in the visitor center to use the loo where it seems some of Canada’s foreign visitors have a hard time keeping their feet on the floor.
The rocks are a marvel to behold. Carved from the cliffs over time, they stand sentry over the cove until the elements have their way and they topple to return to sea. Many areas are roped off where the base of the formations has become too tenuous to allow visitors to wander underneath. We took a million pictures, watched a few people lose their footing and unceremoniously flop around on the muddy ocean bottom and hiked both ends of the cove. We sat for a while admiring the spectacle at the far north end where there were fewer people. After an hour and a half, we headed back to check up on Cali.
On the drive home we took the scenic route out towards Harvey and Cape Enrage. We drove the potholed side road to the cape with an obnoxious Québécois inches from our bumper. Our first Canadian tailgater. The beach was windy and when we drove up to the viewpoint, they wanted a fee to have a peek. We were already done with fees from Hopewell so we opted out and headed home. The views along the road are spectacular enough and free for the taking. Cali was happy to see us and after a walk, we all had a good nap then we were off for the return trip to see the 6:30 high tide back at Hopewell.
There were hardly any people this time around. We hiked down to the cliffs and this time there was no beach to walk on. The rocks were submerged where we had been playing earlier. A group of kayakers were paddling through the arches we had posed in front of this morning. We walked down the stairs and got different views from different landings. A beautiful day that actually lived up to the hype. We even enjoyed the completely diverse throngs of people and thank many of them for some of our more amusing moments throughout the day.
The drive back was mellow with the sun sitting low in the sky. We pulled off a side street to drive through a covered bridge then unsuccessfully searched for moose’s along the creek. A small farm that now offers a B&B had a stand out front selling jams, pies and vegetables. We bought a couple of jars of jam made from freshly picked raspberries and blueberries from their fields. A relaxing night in Wilson and off to bed.
Heart on the Wing 