Not to say that we didn’t enjoy New Brunswick but we really used the Province as a means to get from Maine through to Nova Scotia. Apparently tourism falls short due to this reason! Three hours beyond the quaint seaside town of Saint Andrews and just shy of the NS province border is probably the main reason that people flock to this area, a coastal highlight of towering rocks ascending up from the Bay of Fundy. Hopewell Rocks has one of the highest tides on the planet, averaging from 32-46 feet, almost as high as a four storey building!
One hundred billion tonnes of water rush into the bay twice daily, raising the water level by 4-6 feet every hour. A typical tide elsewhere in the world changes by around three feet over the entire tidal period. Pretty spectacular stuff. We missed the biggest tidal range by a couple of weeks but seeing the difference between low and high was still spectacular.
Passamaquoddy Bay inlet, St. Andrews
Our introduction into the Maritime region of Canada had just begun and was looking good. The coast of New Brunswick was the beginning of the Bay of Fundy’s attractions, including our first tidal bore, quaint fishing villages, lighthouses, and shorelines of endless red mud. So much red mud that we eventually got sick of the sight of the stuff!
Bay of Fundy at low tide
Hopewell Rocks at a ‘low’ high tide
Hopewell Rocks at low tide
We had barely a weekend to see the Bay of Fundy from the Nova Scotian side so with Google Maps and two fat bikes hanging from Going Brokes hitch we went off to experience life along highway 101. The plan was to make it as far as historic Annapolis Royal, a small town sitting almost across the bay from the New Brunswick city of Saint John. We failed to make it anywhere close with continual distractions and roads that didn’t allow much more than 40mph – hey, it’s not about the quantity of what we could squeeze into a weekend but the quality! Not realizing it even existed but the better option would have been the 2 hour ferry across the bay from Saint John, New Brunswick to Digby, Nova Scotia, cutting out the long drive around. Alternatively, we could have picked up the expensive vehicle ferry at Portland, Maine, taking us to Yarmouth on the west coast of Nova Scotia. Whichever option we chose it would have been far too much to try and fit all of the provinces highlights in.
Our first unexpected port of call was the Shubenacadie River, one of a handful of locations to either witness or participate in the natural event known as a tidal bore. Apparently various adventure companies raft them, surfers surf them, and tourists go watch them – in our case we happened to be passing a tourist info center on the Shubenacadie River who advised us that we were within an hour of a tidal bore occurrence. A few others were milling around on a platform on the edge of the river, eagerly looking for any change in the flow of muddy water. Rafters were idling in the middle of the river, also awaiting the incoming tide. Watching the ripples increasing in the river we thought that the tidal bore was on its way, then nothing – was that it? The predicted time had come and gone and with nothing more than a slight change in the flow of water we were disappointed! One minute the Shubenacadie River was flowing out towards the bay before the flow was reversed as the incoming tide pushed over the top of it – whilst certainly not impressive we got the gist of nature at its finest. We were both relieved we hadn’t dropped a hundred bucks each on a grade .05 rafting adventure.
We were told not to expect too much due to the lower tides but didn’t realize that if we blinked we’d miss it! Apparently a twice monthly spring tide is the perfect time due to the higher tidal range.
What tidal bore?
Walton Lighthouse
Burntcoat Head, home to the highest recorded tide
Halls Harbour at low tide
Continuing along the coastal road led us passed Burntcoat Head park, known for the worlds largest tides, Walton harbor, home of one of the many typical lighthouses in the Maritimes, and on to our final stop of Wolfville. Tourist info were once again a great resource providing us with plenty of places to visit on two wheels, including Baxters and Halls Harbors, the latter being a very popular fishing community.
Baxters Harbour beach
Lunenburg & Peggys Cove
It was almost a relief to say goodbye to the Bay of Fundy and welcome in the coves and blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean! The time had also come to take advantage of the abundance of lobster, not the crappy clawless type we were used to diving for in Florida, but proper pincered beasts.
Reaching the Atlantic shoreline was a short drive across the province, taking us first to picturesque Peggys Cove before a scenic ocean drive to the UNESCO town of Lunenburg. Peggys Cove is a quaint fishing community, complete with colorful wooden shacks, lobster pots, its famous lighthouse, and the usual tourist cafes and trinket shops. With the date being June 21st, the longest day of the year, we had decided it was time to camp, wilfully handing over $22 to the King Neptune Campground for a tent site right on the waterfront, and very conveniently located next door to a lobster processing plant – dinner that night was a no-brainer. The picturesque drive back to Peggys Cove for sunset and sunrise was not too shabby either.
Peggy’s Cove at sunset
A foggy morning at Peggy’s Cove
Sunset at St. Margarets Bay
A foggy Peggy’s Cove lighthouse
Lobster and beer from Nova Scotia, Priceless
Having a UNESCO tag usually draws us to a town, site or other place of interest, and with Lunenburg it was no different. Sitting right on the waterfront, its abundance of fish restaurants, ice cream shops, and many historic buildings made the town of around 2500 very livable! Our airbnb host had paid a very attractive sum of money for a three storey heritage building sitting only a couple blocks from the water, and as far as the already cheap property prices in the Maritimes went we were soon to see some areas costing substantially less.
It was here in Lunenburg that we also discovered home made kefir, a type of probiotic yoghurt. Another of our hosts guests was busy at work preparing the healthy breakfast ingredient from a grain, something we’re still not familiar with, but who are we to question this newfound money saver. All we were told was to take the grain, looking more like a couple of pieces of rice pudding, add it to a liter of heated then cooled organic milk, pop in a warm place for 24 hours, and voila, a liter of slightly tart probiotic goodness. This actually worked and our first batch went down very well on our fruit and nut breakfast. The key is to sieve the yoghurt, making sure a little of the grain is kept for the next batch of yoghurt – for the people that know me and how much of a pig I am it will not come as a surprise to know that I ate ALL of the grain in a single scoop of kefir! I just wanted to taste the next batch, totally unaware that the grain we needed to carry forward was in that spoonful! Since we’re now back on the road we have found that some Organic stores sell a small sachet that contains something similar to a grain but only makes a couple of batches of kefir – for now this will have to do.
From Lunenburg, heading along the coast in either direction took us past coves, peninsulas and countless islands – many just mere rocks but some kitted out with a fancy pad or two. Our favorite little hangout was the small community of Blue Rocks, an artist haven and home to our airbnb hosts small coffee and ice cream shack. Recently opened for the season the tiny shack known as The Point General sat looking out across often mist covered islets and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. Damn good freshly brewed coffee enjoyed on comfy outdoor loungers made me not want to leave – Andrea really needs to start appreciating coffee!
Photogenic Blue Rocks
For relaxation, natural beauty, and ocean kayaking this part of Nova Scotia was absolute paradise.
June 18th – June 23rd 2016
