Travels with haRVy

We got up early to do laundry, pump out, fill water tanks, get WiFi access and check out of the campground. Nearby Point Wolf provided a lovely hike down through the forest on a boardwalk and many wooden staircases to another incredibly deep beach.

We had lunch in Alma (gateway to Fundy National Park) at The Octopus’ Garden with our new friends from Colorado. They’ve been on the road since February and figure they might be home by Christmas! At 3 p.m. we finally left the area to visit Hopewell Rocks, where all the promotional photos for New Brunswick are taken.

Once again we lucked out on the tides. We thought we might be disappointed since we were three hours past low tide, but it turned out to be very interesting since we could see the tide coming in fast while we still got to walk amongst the “flowerpots” as the formations are called. Plus, since it was relatively late in the day, there were far fewer folks around. This is the biggest tourist attraction in New Brunswick and we’ve been told it can be oppressively crowded. We spent a good couple of hours checking everything out and taking way too many photographs. A little blue sky would have been nice, but I was thankful for the coolness the cloud cover provided. We have found the afternoon sun here to be surprising harsh. It is really hot and requires lots of sunscreen protection.

After enjoying the rocks, we pressed on into Nova Scotia. When we found cell coverage in Moncton, we called another farm that offers free camping near the shore of the Northumberland Sound in Northport. An hour later Melanie and Charlie welcomed us warmly, even inviting us in for some wine. We deferred to coffee in the morning since it was 9 p.m. and we hadn’t eaten our dinner yet.

Party cloudy, sporadic sun, warm temperatures. 119 miles

Al cooked me breakfast to order for my birthday. Two soft boiled eggs, half a blueberry muffin, cantaloupe and coffee were on the menu. He even did the dishes too!

For lunch we went to the local lobster shack and, as much as I hate to tell you this, the lobsters up here really are noticeably tastier and of a more appetizing texture than anything I’ve had in Rhode Island or Maine. We figure it must be the extremely cold and clean (due to the radical tides washing in and out every day) waters. I had cold lobster meat on top of a salad of mixed greens with blueberries, almonds, and a bit of feta cheese.

They claim to have the highest tides in the world here at over 36 feet, so we definitely wanted to experience that personally. At low tide we went on an ocean floor walk with a park ranger. Anna taught us all about the unique tides here on the Bay of Fundy. She also took us out to where the tide was coming in to view and learn about the creatures who manage to live on and under the rocks exposed twice every day at low tide. As the tide approaches shore it can rise as much as a vertical inch a minute – that’s 5-feet an hour! We thoroughly appreciated this experience and even stayed out a bit longer on our own.

We rode our bikes around this surprisingly charming little town, ate dinner, and then attended a really terrific concert of local contemporary Acadian music at the park’s outdoor amphitheater, which was a 5-minute bike ride from our campsite 

I’d say it was a pretty nice way to spend my birthday.

Partly cloudy and warm. 0 miles