Hopewell Rocks NB

After a round or two of Bridge last night [when the girls got royally trounced] and a good breakfast start to the day, we drove off to Hopewell Rocks where you can walk on the ocean floor at low tide.  Here's a group shot of the intrepid sea-floor walkers;  Peter, Joan, Chris and the trusty guide, Cragen, a gorgeous and well behaved flat coat retriever. They're shot against  background of rocks which make the cliff-face next to the Bay of Fundy.

The Bay of Fundy is known for its very large tide ranges; here the tides rise and fall over thirty feet, twice  day.  This creates a lot of water flow which in turn wears down some pretty impressive rock over time.  At the Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park, they've arranged facilities so that you can walk down to the sea floor at low tide.  You can walk on the sea floor for quite  ways, staying clear of the mud which is sticky and slippery at the same time.  Those who walked to the water's edge got very muddy feet!  Wiser ones walks on the rocks and escaped relatively unscathed.

The erosion carves away huge blocks of rock which were originally softer and leave behind some wonderful sculpted boulders and rocks, and some very striking small canyons or cracks in the cliff.  In the picture below, you can see Peter and Joan walking through one of these cracks in the rock.  It gives you a sense of scale, doesn't it?

I wonder if the grandkids can figure out why they call some of these rocks "flowerpots"?  Check out the trees on top!

There were also many other interesting things to see such as these ferns.  I thought they looked like something cloned by Photoshop.  ... were they?

And as I mentioned yesterday,  the lupines are in glorious bloom everywhere.  I'll try to shoot some more later.  They are really quite spectacular.

Ottawa to Black River NB

Hi all;

We're back on the road again for a week of relaxation with Chris and Peter.  They live in Moncton and Saint John NB is not that far away.  Dave and Dale, from our old neighbourhood in Manotick, [yes the same Dave and Dale we visited at the Seminole Reservation in Florida] have an ancestral house on the Bay of Fundy, not that far away from Saint John, and we had a fresh 'invite'.  We drove rather constantly for thirteen hours and arrived in Black River shortly after sundown.  It was fun having Dave and Dale show us around the area where Dale grew up.  The house was built by a great-grandparent back in 1811 or so and has a wonderful collection of old furniture.  Over the years, additions were made here and there with many of the mod-cons having been added by Dave and Dale over the years.  Now it's a very comfortable and large old home, with a fantastic view.

I got up for the next sunrise and managed this photo of a lonely pine in their side yard, still before sunrise! 

After sunrise, the warm sun bathed these maple trees beside their place.

 

Across the road, Dave bought a large tract of land so that no-one would build there and spoil their view!  Can you blame him?  This is the view to be enjoyed on all but the foggiest of days.  The land on the far side is part of Nova Scotia.

After a hearty breakfast, we took off, top down of course, to have a quick tour of the area with Dave and Dale as tour guides.  One of the places where we stopped for  while was the small ship harbour of Black River.  It's low tide and many of the boats were elsewhere.  This little fishing boat had just enough water to float.  Another boat [picture still in computer...] is resting on the bottom, not a drop of water nearby.  The tides here are twice daily and have a range of 30 feet!  That's about 2 billion gallons of water flushing in and out of the Bay of Fundy twice a day!  Quite dramatic!

The next image was of the little Anglican church that serves as a landmark before arriving at Dave and Dale's, now viewed from across a field, hope you like it.

This is my first time in NB in June, and not likely my last: the lupines are in bloom and what a sight it is!  They're everywhere along the highways, in ditches, on hillsides.  Just everywhere in southern NB.  Here's a little sample.  I'm sure I'll find more to photograph later.

So we left Black River and arrived in Moncton in mid-afternoon. Thursday, we're off to Hopewell Rocks, a Provincial Park where you can walk on the ocean floor at low tide and kayak thirty feet higher over the same area at high tide.  Until then, take care!