Eastern Canada

From Maine we crossed into New Brunswick, Canada. Eastern Canada was the portion of this trip I have looked forward to the most. However dave and I made a tough decision that effected how much time we had to spend in eastern Canada. We didn’t realize quite how much the decision to head out east this summer would affect us. You see we have a busy summer ahead of us. dave’s family is having a family reunion in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan the first weekend in August. This will be when the family gets together to spread his uncle’s ashes. We both knew we couldn’t miss that. Then Kim, dave’s sister, invited me to go with her to a women’s festival in western Michigan the week after the reunion. Once again, I couldn’t say no. Lastly my sister is getting married in September back in California. So instead of staying put in Michigan like we should have dave and I decided to push ahead to see as much of eastern Canada as possible. We knew the trip would be short and rushed but we had to go for it. We quickly found out eastern Canada is even more beautiful then we imagined and we could have easily spent three months checking out the sites and meeting the people.

I know Eastern Canada isn’t too familiar to most people, so I’ve included an overview map for you to get your bearings.

Map of Eastern Canada (Double click to enlarge)
Our first stop was Bay of Fundy National Park in New Brunswick. The Bay of Fundy is uniquely shaped to produce the world’s highest tides. Because of its shape and depth water is forced in and out of it with each low and high tide. Most of us know that the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun are what creates the tides. However during each new and full moon the moon, Earth and sun are almost in a straight line and the gravitational force if even greater. The Bay of Fundy is a tapering basin that gets progressively shallower farther north. By the time the tide reaches the end of the bay it can be ten times higher then the tides outside the bay. It is at theses times (about every two weeks) that the Bay of Fundy tides are even larger then normal, up to 56 feet!!

Bay of Fundy National Park is along the bay’s northwestern shoreline. It protects one of Canada’s unique landscapes: the Maritime Acadian Highlands that rise abruptly from the sea. The large tides cause the Bay of Fundy’s waters to slosh continually. That sloshing doesn’t allow the water to heat up so air that passes over the Bay is cooled and the surrounding forestlands of the National park are bathed in the foggy air. The result is cooler temperatures in the summer and warmer temperatures in the winter.

Inlet to Bay
dave and Dogs n Beach
Bay Scenery
From the National Park we continued along the bay’s northern coast into Nova Scotia. The Bay of Fundy moves into the Minas Channel in central Nova Scotia and eventually up some of the nearby rivers. On the rivers the amplified tide causes the currents to change directions as millions of gallons of seawater pour into them creating a tidal bore. At mid-tide the force of this moving water is equal to the combined flow of all the rivers and streams on Earth! In fact, the Nova Scotia countryside actually tilts slightly under the immense weight.

Dry River Bed

Same River Bed When Tide Came In
Shubenacadie River at Low Tide
Shubenacadie River After Tidal Bore Came Through
Tidal Bore (Notice the current going around this old bridge support. This is the current pushing UPSTREAM, right in this photo, because of the bore.)
Guided Trip to Raft the Tidal Bore
At low tide the water is literally sucked out of the Bay and boats left in the harbors have to be tied up to prevent them from falling over!

Dry Harbor at Low Tide
Boats at Low Tide
Leaving the Bay of Fundy behind our next stopping point was on the eastern shoreline of Nova Scotia. The force of the Atlantic Ocean on the shoreline created a series of caves in which the daily pounding of the surf continues to enlarge. Here they call this phenomenon Ovens.

Coastal Scenery
Looking Down on the Inlet to the Oven
Inside an Oven Looking Out
Our last stop in Nova Scotia turned out to be Halifax. We both had a great time in Halifax. It is a larger city but definitely has a smaller town feel. We stopped by the Saturday morning Farmers Market to get some locally grow treats. We ate the best strawberries either of us had ever had and a couple of Cornish pasteries. (For you Michiganders they were similar to pasties.)

Farmers Market
Every two years Halifax hosts a number of the tall ships from across the world. We were lucky enough to be there on the opening weekend and saw 22 tall ships, including the Back Pearl, Johnny Depp’s ship in the film Pirates of the Caribbean.

Tall Ships
We also visited the Halifax Citadel. Since Halifax’s founding in 1749, the Citadel site has been home to four different forts. These forts were built to deter and overland assault on the city and dockyard.

Citadel Guard
Each day at noon civilian re-enactors from the Living History Unit dress as the Royal Artillery and shoot off a cannon.

Noon Cannon Firing
Bag Pipers
Just as we were about to leave Halifax for our ferry reservation to Newfoundland we got word that my Uncle Paul had died. This is the same uncle who lost his son back in January. That meant my aunt Celest had now endured the deaths of the two closest people to her within six months time. We canceled our reservations and immediately left for Detroit to catch a flight to Hawaii.

(Double click on any photo to enlarge.)