Bay of Fundy

Our trip north from Campobello took us by ferry to the mainland of Canada.  This alternative allowed us to remain in Canada instead of going back to the US driving and then re-entering Canada.  The trip we took allowed us to travel by small ferry to Deer Island and then take a free Provincial to the mainland of New Brunswick.  We drove to St. John and saw a few sites and got to a bank.  In Campobello we had operated in dollars, but for the trip we were now undertaking we would need to have Canadian currency.  St John's major natural feature is a gorge that due to the extreme tides reverses itself and causes "reversible waterfalls".  We only got to see them flow in one direction and waiting for the reverse would take 12 hours.  We figured in our long trip we would experience the tides in their full effect.  St John also offered our first experience with French speaking Canadians.  The province is the only province to be bi-lingual and recognizes both French and English in equal merit.  

Our arrival at Fundy National Park exposed us to what are the most dramatic tidal changes in the planet.  The Bay of Fundy experiences tidal changes that are in the order of 50 feet  in the most extreme locations.  It was not hard to see changes as we went around hiking and exploring throughout the national park.  The shore would appear as far as the eye could see and then vanish with waves pounding the shore that seemed miles away.  While we camped a pair of California surfers rode the "bore" (the edge of the tide) and broke the record by riding it for 29 kilometers into nearby Moncton.

  

A trip to a an old logging camp that was served by a stream turned into a long exposed canyon with miles of beaches and then twelve hours later it would be flooded

My traveling companion Marti with Limo at an exposed bluff in a beach cove that can be seen empty in the image left and covered in water in the image below right.  

Canadian National Parks provide all manner of amenities like the pool pictured above.  This solar heated pool allowed an opportunity to get wet.  The bay water is rather intolerable although there are always groups of people polar bears that go swimming even in winter.

my traveling companion Marti enjoying a little rum and coke to end a day of hiking

The landscapes were majestic.  The rock formations proved to be dramatic and exposed the history of the planet.  The best part of this coast was the lack of people.  When we first planned this trip we made reservations at the first three stops fearing the type of attendance we knew from American national parks.  Strangely, the Canadian counterparts  were hyped but in all but one of the places we traveled were largely vacant.  At Fundy NP we had a campsite with five or six other campers the rest of the site was under renovation to include yurts, a type of Mongolian tent that included electricity and bathrooms.  We found few people really camping in a tent, Canadians seemed to prefer motor homes.  Regardless we enjoyed privacy of miles of open space, beaches without a soul and lots of wildlife to enjoy.