Working with the Tides

Timing was somewhat critical on this day.  If we wanted to explore Joggins Cliffs we had to get there before the tide came in. We did this, but just barely. When we arrived at this Unesco World Heritage Site, we were warned that we didn’t have much time. This proved to be true. Reddened water rose surprising quickly. We wandered a bit, but stuck close to the stairs. We saw a number of fossils, mostly of water imprints and trees, before the waves ushered us back up the stairs.

We paid extra to view the small museum inside the complex. It was well worth it. The exhibit was very educational, with beautiful fossil specimens.

The landmark Hopewell Rocks were next on our visit. We arrived shortly after high tide. This allowed us to watch the tide recede as we hiked to the various lookouts throughout this provincial park. Like at Joggins Cliffs the tide ebbed out alarmingly fast.

We went down to the beach and waited watching the kayakers paddle by, until the water was shallow enough to walk over to another section.

By now, the fog had lifted and it was scorching hot. Coastal weather is so fickle.

Next up, Bay of Fundy, our home for the night. All I can say is, “WOW, did we ever luck out. ”

When we checked in, the ranger said, “Oh! You have that spot!”, with an excited smile. I smiled back and took the permit she handed to me. I had booked all of our camp sites pretty much when the parks opened up for reservations in January. Each National Park has multiple campgrounds throughout the park and I arbitrarily selected ours. I look for things like proximity to water, washrooms, activity areas and try to ensure we were away from RV areas. RVs can be quite noisy.  I suddenly, got nervous. What was the story with our site?  We followed the map. We passed a gap in the trees with a gorgeous view and kept going.  All of the sites facing the bay could barely see the ocean through the trees. Then I realized, our campsite was the one with gap.

We put up our tent and dried off the drizzle from Laurie Park. We setup our chairs for prime view appreciation and ate our lunch there.  While we did all of this, other campers would come by and ask us how we got our site. Sometimes I thought people were going to move in.

After lunch we walked through the park and then down to the ocean floor, walking all the way out to the water for lowest tide.

 

We ate dinner in Alma and returned to our site to find that someone had been sitting in our chairs admiring our view!

We grabbed the car and drove out to Point Wolfe to see the covered bridge before sunset.  There was someone there with a suped up drone. While we hiked around park security met the drone operator and asked him to leave.

Back at camp we had a clear night. We setup the telescope to explore the summer sky and watch for the beginnings of the Persieds Meteor Shower visible with the naked eye. My urban raised child had never seen a shooting star before. Though they were abundant this night, she didn’t see them or couldn’t comprehend what she was looking at. This was resolved on Day 9.

We went to sleep under the brilliant action filled sky, next to the sound of the rising tide.  Had I known to expect this paradise, I would have booked two nights here.