Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, CA

We made our way into Canada on Wednesday with no big excitement at the border.  We were asked a few questions, told to have a nice visit and we were on our way.  We got there early, so there was not a line to have to wait in.  We were the third vehicle and we were through the border in less than 5 minutes.  So.......

With no Canadian maps in our GPS and everything in KPH (instead of MPH) or so many Kilometers  to go (instead of miles), we made our way down to Hopewell Cape, NB to see the famous high tides on the Bay of Fundy.  The tides vary day to day, but can be up to 52 feet.

The Bay of Fundy is located between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with a small portion touching the state of Maine.  It is known to have the highest tidal range in the world.  Hopewell Rocks (also called Flowerpot Rocks) are located on the coast near Hopewell Cape, NB.   The rocks stand 40 - 70 feet tall and due to the extreme tidal range, the base of the rocks are covered twice a day.  During Low tide you can walk on the ocean floor out to the rocks and along the coastline.....as long as you make it back by high tide.  During High tide, you can kayak the area.

The campground we stayed in was only a few minutes away, so we went to "the rocks"  to view the High tide on Wednesday afternoon, and went back Thursday morning to see the Low tide.  It was truly amazing!  We walked out to the rocks during the Low tide.  In the pictures, you can see how high the tide was.

 

This is a picture of the rocks during low tide. 

Below is the same rocks during high tide.

 



The next three pictures were taken inside the interpretive center.  The first picture is a representation of the difference between the high tide (people in kayaks) and the low tide (people walking the floor).

 



This picture shows people walking while the tide is coming in.  You can be on the ocean floor from up to 3 hours before low tide and 3 hours after low tide.

This one shows people kayaking the area.

 

 

 

We are one our way down to walk on the ocean floor.  It looks like a reddish brown clay color.  We saw the shoe cleaning area that was available when you come back up.....we were wondering just how muddy it would be.  It wasn't.  Large slates of rock and smaller rock cover most of the floor in this area.

 

 

 

 

People were walking in every direction.  You can see the seaweed in the picture.

 

Erosion over time carved these magnificent rocks and cliffs.

 

 

These are the rocks you saw in the first few pictures.

 

I'm walking in the center of the biggest one.

 

 

These are the steps we came down and are now headed back up.

 

From the sign below, you can see that the Low tide is around 12:15 pm.    We were there at 9:15 am which is 3 hours before  low and the signs says to be back here by 3:15 pm which is 3 hours after low tide.

 





We did the "Fundy Bay Drive" along the coast to the Cape Enraged Lighthouse and to a small lobster town called Alma.   Saw this beautiful Lupine growing everywhere.

Cape Enraged Lighthouse.

You can't tell it in the pictures, but the wind was blowing about 40 knots up here!

Really pretty scenery!

 

 

There was even a zip line you could take from one side to the other......maybe next time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These boat are sitting on the ground in the small town of Alma as we drove past some of the docks.

 

 

 The tide was going out.

 

 

 

 

 

While walking around town, we stopped in one of the many lobster houses.  You could buy live lobsters or cooked lobsters.

 

 

The tank in above picture had live lobsters in it.  You could pick out your lobster and they would cook it for you.  Even had a few tables where you could sit and eat them.

 

 

 

...........or you could pick out one that was already cooked and take it with you.

While we were in town, Alan tried a Canadian dish called Poutine.  It's made with french-fries and cheese curd topped with a light brown gravy type sauce.  It's usually sold in small diner and pubs as well as by roadside chip wagons.  Alan said it was different, but good.



 We kept seeing these "moose" signs along the roadsides, however, we haven't seen a moose yet.

Finally saw a moose.  He was in front of a gift shop.......he knew the place to be.  Hopefully we will see a real one later.

Yep.....just a statue!  But he looked real from a distance. 

 

 

I'm guessing a lobsterman lives here.......

 

 

 

 

We passed this covered bridge on our drive back to the campground.  There are several old covered bridges in the New Brunswick area.

 

 

 

........as well as this old barn. 

 

Had fun at Hopewell Rocks and surrounding area.  On our way into Nova Scotia to see tidal bore associated with the Bay of Fundy.

Portland, ME

After several days on the road, we arrived Thursday in Scarborough, ME, which is just a few miles from Portland.  On Friday we drove to South Portland where the port is located.  It is a big tourist area now, but we were told that in the 80's it was run down and not a place you would want to visit.
Once we found a place to park, we walked around for a while to see all of the shops and restaurants.

 

 One of several streets up from the waterfront that are filled with gift shops, boutiques and restaurants.

 

 There are still a few cobble stone streets in the area.  Not easy to walk on! But really neat to see.

 

Portland Lobster Company is located next to the tour boat and looked like the place to get a lobster roll or just about any seafood dish.  Very popular and busy.

 

We took a two hour "Lighthouse Lovers" boat tour on Casco Bay.   Saw many lighthouses and even passed a small island full of Sea Lions.

 

 

 

 This is our tour boat is coming in.  It was a great day for a boat tour!

 

This boat was docked across the canal from the tour boat.  It has "Joseph F. Kennedy" on the side of the boat.  Don't  know exactly what it was used for, but it may have been the yacht tender to take passengers to and from their yacht.

Now that the tour boat has docked, we are just waiting in line before boarding.

 

Part of the Berlin Wall on display on the dock.

 

 

 

Saw this lobsterman on our way out into the bay.  We saw many lobster boats and buoys along the way

 

 



 

This was the first lighthouse along our trip.  There are quite a few lighthouses in and around Casco Bay.  The most famous and most photographed is the Portland Head Lighthouse shown in the picture below.  

I did a watercolor painting of the lighthouse many years ago.

 

 

 

Our tour guide (on the right holding the microphone) did a great job and.....he was CUTE!

 

We sat on the upper deck and had a great view.

 

 

One side of this lighthouse always stays clean due to the large waves in the winter hitting the side and sometimes the waves are higher than the lighthouse.

 

Just liked the seagull on the buoy. 

We passed this small island with lots of Sea Lions.  

 

We were told that this yacht belonged to Eric Clapton.



 

 A nice park located at one end of the city.  There was a wedding in progress as we passed by.

 

 There is a ferry system that will take you and your car from Portland to Nova Scotia.  You can rent a bunk to sleep while on this 12 hour overnight trip.  When you wake up in the morning you are in Nova Scotia.

The ferry below is a smaller ferry that takes passengers (not vehicles) to several of the islands in Casco Bay where people have vacation homes.

 

Above picture is just another great view of the city as we were coming back into port.

 

 

Once we were back on land, we decided to take a 45 minute tour of the city by trolley.

 

We saw lots of statues and learned a lot of history about Portland on the trolley tour. 

 

More statues and cobble stone streets.

 

 

The statue above is of a lobsterman pinning a lobster.  This was an early method used to secure the lobster claws with wooden pins.  Todays lobsterman use rubber bands on the claws.

 

During the land and sea tour, we kept seeing airliners landing and taking off.  Once we got to a certain area on the trolley tour, we had a great view of the Portland Jetport.

 

 

Lots of great old buildings and homes.

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see from the picture below, most of the city buildings were built using bricks.  After almost all of the city burned down three times, it was decided they would only use bricks to rebuild.  Portland is the largest city in Maine with a population of around 67,000 people.

 

 

We had wonderful weather during our visit to this great city. 

 

 

Coming soon....Maine and Nova Scotia 2015

HOME!

After stopping in Pensacola to visit friends and another stop in Lake City to see Alan's sister, Linda, we are back from our long summer vacation! 

It was really GREAT fun.  When I look back at all the things we saw and the things we got to do, I realize just how fortunate we are!

We have been cool and dry for so long that it's going to take some getting used to the heat and humidity back here in Florida! 

And to empty the motorhome!  :) 

I had better get busy!  Back to reality!  :)


Before you go, check out the post from when we stopped in Amarillo, TX.  We didn't have internet for a few days, so I'm just now finishing up.

Thanks for everyone's comments.  I hope you enjoyed viewing the blog as much as I did writing it. 

Sandra