August 10, 2017: Up and on the road to visit the Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park just east of Truro. The wildlife there were native animals that had been injured or were unable to survive in the wildlife. Got to see 2 moose, a young bull and a young cow, but still not "in the wild"! Lots of birds, fishers, pine martens, marmots, feral horses that are indigenous to the islands off of Nova Scotia (believed to have been brought here in the 1700's by the early settlers), wolves, fox, river otters -- the list goes on...eagles, beavers, caribou, mink, cougar, black bears, skunk, baby ducks, emus & on...
Spent a nice couple of hours looking and observing, and then headed for our "special spot" to watch the bore come in. We saw a faint trail through the brush when we were there yesterday and followed it - at the end was an old bridge abutment right on the river, just perfect for the two of us, Baxter, and our lawn chairs. Note: 'old bridge' includes guard rails for barriers to keep cars from driving into the river. too high for Baxter to jump. Lucky for Baxter Mike can still dead lift 100 lbs over the rail & back so he could go too. We got there plenty early, to make sure no one else had "discovered" our spot, settled in, and were rewarded with the largest bore we have seen yet. Again, pictures can't do it justice, but Google "Truro Tidal Bore" and you will see it.
Back into the Jeep, and headed for Burntcoat Head, which has the largest tidal change of anywhere on the Bay of Fundy. Why Burncoat you may ask? Group of guys standing around the warming fire & one burned his coat or left it by the fire to dry & it was burnt the next morning or a simple translation of Indian to French & back to English... you pick. Acutally, we don't really know where the name came from. A nice drive through beautiful countryside, with lots of agricultural activity and wonderful views of the bay popping up as nice surprises along the way. There is a replica of an earlier lighthouse at the head, and we checked out the view from the top. Then down to the beach, which was partially covered by the incoming tide. The water level changes by up to 57 feet, depending on the phase of the moon and the time of the year! There was a nice little Provincial Park there, with nice interpretive signs to explain the history of the area. Stood on the steps carved out the rock going down to the beach and got our feet wet in the Bay of Fundy again.
Dinner time was coming up and we were getting hungry, so we headed back towards Truro, and then over to Masstown, to check out the market and fish market we were told was a good place for seafood. Went to the "fish boat" which was basically a fish and chips place, but had a large outside deck and wonderful fish. A nice dinner of scallops and cod with chips, a little live music to enjoy and a fun visit with a lady from Vancouver, BC that we invited to share our table, as seating was limited. She has a grandmother that lives on PEI (as in Prince Edward Island for those not up on Canadian geography and didn't see it above), so we got good tips about what to see and do while we were there.
While we were waiting for our order, the singer for the band announced "if the people that own the red Jeep with Washington plates are in the audience, it appears your dog may need some assistance." Yikes - another Stamon Adventure about to occur! Baxter was doing his usual "I'm not happy at being left alone" bark and when Mike went to check on him, he found two young women who were quite upset that he was "in obvious distress" (they didn't stop to think he might be barking because they were standing right next to the Jeep) and was "all cooped up" in the Jeep. They also advised they had called the RCMP! Turns out it is illegal to leave your dog in the car in Nova Scotia, which is information we never saw anywhere! We had parked the car in a shady spot, left the windows partially open so he had plenty of fresh air, and he had lots of water and room. Mike thanked them for their concern, moved the Jeep closer to where we were eating, and brought Baxter up onto the deck with us. This whole adventure explains why Nova Scotia is such a dog friendly place-they are welcome almost anywhere, which had been quite surprising to us, and now we know why.
Back to the motor home, and to bed, ready for our big adventure the next day. We are also thankful we made reservations for Baxter!
August 11: Quick breakfast and headed for Advocate Harbor. Stopped at the campground office and Mike got the "not nice" clerk while checking to see if they could change $100 to Canadian. She said "sure, $100 US FOR $100 Canadian". The exchange rate is 23%, so he politely declined and left! We will find a bank on our way to Advocate Harbor and make the exchange.
On our way out, we were struck again by how each little village or area has at least one, and often two or more churches. They are traditionally New England with big white spires. It is obvious that faith was and is a very strong part of the people that live in this beautiful but also harsh land!
Also still amazed by seeing boats in marinas sitting on the bottom with no water in sight & tied so they wouldn't fall over while waiting for the water to raise back up over 40 to 50 feet or more at high tide.
Arrived at Buddy's K9 Flop House - a wonderful spot, with a great lady named Taylor who took Baxter in hand and promptly made friends with him. As we drove off, she was taking him for "walkies" around the property, so we were comfortable that he would have a great day with her and her husband.
On to Advocate Harbor and NovaShores Adventures for a 6-hour kayak tour! As the saying goes, "it's not the end of the world but you can see it from there". Got all geared up, got our safety lesson and instructions, and away we went. Our guide, James, was a very entertaining and competent young man from, of all places, London, England. His parents have a summer home at Advocate Harbor and he has been coming there for 14 years and just loves the area. The day was sunny, the seas were calm, and the scenery was totally amazing! The kayak slipped through the water with little effort, and once we got our rhythm down and figured out how to coordinate steering, it was smooth sailing. We got to paddle between huge sea stacks, into sea caves, and up to some huge rock cliffs. Our group landed on a beach that was once the site of a ship building facility and small town, but is now completely deserted. We shared an amazing lunch prepared by the tour company, walked around and stretched our legs, and then back in the kayak and back to our drop site. Helped get the kayaks up to the truck, got out of our gear, said our good byes and headed back to Buddy's to collect Baxter and then back to the motor home.
Baxter was excited to see us, and had been a perfect gentleman while we were gone. We had a nice little visit with the owners (they run a German Shepherd rescue so "talked dogs" for a bit) and then headed back. A long day, but one we will never forget!
August 12: Lazy day - slept in, read, did laundry, cleaned up the inside of the motor home, took Baxter for a walk, more reading, and got everything ready to go in the morning. Realized Glennis forgot to fill one of Baxter's prescriptions, and a Canadian pharmacy won't fill it without a script from a Canadian vet, so will have to find a Canadian vet in Halifax on Monday. A quick call to the wonderful people at Buddy's Flop House got us the name of several vets in Halifax that should help us out. It's always something!
August 13: Headed for Peggy's Cove area. Stopped at Costco in Halifax - what a zoo! Lines at least 20 people long - glad we won't be doing that again! On to Indian Harbor, on the south shore of Nova Scotia. Scored an amazing campsite at King Neptune's Campground in Indian Harbor - right on the water! The view from our front window is right out to the little harbor and the Atlantic. Toured around Peggy's Cove a little bit, and visited the memorial for Swiss Air Flight 111, which crashed into the Atlantic just off Peggy's Cove. It was overcast when we first arrived, and then turned to heavy rain, which they really needed, as it has been a very dry summer so far. What a beautiful area!
August 14: Woke up to a "seagull serenade" at 6 AM this morning. They were gathered eating "dollar fish" which are little fish that get caught up in the seaweed as the tide goes out. What a racket! Up and headed for Halifax for Baxter's vet appointment, so we can refill his prescription. Located the vet's office a few hours early (wanted to be sure we could find it!), so went to see the Titanic Cemetery. There were people from tour busses there, so we kind of listened in. Very interesting. Then grabbed a bite to eat and a growler of beer for Mike at a beer garden in downtown Halifax. Saw the vet, got a prescription filled, and back to Peggy's Cove/Indian Harbor. Parts of the Tom Selleck/Jesse Stone movies has been filmed in this area - kept hoping to see him pop up somewhere, but no such luck! Incredible sunset tonight as we were roasting hot dogs for dinner.
Oh yes - here are some fun highway signs for you!
Mike and Glennis
Things we learned:
- Don't leave your dog in the car in Nova Scotia - bad, bad, bad!
- Still not seeing Canadians who use their turn signals...thinking they must not have one on their cars.
- One gets the best travel information from others travelers. Baxter is great at seeking out friendly & informative tourists.
- We are mastering the art of what Canadian highway signs mean...merging trucks, merging school buses, what a 'hidden drive way' is, bridge ices before road...
- Getting better at converting k/h to m/h.
- Tide will be up to your neck in 27 min on an incoming tide. Tidal change can be up to 57'.
- The land around the Bay of Fundy actually shifts a little when the tide comes in - several billion tons of water come in on each tide!
Love following your adventure!! Such interesting places you have chosen :)
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