Saturday, June 09, 2012
Wouldn’t you just know our last day in PEI would be
blazing sunlight!
We left yesterday
about 10, saying good-bye to Les is not quick as he has lots of stories to
tell. I had seen a tiny woodpecker in the early morning, too far away to
positively identify. I mentioned it to Les, with whom we had been chatting the
day before about some of the birds we had seen. Before we could leave we got a
recitation of many other birds on the island and where we could see them. I
think Rob turned Les into a birder. Five days was enough to tour most of the
island although we didn’t see the far eastern part or the far western part.
Marlene was able to find a play we could attend, but no ceilidhs. Still too
early. We decided against the play, having been rudely awakened the night
before by Dusty who was busy upchucking a handkerchief of mine he had swallowed
some days before. Couldn’t get back to sleep after that. So, instead of the
play, we opted for a nice dinner nearby and were treated to a balloon ride
getting underway right outside the restaurant. Dinner was an all you can eat of
mussels, clams, hot rolls, seafood chowder, vegetable beef soup, potato salad,
coleslaw, garden salad, dessert and one
helping only of carrots, potatoes and
mashed turnip and a choice of entrée, including lobster. We skipped the
mussels, clams, chowder and soup and I still brought home more than half of my
dinner for lunch yesterday.
Our drive to Hopewell Cape, NB took just about 3 hours so
we arrived mid-day, just in time to head out to the Hopewell Rocks, aka flower
pots. Hopewell Cape is right on the Bay of Fundy. Hopewell Rocks is the iconic
area most people associate with the influence of the extreme tides. The tide
was up when we got there so just pictures of the rocks. Today we’ll be able to
actually walk on the beach under the rocks we photographed. Low tide is about
10 this morning. Another wouldn’t you know…. It’s raining this morning! Guess
we’ll take an umbrella.
Since I didn’t get the above posted I’ll just add the
rest of the day.
As I said, it was raining, but not heavy rain. We left
Dusty in the coach, which I’m sure he appreciated since we marched him at a
heel with us yesterday. The walk down to the viewing area of the high tide is
almost all downhill, so of course, it’s uphill for the return. A steep hill,
about like the hill to our house only longer! Down to the rocks, or beach, is
even longer and all stairs. The tides at extreme are about 46 feet vertically.
The low tide today was less than a meter; the high tide right about 42 feet. We
walked about ½ mile down the beach when we met with an “interpreter”. He was
checking on a peregrine nest to see if the babies were peeking over the cliff
yet. They weren’t, but we did see one of the parents arrive with food, then
leave with the food, and return with the food. The babies are still too little
to leave the nest, but they were chattering.
After 1 ½ hours on the beach climbing over rocks and into
caves we decided to take the shuttle back to the top. It was well worth the
$2/@ charge after climbing the hill yesterday. We made a dash down to Alma, an
hour away, to check out the boats stuck in the mud. Then we decided to have
lunch at the Tides Restaurant right next to the wharf and watch the tide come
in. The tide rises 1 foot every 10 minutes most of the time or 1 foot every 7
minutes if the tide is really moving fast. Today was a 10 minute pace. While we
were having lunch we could visually see the tide moving in. We were also
entertained with antics of Ruby Throated Hummingbirds at the feeders stuck to
the windows of the restaurant. After lunch we watched the tide in the harbor
for about 10 minutes as it slowly moved up the launch ramp. The interpreter at
the rocks explained it this way…. If you stood at the waterline with your toes
just touching the water in 6 ½ hours you would be 42 feet under water. Pretty
impressive.
The rain has stopped. Tomorrow we are heading to Quebec.
I hope it doesn’t rain!
High tide
Low tide
Rob standing in the same arch
Boats stuck in the mud
An hour later
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