A Lesson in Acadian History, A Beautiful Coastal Drive, and the Power of Extreme Tides

The next morning we drove a route that followed the rim of Minas Bay on our way to Grand Pre. Minas Bay connects to Fundy Bay where the world’s greatest tides (up to 50+ feet) occur, and Capt. Larry was hoping to witness the ebb and flow as well as the rare tidal bore that occurs here.

Minas Bay at low tide

Jane wanted to visit Grand Pre and the Gaspereau Valley from where many Acadians were deported by the British in the mid-1700’s. Driving on a hilly, winding “shortcut,” our first glimpse of the bay stopped us in our tracks.

The tide is out

The tide was out and the depth of the cuts in the red mud created by the tidal flow were absolutely jaw-dropping. Streams flowing into the bay were rushing to get to the sea, and the sediment eroded by the flow colored the deeper waters a muddy red. It was very impressive.

Traveling to Grand Pre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we missed a turn and ended up at Wolfville, one of the stops on the Evangeline Trail.

Grand Pre Interpretive Center

We found a visitor information office and went inside to get the scoop. The receptionist was very helpful and gave us maps and a recommended itinerary of the Grand Pre complex.

Memorial Church

We found the complex and started off at the interpretive center where we viewed a 30-minute video that presented the plight of the Acadians and the events that led up to their deportation. Not all of the Acadians were deported from Nova Scotia with many from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. A short tour of the exhibits followed. Leaving the interpretive center, we went to the Memorial Church, a reconstructed church on a sited where the Acadians worshipped.

Copy of register page

Inside, we found copies of registers that recorded the names, numbers and family information on the deportees. Jane found some Melansons (spelled with an “s” instead of a “c”) and several Heberts (her mother’s side) along with many names familiar to anyone who has lived in southern Louisiana. The church was beautifully reconstructed and featured a huge stained glass window depicting a water scene of the deportation.

Stained glass deportation scene

Outside we viewed the grounds that were immaculately manicured and a statue of Evangeline, immortalized in Longfellow’s poem. We decided to view the 3,300+ acres of farmland that is below sea level and protected by a dyke that the Acadians built and maintained.

Jane and Evangeline

Grand Pre was founded around 1680. The farmland was very fertile and along with other area resources provided surpluses that the Acadians were able to use for trade.

The cross at Horton Landing

The pasture at Horton Landing

We had lunch and then drove to Horton Landing which was the purported site where many Acadians were loaded into boats for deportation. At the landing, which is actually adjacent to a dairy farm, we viewed a reconstructed cross that the deportees would have viewed before boarding the boats taking them away. It was a solemn moment viewing the cross and grounds. We left Grand Pre and headed for Cape Breton Island, stopping to spend the night in Antinigonish,NS.

We left Antininigosh the next morning after a delicious breakfast at Tim Horton’s, a Canadian mainstay. Our goal for today was to tour the coast of Cape Breton Island. The  island is part of Nova Scotia, but is separated from the peninsula by the Strait of Canso and connected to the mainland by the Canso Causeway. For the first time during our travels in Canada the weather was promising to be clear, sunny and just delightful. We could not have picked a better day or conditions to experience this part of our trip.

We crossed the causeway at Port Hawkesbury and started driving along the western coast which borders the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The visitor center at the park

It was a scenic drive, but it only provided occasional glimpses of the coast. We made our way to the first fairly good-sized town, Port Hood, where we hoped to fill up with gas. We drove almost two miles through the town but could not find a gas station. Returning to the main road, we checked our GPS which indicated a gas station 30 miles further north. We could make that. Arriving at Inverness, we pulled into a gas station that had an open sign, but we couldn’t get the pump to work.

Devil's Rock in the park

It was early Sunday morning and we began to worry that we might get stuck here until something opened up. We saw someone inside and knocked on the door. A man came and told us they were closed (so much for the sign), but there was a station a “just over the hill.” We found the station about one-half mile later and filled up.

Relieved that we could continue our journey, we drove through Margaree Harbour on our way to Cheticamp and the entrance to Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Fishing for lobsters

We stopped at Margaree Harbour to take some pictures of the lobster boats fishing in the harbor. The number of floats indicating a trap really amazed us and reminded us of some areas we have cruised through that contain very dense numbers of crab pots. We drove on to Cheticamp and stopped at an information center to get some information on the national park.

Lots of lobster traps!

We were told that the entrance to the park was about a mile up the road and we could get park information at the visitor center. Stopping at the center, we paid the $6.80CAD/pp, gathered some maps and information, and collected the park stamp for our U.S. Passport Book. We are beginning to get quite a collection of non-U.S. park stamps.

River just outside the park

We started our coastal drive and were immediately awed by the beauty of these coastal highlands. The ranger at the visitor’s center told us that the first one-third of our trip would be the most spectacular and she was right. The hills were very steep with sheer cliffs rising straight up out of the water. It reminded us of the Scottish Highlands we had seen in Scotland, but with a coastal backdrop.

Coastal highlands in the park

Driving was a challenge given the steeply precipitous and serpentine nature of the road.
The park provided a number of overlooks for picture taking—something not provided by the coastal communities outside the park.

Beautiful coastal views

We continued on to Cape North, the northern-most point of the island facing the Cabot Strait, before turning more inland along Bay St. Lawrence and on to Neils Harbour. This part of the drive was less spectacular and not notably different from other tree-line roads in the Maritime Provinces.

The view at Effie's Harbour

Beach at Effie's Harbour

It seemed providential, but just as we beginning to tire of our surroundings, we decided to have some lunch and saw a sign indicating a picnic area in a place called Effie’s Harbour. As we rolled in, the trees opened up to reveal one of the most breathtaking views we had yet seen.

Hopewell Rocks

Before us was a rock-covered beach—the rocks polished smooth and rounded by the forces of the water—two tree-covered, rocky cliffs protruding into the ocean, a cascading waterfall behind one of the cliffs, and all brilliantly lit by the noonday sun and touched by the gentle lapping of water along the shore. We spent several minutes taking it all in and several more capturing this beauty.

We hurried through our lunch and lingered for a while until several cars arrived and we no long had the place to ourselves.

We continued our drive which primarily remained an inland route, catching an occasional coastal view, until we returned to our Port Hawkesbury starting point. Crossing the causeway we left the island. Our original plan was to take an island ferry from Sydney Mines over to Newfoundland, but the trip would be very time consuming and expensive and our bouts with fog and rainy weather had us shying away from these plans as stormy weather was forecast for the next few days. We drove to New Glasgow and spent the night, with plans to return to New Brunswick and see more of the Bay of Fundy at the Hopewell Rocks and the Fundy National Park.

We awoke to a misting rain the next morning as we headed out for the Hopewell Rocks.

On the floor at Hopewell Rocks

The Rocks, as they are known, are located at Cape Hopewell near Moncton at the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy. Flooded during high tide, the average 39-foot tidal range in this portion of the bay allow the base of the rocks to be viewed at low tide. Viewing occurs approximately 3.5 hours after and before each high tide. Tides here are semi-diurnal meaning there are two high and two low tides in a 24-hour period. We checked the tide tables and found that access to the ocean floor would be between 0927-1627 today. We had a two-hour drive to the Rocks and it was 0800; we were going to do this.

Arriving at the park, we paid the $8CAD admission fee.

The stairs and viewing platform

The cashier asked us if we wanted to buy $2 tokens for the shuttle. When we learned that it was only a half-mile walk to the Rocks, we decided to hoof it. A half-mile would be nothing for us who usually walk 5 miles daily, even though we had not really exercised for the past 8 days.

After viewing the exhibits at the visitor’s center, we located the gently sloping trail leading us to the rocks. After 10 minutes of walking and not be anywhere near the falls, we realized the cashier had a problem judging distance (or mathematically converting metric to English units).

At Flowerpot Rocks

We were nowhere near the Rocks and the trail was suddenly dropping precipitously. Dropping to the point to where stairs allowing shortcuts from the graded trail offered a more direct route. We gladly took the stairs to shorten the walk. We arrived at the Rocks and viewing platform to a sensational view. Below us were massive, 40-70 foot tall, dark conglomerate and sedimentary sandstone rocks that had been eroded by the bay’s extreme tidal range. It was impressive. People below us were walking about the Rocks on ground that would be flooded in about 5 hours. We descended the 90 to 100 feet on a staircase to the floor. The landscape and it’s interaction with the muddy water was very interesting. The formations are continuously being washed away with each tidal cycle, and ice-wedging from freezing rain causes calving to occur.

After about an hour on the floor we started back to the top. Feeling that we were still in good shape we ascended the stairs almost non-stop, but found we were really whipped when we got to the viewing platform. Those $2 shuttle tokens suddenly looked like a really good investment! Starting back up the trail, we climbed the stairs, again to avoid the longer ramp route and returned to the visitor’s center sweaty, breathless, and seeing stars. Jane bought some postcards and we returned to the mini-van. We had a quick lunch in the park’s picnic area before more rain drove us to the van. Heading out we followed a route that would take us to and through Funday National Park. Driving through the park we were disappointed by the lack of facilities, no visitor’s center or stamp, and practically no views of the bay. We are still wondering what the visitor is to see or do here. Exiting the park we hopped on a main highway that would take us back to our Canadian entry point at Calais, ME. We crossed the border, bought some “cheap” gas, and drove on to Bangor to spend the night. The next two days were spent hightailing our way to Ft. Walton Beach and working the sore leg muscles that we obtained from The Rocks hike, before returning to Louisiana for Father’s Day which Capt. Larry is pretty sure he will be spending with Jane alone.

Happy Father's Day!