July 21 - Hopewell Rocks

This day we made a day trip to Hopewell Rocks.

View Hopewell Rocks in a larger map

Located at the northern end of the Bay of Fundy, this area sees the highest tides in the world. At Hopewell Rocks, these tides and the geology of the area combined to create fantastic formations. At low tide, it is possible to walk among the formations. At high tide, one can canoe or kayak among them. 

We got there at low tide so that we could "walk on the ocean floor". That seems to be a big deal in the Bay of Fundy area - walking on the ocean floor. Big deal or not, "walking on the ocean floor" among the Hopewell Rocks is very cool. 

But first, we had to get there from Fundy National Park. On the way, we stopped at Waterside Farms Cottage Winery. We sampled a variety of fruit-based wines; blueberry and rhubarb and others. Pretty good stuff. We left with a couple bottles. 

Cape Enrage

The next stop was Cape Enrage, a picturesque lighthouse on the Fundy coast.

For lunch, we stopped at Broadleaf Ranch. We both opted for the turkey dinner and it was - well - wonderful. A great turkey dinner at a dude ranch in rural New Brunswick. Totally unexpected. 

At Hopewell Rocks, we chose to walk from the contact center to the rocks. It was a pleasant walk, if a bit warm. Down several flights of stairs to the walk among the rocks. 

Hopewell Rocks

Pictures from this day are here.

A note: I gave up trying to pick "the best of the best" pictures of Hopewell Rocks. So, the on-line album has almost all of them. Only the out-of-focus ones were deleted.

What was it like to experience Hopewell Rocks? Pick your favorite superlative. It will likely be exactly right. We found it to be unique, fantastic, awe-inspiring, pretty damn cool, and neat. 

Do you see, in that little image above, where the rock has been eroded away in those dark rounded areas? That shows how high the water rises when the tide comes in. 

After wandering in and under, around and through, these formations for a couple hours we climbed back up all those stairs. Once at the top we decided it would be a good idea to take advantage of the shuttle back to the contact station.

We returned to Alma in time to watch the lobster boats return to port. While watched the lobstermen unload the catch, we also got a kick out of watching the children interact with the lobsters.