Jack & Jackie's Travels: The end of the caravan

Aug. 2, 2011

So, the race begins to end the caravan on time. Today was a 235 mile drive (point 1 to 2 on the map) from Louisbourg, NS to Truro, NS. We were here earlier in the trip but it was just a stop for the night place this time. We did have an ice cream social the evening. Ice cream always makes everything better.

Aug. 3, 2011. The next morning our friends Herb & Ann joined us in leaving the campground at 6:00AM for a 125 mile drive to Hopewell Cape, NB (point 2 to 3 on the map). The reason for our early departure was the desire to get to Hopewell Rocks during low tide so that we could walk on the bottom of Chignecto Bay which is the most northern reaches of the Bay of Fundy. Here is where the “Flower Pots” are. The Flower Pots are sea stacks eroded at the base, with trees and plants growing on top. If you want read more about them go to: http://bayoffundy.com/articles/flower-pot-rocks/ We went to the park with our motor home and car, Herb pulled in with his truck & fifth wheel. Fortunately they have provided lots of parking for RV’ers and busses. It is a long walk downhill to the point where some 100 steps start down to the bottom. There are gas powered carts that you can ride for $2.00 per person. I would have gladly paid more for the ride back up the hill. Later that day when we came back to see high tide, we rode the cart both ways. Here are some pictures that show the how things change between low & high tide.

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For this set we couldn’t stand in the low tide location

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In the first picture, you can see a rock with a hole in it that people can walk through. Here is a picture of Jackie standing in the opening. She’s the one in the maroon jacket and white slacks. It gives you an idea about how high that tide is.

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Jackie with Ann & Herb and a rock named ET.

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There was a park ranger that was stacking rocks on one another. He was talking about how every rock has a balance point. He said that he stacks the rocks just for fun and to give the visitors something to try.

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At the top of the stairway there is a clock and a posted time to return to the stairs so you don’t get caught by the rising tide. The return time of 1:05 was posted in the morning during low tide. I took this picture when we returned in the afternoon. They apparently do not change the time during high tide. Makes sense since you would be underwater at the bottom of the stairs. There is also information about what to do if you do get caught.

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More pictures of the rocks at Hopewell Cape are at: http://summer2011jb.shutterfly.com/pictures/3354

Aug. 4, 2011. Most of the caravan took their time leaving, those that missed low tide the day before went back to catch it before starting the 107 mile drive to St. John, NB (point 3 to 4 on the map) .

Aug. 5, 2011. The next day we took a bus tour of St. John The first stop was at the Reversing Falls. These are rapids in a narrow gorge on the St. John River. At low tide the water rushes downstream into the Bay of Fundy, however, at high tide the water from the bay pushes upstream causing the rapids to reverse the flow direction. The water velocity is constantly changing going from its maximum velocity to zero at tide reversal. There is about a 20 minute period when the water is still.

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This facility is a pulp mill owned by the Irving company. All through our trip we saw and patronized Irving gas stations. Our tour guide told us a little about the company. It is a privately owned company run by the two sons of the founder. They have many different business interests. Coming back through Maine, Vermont and New York I saw a few Irving stations so they have business interest in Canada as well as the US

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There are jet boat ride available. We were told that there are strict regulations for boat traffic

crossing this area. I don’t know how they apply to the people who run the jet boat rides. Downstream there is a bridge and just the other side is a restaurant that we had a group dinner at that night.

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Another stop we made was at the Carleton Martello tower. The plaque tells the important parts of its history. There was a diagram of the tower and surrounding fortifications showing how the harbor was to be protected. It has been restored and you can go into the tower to see where the troops lived.

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Later that day we had our “Farewell Dinner”. This wasn’t the entire group since some folks left the caravan before this. Actually it was the first farewell dinner because most of this group returned to the Pumpkin Patch RV Resort and we did it again. Anything for a “LEO”, which means “Lets Eat Out”

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When we arrived the incoming water was flowing rapidly under the bridge. There was a rock that we could see later that gives you an idea of how fast the water was flowing when we arrived and later what it was like just as the tide was starting to reverse.

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There were two boats that went upstream during slack time. A little while later you could see the start of the water starting to flow downstream (the curved line in the river) past where I was taking pictures from.

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After dinner we drove to the place where we took picture earlier that day.

Pictures are at: http://jackbarbic.shutterfly.com/6041

Aug 6, 2011. We packed up and drove the 179 miles (point 4 to 5 on the map) to the Pumpkin Patch RV Park. At the US border there was a separate line for RV’s. It was mostly made up of folks in our caravan. When it was our turn they came on board and took some nectarines and a lemon. Although the caravan was officially over there were several of us including the wagon master and tailgunner that spent a couple of days there before heading our separate ways. It was the last hurrah, we had come full circle.