Tag: tides

Day 16: Don’t Mess With Tides

August 21, 2012
PEI2012

At Cape Enrage we saw the importance of reading and heeding the times on the signs. At the top of the stairs going down to the beach, it clearly tells you to avoid being trapped you should be back at the stairs by 1:45 pm.

The girls and I went down at about 1:40 pm but we weren’t straying far from the stairs. They go down 30m to the ocean floor. In this photo you can still see a bunch of people almost in the centre of the photo at the bottom.

In the photo below you can see a guy with a red shirt coming back towards the stairs. Where he is is the narrowest part and where the tide will hit the cliff first.

The video below shows some people trying to avoid getting wet, two people get over and then the guy stops to help the other couple. At the 19 second point you see two kids and a mother come running into the frame. The boy slips on the wet rocks and if the guy didn’t have his arm, he would be in the water. In the end the mother gets two soakers as she gets across.

Day 16: Fundy Coastal Drive

August 21, 2012
PEI2012

Today we were doing the Fundy Coastal Drive, with stops at Hopewell Rocks, Alma, Cape Enrage and finally Hopewell Rocks again. Angela where are we going today?

Low tide was at 9:32 am this morning, so we were able to walk on the ocean floor. The people closest to the bottom of the photo are the girls.

Looking over the mudflats.

Going early meant less people around.

Gillian taking a picture of Angela.

An older couple asked me to take a photo of her and her husband, afterwards she offered to take one of us, so here we are at Hopewell Rocks.

The flowerpots are just like I remembered them as a kid.

They have most of the caves roped off for safety.

The mud is smooth and sticky, just ask the girls.

Not knowing that they had hoses at the top to wash off your feet, the girls were trying to clean their feet on the seas sacs.

Under the piles of seas acs are rocks.

Note Angela’s muddy feet.

Washing off the mud. We would have to come back in a few hours to view the Hopewell Rocks at high tide.

From Hopewell Rocks we headed to the town of Alma. The tide was out and it gave a good example of the vertical tides as well. I was looking forward to seeing these.

The Salmon River.

We had lunch at the Harbourview Restaurant, when we came out we took a walk back to the wharf and the tide was starting to come back in. We didn’t have time to stay long enough to see the tide come right up.

From the Village of Alma we drove to Cape Enrage to see one of the oldest lighthouses in New Brunswick. This one was built in 1870, it replaced the original built in 1840.

Claudia put a loonie in to take in the view.

You could walk down to the beach, but there wasn’t much time as the tide was coming in.

The inukshuk Gillian built.

Skipping stones at Barn Marsh Island beach.

Gillian sitting atop the shingle bar beach.

We got back to Hopewell Rocks for the peak of high tide at 3:22 pm. The tide was 44 feet today, it was rising at a rate of 12″ every 7 minutes.

Low Tide…

High tide…

The girls taking a break.

The girls at the bottom of the stairs, note the closed sign strung across behind them.

We thought we saw Uncle Danny at the Hopewell Rocks listening to one of the guides.

This one is Diamond Rock.

Day 13: So Long PEI, Hello Tidal Bore

August 18, 2012
PEI2012

It was finally time to say so long to our cottage on PEI. The girls and I were up early and down on the beach at 6:30 am to beach comb one last time. After we had the car packed we gathered for our new blog photo (see left).

Some photos of the cottage, the kitchen.

The living room. There was no air conditioning, but with all the windows open and the breezes coming through, it wasn’t necessary. The fans gave the extra relief when needed.

The stairway up to the bedrooms, there was one bedroom on the main floor and two upstairs.

Another view of the kitchen.

From the kitchen looking into the living room and front hallway.

Looking down from the stairs to the back deck.

We have extra business cards if anyone is looking for a place to vacation. Special thanks to Rob, who works at the City with Susan, for the recommendation.

Paying our way off the island, it cost $44.25/car in order to leave, it is free to cross onto the island.

We drove through Amherst, Nova Scotia, looking for a Subway. Amherst has a lot of old building, this is the First Baptist Church.

The old Bank of Montreal building. It was built in 1904.

The old Amherst Post Office building built between 1884-86.

After picking up up subs we headed to the Maccan Tidal Wetlands Park to have lunch.

The park is an excellent spot to watch the incoming tidal bore. I read about it on the internet and how there was a gentleman who lived nearby that came down everyday to see it, and give a little info to tourists. Sure enough he was there today, pulling out pictures of what we should expect and answering any questions.

Here is the tidal bore in action, it is travelling at a good rate of speed, and it is loud and it sloshes on the river banks.

Some video of the tidal bore.

It only takes a couple of minutes to pass by. I had seen one a few years ago on the Shubenacadie River a little further south. There were 5 other tourists there to see the tidal bore.

Once the bore passes it takes about one and half hours for the river to fill in to it’s max, it changes with the size of the tide and the moon phases.

The gentleman is Gordon Boss, who posts the times and the type of tidal bore.

Here is a before and after photo of the river upstream. Before the Tidal Bore.

After the Tidal Bore.

That is Gordon Boss in the blue coat.

It was onto our destination for the next couple of days, we are staying in Dartmouth, across from Halifax.

Our route today. It was 351 km and it took us 6 hours with our stops.

After dinner tonight we headed out to Cole Harbour, NS, which is about a 10 minute drive from our hotel. They have a “Home of Sidney Crosby” sign as you enter the town. One of Gillian’s friends is a big Crosby fan, so I thought Gillian could say she has been to Crosby’s hometown. In the background is a closed Zellers store that will be converted to a Wal-Mart.

Afterwards we picked up some hot fudge sundaes from McDonald’s and brought them back to the hotel to enjoy.

Day 7: Beachcombing

August 12, 2012
PEI2012

Today was a day for relaxing around the cottage. Low tide was around 1:30 pm and the girls were eager to get down to the beach. Here is the access down to the water.

This was from earlier this morning while the tide was still in. The forecast for today was showers.

Looking down to the water.

Around noon the girls headed down to the beach to catch the tide going out.

A look back at our cottage, the “Ocean View”.

The girls on the beach.

Lots of seaweed covered rocks made for slippery rocks.

Claudia found a starfish, here it is with some of the sea glass the girls have been beachcombing.

Claudia with the starfish.

Some PEI sand.

Claudia and Angela with their handfuls of sea glass.

The red rock cliffs.

Claudia found a rock with some stuff attached, Gillian said it looked like a turnip.

The girls found a few more starfish.

Sea sacs.

There were lots of hermit crabs of all sizes.

I found a razor clam shell.

Claudia and Angela caught a crab.

I think it is a Rock Crab (Cancer irroratus).

The weather held out while we were down at the beach.

A hole in the cliff.

Claudia finally on a beach in the water and sand.

Claudia went back for a boogie board we had brought with us.

Angela and Claudia out in the water.

The sun finally came out, there was a nice breeze down at the water but once you got up top it was hot. We headed back for lunch and to watch the last few hours of the Olympics. The rain came by late afternoon.