Maritime - Week Five

Sunday, July 3, 2005 - Day 29

Saint John, NB

Today we spent exploring Saint John, where the St. John River joins the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean.  We got up this morning to 48 degree weather, and although it was extremely foggy last night, it was clear with scattered clouds today.  Saint John is a very difficult town to get around, with highways going through the middle, one being the old NB 100, the other being Trans-Canada 2, a freeway.

We first drove to the overlook to take a look at the Reversing Falls before the tide started coming in and reversing the direction of the river flow.  Water was still running out of the river over the falls or rapids.  We had breakfast at a restaurant overlooking the falls, and then drove over to another overlook at a park.  This overlook actually was in the middle of the rapids, and right next to where the Jet Boats take folks on runs up and down the river through the rapids.  A really wet trip, as some of my pictures will show.

After viewing the rapids until the high tide reversed the flow and the water started running up the river, we took off on a driving tour of some of the more interesting sites, the biggest part being the Irving Nature Park.  We then drove by several historical area and sites, winding up downtown right on the riverfront. 

There we found a nice little park/plaza with lots of construction to the surrounding streets.  This area is near the dock where cruise ships come in.  Cruise ships are becoming a big part of the downtown economy, with 10 ships in the summer of '03 and 89 ships in the summer of '04.  Of the folks we talked to, no one seemed to know how many to expect this year.

After having lunch at Grannan's in the City Market area, we went back to the falls to watch the Jet Boats taking folks through the rapids as the tide approached it's lowest, and the river flow the fastest.  At left is one of the boats running the rapids downstream.

The pictures above shows how the driver (in front) takes the boat up the river, then reverses the jets on the boat, making the front end dive into the water, drenching everybody on board.

Saint John is very old, and very industrialized, with lots of smokestacks from pulp and paper mills.  There is also a lot of shipping and related activity.  In the 1800's, when wooden ships were used, Saint John was the location of a huge ship building industry, building a major portion of the British Merchant Fleet.

Monday, July 4, 2005 - Day 30

Hopewell Cape, NB

We left Saint John about 8:30 this morning for the drive to Hopewell Cape, about 90 miles to the southeast on the Bay of Fundy, where some of the world's largest tides occur.  The first leg was on Trans-Canada Highway 1, comparable to our interstates.  We weren't low on fuel, but decided to top off the tank anyway.  Diesel is $1.039Cn per LITER, that's $3.932Cn per gallon, or $3.15US per gallon.  I know it's hot down there in East Texas, but at least fuel is still just  $2.00 per gallon.

The next leg of our trip today was through Fundy National Park, a large park of mostly nothing but trees, and not very big trees either.  There did seem to be lots of hiking trails, and camping areas, mostly for tent camping, and backpacking into camp.

The last leg was from the park to Hopewell Cape, where we are located now.  We passed through several small villages, and bypassed a scenic drive along the coast, which we will go back and do tomorrow.  We got here too late for the high tide at the Hopewell Rocks at 11:30 this morning, so we drove on in to Moncton, a fairly large city about 35 miles north.  We needed a couple of things from Staples, and wanted to scope out the route through Moncton when we leave here on Wednesday.

We then returned to Hopewell Rocks for low tide, which occurred at 5:50 today.  We will go back tomorrow for High Tide at 12:15pm.  We are not gonna stay up till the high tide tonite which is about 12:00 midnight.

Tuesday, July 5, 2005 - Day 31

Hopewell Cape, NB

Today we are still at Hopewell Cape and without internet service still.  We are out in the open, but it seems there may be a hill blocking access to the satellite.  But we are moving tomorrow, so maybe we will have an unobstructed view, if we are not too far north.  We can't get TV either.

We got up early this morning to drive over to Alma hoping to maybe see the Lobster Fishermen bring in their catch.  Unfortunately it was still low tide, and apparently the fisherman had gone out yesterday at high tide, and came back last nite at high tide around mid-night.  I did get a few pictures of the boats, sitting on the bottom.  The tides here are some of the highest in the world, with the high tide being 37 feet above low tide. 

In the more flat land the tide may go out 3/4 of a mile from the shore, leaving a wet muddy surface the looks and, some folks told us, feels like chocolate pudding.

The tide swing is also one of the reasons for the attraction of the Flower Pots at Hopewell Rocks.  When we were there yesterday at low tide, I took some pictures, and today, from the same vantage point, I took some at high tide.  These rock formation are called Flower Pots because as the sea eroded under and around them, they still stood, but with trees growing on the top, resembling a flower pot.  As you can see there are folks walking on the ocean floor during the low tide.  Donna and I decided NOT to walk down the 120 step stairs to do the same. Now keep in mind it was NOT the walk down, but the walk back up that helped with that decision.  After all we had just completed a 3/4 mile hike to the viewing point, which helped us pay the $1.25Cn for the shuttle back to the Visitor's Center. 

There were a few kayakers that were playing around at high tide.  Because of the high winds today, only experienced or expert kayakers were allowed to venture into the area.  Since we are neither expert or experienced, they refused to let us go!

Also this morning before going back to the Flower Pots, we drove over to Cape Enrage, the site of a lighthouse on a point in the Bay of Fundy.  Built in 1848, Cape Enrage lighthouse is the oldest in mainland New Brunswick. It is now automated and operates under the care of the Canadian Coast Guard. With automation, light keepers were no longer required to tend the lights and many of the keeper's dwelling and service buildings were removed from service.

Cape Enrage was adopted by students from Trimble High School in Moncton who began the preservation and restoration process in 1993. Cape Enrage is now operated by students from various high schools and universities, with 25 of them being selected to make Cape Enrage their home for the season spanning from May through early September each year.

Oh yeah, we bought gas for the the truck this morning, .999Cn per liter, or $3.025 US per gallon.

After a very refreshing nap this afternoon, we grilled some pork chops, and sat around the camp fire.  A fellow from near Toronto stopped by the fire and we talked a while.  He is a dairy farmer ( Mac, I know you will appreciate his situation).  He and his brother have acquired the farm from their dad, and farm 500 acres of corn, barley, and hay to feed the 73 cows that they milk.  Their production is limited by a quota.  Their quota is based on the production of 80 cows, but, through careful breeding and selection, they are able to produce their quota with 73 cows.  Prices of the milk are controlled just as is the production quota. 

In order to increase their quota, they must purchase it from someone who is going out of business, at a cost of $29,000 Cn per cow unit production, just under $24,000 US.  In the past a significance part of their revenue has been by exporting breeding stock to the US for $2,500 to $3,000 per cow.  With the Mad Cow problems, and a ban on import to the US these same cows are bringing $300.

Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - Day 32

Cavendish, Prince Edward Island

We left Hopewell Cape this morning and made it around Moncton without any problems, since we had scoped out the route a few days ago.  Was real cloudy and overcast as we left the campground, and within a few miles a slight drizzle started. We dealt with the drizzle all the way to Cavendish, and since then it has rained pretty hard a couple of times.

We are at Marco Polo campground, but again no satellite TV or satellite Internet. We only paid for one night, and went looking for a better place.  We found a site available at the KOA, not as nice a park, but the site available was right next to a guy that had his data storm up and locked in.  So we reserved the site for tomorrow and a couple more days.

Later, we drove around a couple different areas, stopped at a few shops, and generally just looked over the farm land.  The land here is a red, and I mean RED, sandy soil that, when combined with the climate, is most suited for raising potatoes.  There are also lots of barley, canola (at left), and hay fields, with some large dairy operations.  We also saw at least one hog farm, where the hogs were housed in a big barn.

Since it was very cloudy, overcast, and rainy today, I didn't take any pictures, but the forecast for tomorrow is for at least partly sunny. 

Thursday, July 7, 2005 - Day 33

Cavendish, PEI

I got up this morning with the sun shining, and looking forward to a great day.  And, it was pretty sunny most of the day, no rain, and only a few clouds.  We moved from the Marco Polo campground over to the KOA this morning, just knowing we would get the DataStorm up and running. We got set up, ran the dish up, and after several attempts, still not locked on.  So, off we went exploring the eastern end of the island, and the largest city, Charlottetown.  We went to the Visitor's Center, got a little information, then to the Confederation Theatre and bought our tickets for the Saturday afternoon performance of 'Anne of Green Gables - The Musical'. 

Our tour included several fishing villages, a couple of lighthouses, and we happened upon the ferry that runs from Wood Island to Nova Scotia. It was a really large boat, with at least two decks for cars and trucks.

PEI has lots of coastal towns and villages, primarily fishing villages, while the inland part is partly woods and timber, with a lot of farms. 

Upon returning to Cavendish, since we had a late breakfast, and no lunch, we decided it was time to partake of one of the Lobster Suppers that are so popular.  We chose the Fisherman's Wharf, where they claimed to have a 60 foot long salad bar.  The restaurant will seat about 500, but since we were fairly early, we got a choice seat right by a big picture window. 

Everything, except the lobster, is 'all you can eat'.  It is pretty expensive, with the Wharf No. 1, which includes a 1 lb Lobster, being $28.95 Cn or about $23.50 US.  The food was excellent, although eating lobster is a little messy.  They don't just serve the tail, its the whole thing.

After returning to the coach, I again set the DataStorm in motion trying to lock on to the satellite.  I had met our neighbor earlier this morning and he said he had a good signal strength and good signal quality.  After several attempts, I called the provider, they told me there were some weather issue for the last few days, but I don't think that was the problem.  Tech support told me how to manually point the dish, so I asked the guy next door for the coordinates he was using, tried those and got a very strong signal strength but no quality.

Oh, back to reading a book, and try tomorrow.  I guess I will have to find an internet connection tomorrow to get things published.

Friday, July 8, 2005 - Day 34

Cavendish, PEI

Still another day without the DataStorm working.  We have tried lots of things, even calling the installer for advice.  Still a couple of things to try tomorrow (Saturday), but we are at this point totally confused as to why we can't get connected, yet our neighbor has a good strong signal.

Today we did some more exploring to a different part of the island, visiting a couple of towns further to the west of our location.  We also drove into one of the national parks near where we are staying.  We also visited one part of the park that has a replicas of the house, barns, and fields that were the inspiration for the novel "Anne of Green Gable".

Later we visited the actual site of the homestead where the author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, was raised by her grandparents after her mother died when Lucy was 21 months old.  The property is still in the family, and the great-great-grandson of the people that raised Lucy operates the site, and gives talks about life in the early 1900's.  Although the house is no longer there, the foundation, and cellar are visible and very interesting.

Saturday, July 9, 2005 - Day 35

Cavendish, PEI

UGH !  Still no satellite internet, even with all the efforts we and tech support have put forth.  We may have a coax cable problem on the roof, but was wet this morning and this afternoon also, so we have not gone up to check it. 

We were gone most of the day, anyway.  Donna cooked this morning, and we hung around until about 10:30, then drove over to Charlottetown.  We went by the Wal-Mart there, and bought a couple of things we needed, then on to downtown to spend some time there before the play.  We found a little cafe/coffee shop that had computers we could rent for $2 for 1/2 hour.  We got to read our email, though we didn't have time to answer any, and Donna got caught up on the Newspaper site. 

At the Confederation Center we had tickets to see the play, "Anne of Green Gables - The Musical".  What a great performance.  There were several really outstanding performers and the play was really fantastic.  We commented afterwards that anyone that came to PEI, and didn't attend the play, just totally missed out!!  The music, singing and dancing were superb, the comedy was great, with both 'good feel' and 'sad' parts.