Friday 13th May 2106
Tidal currents, inlets, and an open camp
site !
I woke up at 6 am to my fifth day of clear
blue skies ! For this part of the world,
especially at this time of year, this is quite special, so I am enjoying it to
the fullest. Blue skies does not mean
warm – the wind is still very cold, and while the apparent temp reached about
17 today, it never felt warm while I was out of the car ! Last night I had finished the rest of my
scallops for supper, and then was in bed and asleep by about 8.30 pm as I was
really weary. So when I woke up at 6 am,
I was well rested and ready for whatever Friday 13th would bring !
After leaving my lonely (but very good)
camp site, I decided to back track a couple of kms to a track I had seen
signposted to “Cap D’Or”. Mentioned in
the guidebook as a great lookout over the Bay of Fundy, I went up an
increasingly steep and narrow dirt track for some 5 kms until I eventually came
out up on the cliff top over looking a part of the Bay called the Minas
Channel, which is famous for some tremendous eddys and rips where the rushing
incoming tides strike land, causing great downward waves which can take a
vessel onto the rocks – Thus they are called the Dory Rips.
There is actually a small 4 bedroom guest
house and a restaurant right down at the bottom of the cliffs – But guess what
? Closed !! Would be quite fun to stay down there and watch
all the currents for a day or two, especially in a storm ! I mentioned
yesterday that I had seen quite a lot of beaver activity along the way – Well
up here apparently they used to have giant beavers about 8500 years ago ! There
were some information boards about copper mining on the cliffs in the early
1900’s, and also traditional folklore of the local Mi’kmaq Indians who knew all
about the giant beavers – and called them Glooscap.
After wandering around the headland for a
while, and watching the incredible patterns on the ocean surface caused by the
tides hitting the rock face, I set of back down the trail, to head NE along
Chigneto Bay towards Amherst. When I
dropped back down to Advoocate, I saw a little path down to the beach, so went
down there to have a look at the long pebble beach that extends some 5 kms
around the bay – If lying on the beach, you just have to be careful of the
tides, as usual round here !
From there it was on up the coast, but as
happened yesterday, the road runs some distance inland, and you are surrounded
by trees so see little – On the map the road looks as though it runs right
along the coast ! In Amherst, quite a
big town, I went in to buy groceries and wine – I was completely out of a few
things, and it is hard to find what you want in some of the smaller villages,
so I took the chance to stock up while I could, as well as refuel at as good a
price as I have seen so far in Canada. A
couple of locals came up for a chat in the car park, and then I set off again,
looking for a place to stop for lunch – Which I eventually found beside a river
– with the usual mud banks indicating the high tide point. The bread rolls I bought today were a lot
better than the “Acadian” ones I had got a couple of days ago – They had had a
bit too much bread in a small roll ! Todays were “just right” !
Then it was on down the road, often passing
Lobster restaurants along the way – They are everywhere – And on over countless
mud-banked tidal inlets until I came to a place called Pugwash ! Saw lots of portly people who might have been
the Captain, but didn’t spot any of his crew !!
A lot of agriculture along this top bit of
the coast, locally termed “Northumberland Shore”, and the beaches are also
quite popular in the summer, apparently, because the waters between Nova Scotia
and Price Edward Island are some of the warmest north of the Carolinas, with an
average of over 20 deg C during the summer. But the water I felt today didn’t
seem anywhere near 20 deg !
Finally through the pretty little town of
Tatamagouche, and although it was only about 3 pm, I felt it would be a good
time to stop – If I could find an open campsite with wifi and showers ! Not far up the road, in a little place called
Seafoam, I found what I was looking for, and when I went in the office and
asked if they were open they said today was their first day open !! Mostly for locals with caravans or 5th
wheels on site for the summer, today it is just a few people setting up for the
summer, so there was plenty of space.
The showers were excellent, but I am not so sure about the wifi, which
doesn’t seem to work very well at all, and keeps dropping out. I will keep trying, but if it doesn’t improve, it really will be
a visit to Tim Horton’s tomorrow, as I have everything ready to upload – Just
no wifi !
A very pleasant day today – Nothing
exceptional to see, but a great drive
around the NW corner of NS on a sunny day.
Turned my music up, and sang my way along the road most of the day !
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