DAY FIVE: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun-dy

We headed around the Bay of Fundy, still on the New Brunswick side. It's so hard to explain what is so interesting up here since we witness tidal changes daily on Humboldt Bay. Due to the location of the Bay of Fundy, the moon and the general shape of the bay, the funneling affect makes for tides that are HUGE (25 feet or more) as well as quick (that 25 foot change in 6 hours.) Normally a picture of a cove at low tide, mud flats exposed, would be simply unattractive. But to see half the bay exposed, with boats laying on their sides, knowing that in a few hours, they will be afloat is interesting if not exactly attractive. The Hopewell Rocks flowerpots, are formed by the large and constant tidal flows. We were allowed down to the sand three hours before and three hours after the low tide then a crew was sent down to fetch errant tourists who might be caught in the tide as it flowed in. The beach itself was icky.... smooshy red mud that liked to suck the shoes right off your feet and the rocks were nothing you'd want to collect. Photos taken by others showed kayakers in this cove, paddling near the "hips" of these rocks. Unfortunately, we were not there for the high tide. This time of the year, the highs were falling either in the wee-dark hours or into the dark evening so we mostly only caught the "slack" tides in the middle.

We checked the map on the way north and realized we were awfully close to Prince Edward Island, home of Anne of Green Gables. This is the 100th anniversary year of the story's publication but we really didn't have a schedule that would permit a lengthy stay on the north side of the island. Mark, however, wanted to cross the Confederation Bridge to PEI; nothing my Mark loves more than an 8-mile drive over water, yes siree. He saw this story on Modern Marvels, you see. So we found a brewery (always a goal) and had dinner and spent the night on the Island, just to say we did. In the morning, I asked around about a good beach and was directed to several but none were MY idea of a nice beach. Red sand (looks a lot like decomposed granite) with a smattering of mussel shells. I'm fairly certain there are nice beaches on the north side but that will have to wait for a later trip. The Island's red soil, plowed for crops, was distinctive against the backdrop of Northumberland Straight. We coughed up the $41.50 to cross back over to the mainland. Don't get me wrong, it's a great bridge....free to cross over but comin' back will cost ya; one of those aforementioned lowlights. It WAS cheaper than a ferry ride but, then again, we weren't planning on going in the first place.