Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, Canada - June 22 - June 23, 2015

Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, Canada - June 22 - June 23, 2015

June 22, 2015

We are on our way to Hopewell Cape, NB today.  Actually, the directions were not too bad and we didn’t even have to turn around once.  Yippee.  A real bonus – we have 50 amp power and good Wi-Fi.  The spot where we are parked is looking over the Bay of Fundy.   Unfortunately, it is still raining. 

Bill & Donna Hale from Florida asked us to ride into Hillsboro to check out a café and bakery.  While we were there we also checked the Railroad Museum.  We brought the information back for all that we might be interested in visiting tomorrow.

Tonight, was the Clam Chowder potluck.  We had the clams left from the lobster dinner on the welcoming party and Karen, from Cle Elum, WA, offered to make Clam Chowder.  We had a great meal and a lot of good salads, breads, & desserts.

After the dinner, Bev walked back to the RV to take things home and get a bowl for left over chowder.  When she got there, she could not get the keyless entry to work.  So, she walked back to the club house.  Stan came back to help get it open.  No luck.  We had quite a crowd gather to try to give us ideas on how to get in the rig.  Unfortunately, Bev left her key in the coach, and there was no extra key in the jeep.  Stan’s key fob wouldn’t work either. 

Some of the others on the tour offered for us to stay with them.  Everyone is SO nice.  Finally, after at least 30 minutes or more of stress, Howard came over and pushed on the door, which released the latch.  Yippee we were in.   Now we have ”Howard the Hero”.

We will sleep good tonight!!!!

June 23, 2015

Our morning started with a walk on the ocean floor at low tide.  We drove to the parking lot and we were greeted by Meaghan, a very knowledgeable young woman that would be conducting our tour.








 

When Stan heard that there were 100 stairs to the ocean floor, he decided to view it from the top.  Bev, however, not wanting to miss a thing, ventured down.  The rock formations were fantastic.  We were told about the way to tell if there has been a new rock fall, by the sharpness of the rock edges. 



Flower Pot Rock





We saw Flower Pot Rock.  It is when there is a rock standing unattached, with vegetation on the top.  It was named that by Mr. Ripley of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.  It was originally Flower Vase but he changed it to flower pot and that has stuck.

There are many other for formations with names as well, i.e. lovers rock, mother-in-law rock, witches rock, etc..


Witches Rock
 













When the tide is out there is a lot of reddish brown sediment that is on the ocean floor.   The tidal action stirs it up.  When you see the water it looks very murky.  One of the waterways has the name the Chocolate River because of the color. 














Seaweed - Bev actually ate some

We could tell how far the water comes up in high tide by the seaweed that is attached to the rocks.  It is green with little pod type of attachment.  It is edible.  Of course, Bev needed to try it.  Not bad – salty.

Our shoes were pretty much caked in mud.   The smart one brought boots.  I heard two men that were not with our group say in passing – “I can’t believe someone would come out here in shoes.”   On the way back, there was a kid with shoes off and mud up to his knees. 

We went back to the top and greeted those that didn’t want to venture to the ocean floor.  We then continued to the Visitor’s Center and saw a video of crashing one of the rock formations.  A visitor caught it on his phone and recorded the whole thing.







Meaghan also told us about the flocks of Sandpiper birds that come to the area in July and August.  They come from Alaska and other areas north and feed on the small Mud Shrimp that come to the surface to mate.  The beach is covered with birds.  They will eat non-stop and double their weight.  From there they will fly on to South American and Africa and by the time they get there, they have lost all of the excess weight.



Rock Formation at Low Tide

Same Rock Formation at High Tide
 



Rock Formation at Low Tide
 



Bev & Stan at Cape Enrage Lighthouse
 

After leaving the Visitor Center, we decided to go to the Cape Enrage Lighthouse.  We were able to visit the area and see the view, however, not able to get into the actual light house.  It is no longer in operations, but does still have a light on the top.








Bank of New Brunswick Museum



Vault Door

On our way back to the coach, we stopped at the Bank of New Brunswick Museum.  The gentleman that showed us
around was so cute and informative.

He was so please to have someone taking a bunch of pictures.  There were two young people that were in training to be guides as well.  They had currency displayed that was actually printed by Bank of New Brunswick.  We went into the vault and saw the safes.
 

Bank of New Brunswick Currency
 

The Museum Volunteers

We went back to the coach for a bit in the afternoon, to await the visit back to the ocean for High Tide.