Today’s stop involved a 1.5 hour drive to the Hopewell Cape to see the rocks during low tide. However, the forecast for the next two days calls for rain, so we have to figure out how to best see everything before the rain starts, and what we’ll need to miss if the rain doesn’t stop. We decided the best way to see as much as possible was to do the sea caves and the Fundy trail. (That’s Fundy Juice, not fundies)
The mist was still covering everything and we got a real authentic maritime morning complete with fog horn (or as Guylaine calls it a ‘sea horn’. According to the owner of the campground, we should be able to see the caves right from our campsite, but the mist is just too heavy.
We got going by driving into the village on Main Street. They should call it Only street because there isn’t a hell of a lot more then that here. It brought us right to into the village which consists of a wharf with about 6 trollers on it, 2 covered bridges and a light house. We stopped at the wharf to look at the ‘lawnster’ traps (that’s what Xavier calls them) and to look at the trollers sitting on the ocean floor at low tide, and of course, pictures. Xavier didn’t stop talking about the traps all day.
Our next stop was the lighthouse, which isn’t a lighthouse at all but an information centre for the village and for New Brunswick. The people working there were super friendly and gave each of the kids something they had on display from the ocean. We couldn’t believe how everything here was not geared towards making money from tourists. Our next stop involved going through one of the covered bridges, which I was hoping would hold up the portly Caddy, then off to the sea caves. We stopped at a gift shop info booth in the parking lot of a restaurant to ask where the caves were. Turns out they were right there. We parked and started walking.
It’s incredible to see the water so far from shore, yet to see the water and seaweed line right where we left the truck. There was a stream running from the shore to the ocean, and a walk all the way along to the ocean revealed that the only way to the caves was to take our shoes off and walk across the stream. Poor William started across and just as Guylaine made a comment on how the bottoms of his pants were getting wet, he hit some moss on a rock and went in up to his waist. The rest of us crossed without much fanfare.
The walls at the beach and the caves themselves are so massive that it was impossible to capture on film. You have no idea how big they are until you are standing right underneath them. The other side of the stream was very muddy, so despite the cold of the mud and sand, we continued on bare feet. The sand inside the caves is red. It is unbelievable how red it is. And soft as a baby’s you-know-what. The seaweed and moss that clings to the walls is fluorescent green in contrast. It is so beautiful. We visited the two main caves, and even though there were more caves, we felt the need to move on to get everything done. After cleaning our feet and throwing rocks into the stream, we got back to the car and had the usual suspects (William and Xavier) strip out of their wet and muddy clothes. We decided to head back to the campsite to change and grab a quick lunch.
We headed back to the village and past the sea caves to a road that didn’t really look like a road, but did have the signs for the Fundy trail so we kept going, finally arriving at the gate. We didn’t know that we had to pay to get in, but it was under $20 for the whole family, and so far our day hadn’t cost a cent. We were giving a map and told the trail takes 15 minutes straight driving from one end to the other and that the park closed at 8:00pm, and the gates were closed by 8:20. No problem. It was 4:00.
We stopped at the first lookout, which was just an overlook of the ocean, which incidentally was still covered with fog and mist. So you could see nada. On to the next stop. At this rate we would be back to the gate by 5:00. The next stop had us hike down a bit of a trail for a spectacular view of the teapot rock. Similar to the Hopewell rocks, but not accessible. It made our decision to miss Hopewell today a little easier. We hiked back to the truck and off to our next stop. To say the next stop had me questioning our decision to get out and hike, not to mention my fitness level and overall health are an understatement. The fact I had to hike up and down a steep, wet hill with only a cable strung from trees as a `staircase`with a 50-pound sack of potatoes in my arm who was trying to grab and look at everything made it even more interesting. The hike really wasn’t that bad, but Guylaine suggested I bring my phone along at the next stop just in case we had to call 9-1-1. Just as we got back to the truck, a light intermittent rain started.
Our next stop was Murphy’s falls. Unbelievable beauty. We had another little hike, but this one went somewhere, and it was somewhere spectacular. This is why we came to the Maritimes.
The rain had started getting a little heavier, so we decided to stop at the lookouts, but only get out if there was something really cool to see, but no more hiking. We eventually made our way to the interpretation centre at Big Salmon River were they describe life over a hundred years ago with a thriving wood industry that provided wood for over 500 ships built on the east coast. The wharf crib is still visible at low tide.
The trail continues on past the centre, although it is still quite new and incomplete. We headed up the 16% grade through newly blasted purple rock, all the way up the mountain to the final lookout 575 feet above the ocean overlooking Long Beach.
We headed back down and found a trail to take us to the suspension bridge; up until a few years ago, the only way across the river. At low tide, it is almost bone dry with only a mountain stream heading out to sea. We came as the tide was rising, so it was filling up quite quickly and the kids (and Guylaine – OK, me too) took turns through big rocks into the stream. The whole riverbed is round rocks and boulders and crystal clear warm water. It was really nice. By this rime it was really raining, and despite sweaters and an umbrella (or a sumbrella as Xavier calls it) we were all getting pretty wet. Nobody seemed to care though. We had an amazing day. I started to panic and told everyone we had to leave. By the time we got back to the car, it was 8:00pm. Didn’t they tell us the gate locked at 8:20? Can anyone remember how long it takes to drive back? It took 4 hours to get here. It’s not like you can drive fast. It’s all winding roads with steep grades. Lets pray for the best. We managed to make it to the front gate in just over 15 minutes, but less then the time it took them to close the gate. Just one more thing to make the day interesting.
The rain seemed to add to our experience rather then taking away from it. And even though it’s cold and damp, this is not our typical beach vacation so sun and warm aren’t necessary. In fact, the rain kept people away and we had the whole park to ourselves.
Passing the sea caves on the way back, the tide was already half way up the beach and we could see the caves filling with water. The trollers at the wharf had slowly started to rise back up to the wharf. It was truly spectacular.
We got home and I made spaghetti while Guylaine used the blow dryer to try to get some of our clothes wearable again. We got the kids to bed then went through the over 500 pictures we had taken today to pick the best ones for the blog. We ended the day by having a few beers and playing cards.
What a day. One of our best days of the summer (so far)
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