The Largest Tidal Bore in the World - Well, Maybe North America

In a prior blog entry titled, "Riding the Wild Bore", we told about a great rafting trip on the tidal bore.  On Saturday, August 11, 2018, we drove out to the tidal bore viewing center in Truro to see what is billed as the highest tidal bore in North America on the Salmon River.  (The highest tidal bore, up to 9 meters high, is said to be on the Qiantang River in China.) 

Like so many others, we got there an hour early.  With time to kill, we staked out a good viewing spot and had a picnic lunch:

Others also found their spots along the banks of the Salmon River:

The Salmon River empties into Cobequid Bay, which itself is a narrow arm of the Minas Basin.  Minas Basin, in turn, is a narrow arm of the Bay of Fundy.  So, as the bore tide rises in the Bay of Fundy, it funnels upstream into narrower and narrower bodies of water.  This causes an acceleration of the tidal flow and created a powerful surge, which becomes a wave as it encounters the current flowing down against it.

This is how the river looked before the bore tide arrived.  Over half of the broad riverbed was sandbar, and the water itself flowed mainly on the near side.

Here comes to bore tide.  See the whitewater wave as it curls up the river toward us?

This was a great viewing spot, because we could see the wave turn a corner on the river and come rushing right at us:

Straight across from us, it made a rushing sound as it surged past.  We wouldn't have wanted to be in the water at that time because the currents were so strong.

Notice the waves pushing up behind the leading edge.  These are called, "whelps." Once the first wave hits the downstream current and creates the whitecap, the whelps behind it simply surge over the downstream current, making more subtle undulations:

The tide rushed past us and on up the river:

To see a video of the entire event, click here.

Here is a photo after the bore rushed in.  There is no evidence of a sandbar.  The river stretches across its full, wide bed and has risen several feet toward where we stood:

Our next few stops will include stays near the Bay of Fundy itself, where we plan to explore other facets of the tidal bore.  We hadn't expected this dramatic preview, but it'll help us understand what we see out in the Bay itself.

Riding the Wild Bore!

A tidal bore is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave of water that travels up a river or narrow bay against the direction of the river or bay's current.  The Bay of Fundy and its tributaries produce some of the largest tidal bores in the world.

When we arrived in Truro, we hadn't heard of taking a raft ride on the bore, although we've been jealous hearing of kayakers and surfers who paddle the bores in Turnagain Arm near Anchorage, and on the Qiantang River near Shanghai.  So, when the tourist information helper strongly recommended we take the raft trip, we eagerly signed up.

On Thursday, August 9, 2018, it was an early day to meet the 8:30am bore tide, so we were still a little sleepy without much caffeine in our system when we arrived at the raft base:

We were told to arrive an hour early.  The wait passed quickly because there were so many things to do, watching and preparing.  Here are the Zodiac boats we took out.  Today there were five boats, plus a safety boat.

We were offered the opportunity to wear wet water gear, but because there was no rain in the forecast, and the morning temperatures were in the 70F's, we passed, opting for white souvenir t-shirts we planned to get all stained with the iron-rich silt in the Shubenacadie River, which was the scene of our adventure:

It was still a low but rising tide as we walked the quarter mile down a boardwalk across deep, muddy flats to where our boats were waiting:

As soon as we got to the boats, the guides started launching them:

Here was our fearless crew (David and our guide, Chandler, were behind the camera).  There were eight passengers, and the other six were a family on vacation:  Dylan, Darren, Ella, Brad, Roy and Liisa (not necessarily in that order).  The grandkids, two sets of cousins, were visiting their uncle and grandparents who live locally, and, boy were they having a great adventure!

Here, Kathy mugs for the camera while Liisa looks up at the huge tidal wave about to engulf our little boat:

No photo essay of a raft trip is complete without a photo of the guide, and here is ours -- Chandler.  He is a college student majoring in business and the environment.  He was extremely knowledgeable about all things nature on our trip.  He had possibly the most complete knowledge about bald eagles we have ever encountered.

While we waited for the water to rise to create the rapids we would shoot, our guides let us walk out on a sandbar.  As the tide started rising to cover the sandbar, our guides called us back.  David was a little late and got caught in the rising currents:

Kathy, for her part, got chased across the sandbar by the tidal bore before reaching safety in the Zodiac.  See her run here.

Now that the waters were high enough to surf, we sped upriver through choppy waves made rough by the bore current, moving upstream, crashing into the river current, moving downstream:

There were lots of big waves to ride.  Some waves were 6 feet high, meaning that the troughs were even deeper, with another high wave right behind.  Imagine the waves pouring into the boat and you'll understand this photo.  The participants are looking toward the camera -- not to pose -- but to keep the crashing water out of their eyes.

If you want to see the full action (Kathy does a nice photobomb around a half minute in), try clicking this video.

Different depths of tide produce rapids in different parts of the river, so, as we paused waiting for the tide to rise a little more, we all had a chance to jump in for a little swim.  Some of the family members were game, but Kathy and I just enjoyed watching them:

Our total ride was over 2 hours.  After about 1.5 hours working our way upstream through the various rapids, we reached our turnaround point, which was at an old railroad bridge abutment that now serves as a lookoff point for people to watch the bore tide as it rushes in.  (Check out one of our later blog entries to get an idea what that's like.)  We had people taking pictures of people taking pictures...

A FAST half hour boat ride downriver and we were back to our point of debarcation.  But, with the higher tide, we landed almost 200 yards further into shore than we had left!

It was a wild morning.  Because we had to hold onto rope handles for the whole rough ride, we used a lot of energy, and our arms were a little sore.  So we repaired into the little village of Maitland to have lunch at a local restaurant in one of the oldest general stores still standing in Nova Scotia.  It's hard to believe it now, but in the 1800's, Maitland was a big river port and was so populous and busy that it contended with Halifax to become the capital of Nova Scotia.

To understand a tidal bore, there's nothing like putting your (water) boots on the boat.  We enjoyed our raft trip immensely and learned a lot about tides, bores and the geology of the Bay of Fundy (not to mention the life cycle of bald eagles).  We're very glad we tried this.

Eddie and George Wake Up for an Early Tee Time at Campers Haven in Yarmouth, NS

Partridge Island Rocks

Hi Blog!

During our raft trip on the Shubenacadie River, we got to see just a small portion of the Minas Basin, which makes up the eastern arm of the Bay of Fundy. On Friday, August 11, 2018, we decided to drive around the basin to the west side. Our destination was Partridge Island which marks the boundary between the Minas Basin and the Bay of Fundy. The rocky beaches leading out to the island are famous for the various rocks and gem stones that can be collected from the beaches.

On our way to Partridge Island, we made a couple stops. First up, was Five Islands Lighthouse a Colchester County Park. This wooden "pepperpot" style lighthouse was built in 1914. It's original kerosene lamp continued to shine until 1963. Due to erosion, the light had to be moved back several times. It was relocated to the park in 2008 where it began a new life as a visitor information center.

While not official Parks Canada chairs, Colchester County did provided a couple of red chairs for our viewing pleasure.

This area was named for the five islands seen from shore - (east to west) Moose, Diamond, Long, Egg and Pinnacle. The islands were so far apart that we couldn't get a photo with all five. So, we just picked the really cool one with the fog hanging over it.

Our next stop, was the Fundy Geological Museum in Parrsboro. Nova Scotia has some of the most varied, accessible and really cool geological sites. When the continents collided, tons of material was thrust up. All across Nova Scotia, various layers of history can be seen and explored. The exhibits walk you through time to get a better understanding of the rocks and how they were made.

Just around the corner from Parrsboro are the cliffs of Wasson Bluff where Canada's oldest dinosaur skeletons are being excavated in the earliest Jurassic sedimentary rocks. How cool is this mastodon tooth!

After filling our arms with brochures and books on rock hounding in Nova Scotia, we drove out to Partridge Island. Along the way, we stopped to get a look at the Parrsboro Lighthouse. This octagonal wooden tower was built in 1852 at the end of a sand spit near the entrances to the Parrsboro harbor. Unfortunately, it was high tide and the access road was underwater! This is as close as we got.

Because of its position as the dividing line between the Minas Basin and the Bay Fundy, Partridge Island collects rocks both coming and going with the rise and fall of tide. It's possible to find igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic pebbles, which have been rounded and polished. Partridge Island is an island in name only as it is connected to the mainland by a long rocky spit.

As we worked our way out toward the "island," we came across some kind of natural jacuzzi. We learned from one of the locals that the Mi'kma call this phenomenon - Kluskap's grandmother's cooking pot. When the tide comes in twice daily, air trapped in the basalts under the ocean surface is forced out, making the water bubble like a cooking pot.

Perched in the middle of the rock spit was a tiny cottage. During high tide, this homestead is practically surrounded with water. With so much rock at their disposal, the owners built retaining walls using rocks of similar color.

Local fisherman use this type of fishing weir to fish for herring. The sea gulls wait for the tide to go out to check the nets for fish stuck above the receding water line.

This side of the spit faces the Bay of Fundy. The rocks on this side were much larger.

While we didn't find any gem stones or sea glass, we did end up with interesting specimens. We are looking forward to using our new Nova Scotia Rock Hounding book to uncover more fun places to explore. The adventure continues....

Biking the Cobequid Trail

This stop at Scotia Pine Campground near Truro, Nova Scotia was meant just as a stay of convenience to permit us to fly back to Philadelphia for a family wedding.  Other than a couple tourist spots in Halifax, we didn't really expect to find much of interest immediately around us.  This stay just proved again, however, that there is always much more of interest at every stop, than we would have imagined.  Outside our trip to Philadelphia, we had more than enough great adventures to keep us busy, and there are still a couple more things we won't have time for.

On Wednesday, August 1, 2018 we took a 12 mile bike ride on the Cobequid Trail, down the Salmon River from Truro to Two Barns, a point close to the Salmon River's mouth at Cobequid Bay.

Our trail took us over a few streams --

-- along a golf course (we wanted to hit the driving range and maybe play 9 holes sometime during this stay, but we never got a chance) --

-- past a cement plant and other industrial properties --

-- and a paving company that decorated trailside with a rock sculpture garden, including this cute little truck:

Eventually, we reached farmland, and found very distinctive irrigation canals:

As it happens, this was the site of Village Lebourque, an Acadian farming village.  The residents lived in the forested uplands and farmed the marshlands by the river.  However, to make the land dry enough to farm, they had to drain the swamps and build dykes along the river to keep the periodic floods from the ground.  They built an intricate irrigation system with gates that could control the flow of water to and from the river.

After the Great Expulsion, when the English forced the Acadians to be deported to France, Louisiana and the Caribbean, the English tried to farm this land and failed, finding it to be too much work and the dyke system unfamiliar.  Eventually, immigrant Dutch people, who had adopted similar farming techniques in Holland, bought up many of these farms and have continued the dyke-and-canal irrigation and drainage system.

Here, along one farming dyke, we caught our first glimpse of the Salmon River:

Interestingly, very few salmon plied the Salmon River; instead, its name comes from the salmon color of the water due to the pinkish red sediments.

The force of river currents - but especially the incoming force of the tidal bore in its twice-a-day flow upstream, erodes the sandy river banks continuously:

Pedalling further along our way, Kathy spotted some ripening raspberries!

We also spotted a birdhouse nestled rustically in the embrace of an old birch tree:

We reached an open overlook (the Canadians call it a "lookoff") that gave us an expansive view of the widening Salmon River and the near entrance of Cobequid Bay:

Eventually, we reached the terminus of the trail at Two Barns - so named because it is the location of a farm with two old barns:

The bike trail is an old railroad bed, and the railroad originally continued along the shore of Cobequid Bay to Maitland (where we would later ride the wild tidal bore!), but for some reason -- either because the right of way had been ceded back to the farmers, or because the original railroad bed had been eroded away by the river, the bike trail stopped here.

And so did we.  After pausing for lunch and some inspiring views of the Salmon River, we turned our bikes back to retrace our route into Truro.  This was a great introduction to the area and its history, so much of which centers around the rivers and the dyke-and-canal farming system used throughout the region.

Halifax Busker Festival

Hi Blog!

On Friday, August 3, 2018, we were all set to fly back to the Philadelphia area to visit family. Thunderstorms in Newark canceled our travel plans. With all the flights that needed to be rescheduled, we wouldn’t be able to fly out until Monday. This meant we now had an unscheduled weekend in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As it turns out, the first weekend in August is a big three-day holiday weekend. To celebrate, Halifax hosts the 32nd Annual Halifax Busker Festival!

What is a busker festival you ask? Well, it’s a traveling festival of buskers also known as street performers. Buskers come in all shapes and sizes. They can be magicians, musicians, jugglers, mimes and dancers, or they can be a “miming dancing musical juggling magicians.” You get the picture.

The Festival runs for six days with over 300 shows scheduled on four main stages along the Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk. We decided to head into town early on Saturday, August 4, 2018. We parked away from the waterfront to avoid traffic. This gave us a chance to walk through downtown and stop at the Stubborn Goat for lunch to fortify ourselves for the afternoon’s frivolity.

After lunch, we followed the crowds down to the boardwalk. As luck would have it, we ended up near the Sackville Landing stage in time to see one of the headliners – Sam Prest from Sydney, Australia. We weren’t sure what to expect when he brought out this giant robot contraption.

With techno music blasting, Sam robodances and dances with his robot, all while entertaining the audience with balloon tricks and juggling. In the photo below, the balloon went in and never came out. Well, at least not while we were watching!

Sam performed the grand finale on top of the robot while set ablaze!

To get the full impact, click on the link to this short video clip [insert video of flaming robot juggler]

After the show, we had 15 minutes to get to the next stage. We wandered along the boardwalk to get a closer look at the Halifax Harbor. Georges Island sits in the middle of the harbor. The lighthouse was built in 1917 after the original lighthouse from 1876 was destroyed by fire.

A concrete pier serves as the city’s heliport. The crowd begins to gather around the Heliport Stage. We can see storm clouds gathering in the distance. We experienced a short sprinkle earlier. We were hoping to get to see the next show.

As they say in show business, the show must go on! Pictured below is Nigel Blackstorm. Born Gareth Blackthunder, he was raised in a small town in the south of England called New Jersey. As a youth he focused on his two passions: heavy metal music and magic. He founded a magical heavy metal cover band called Lordz of Illuzzion!

Nigel regaled us with tales of his misspent youth while calling on members of the audience to help him re-create his heavy metal band. While the audience members changed into their costumes, Nigel performed all the classic magic tricks – magic rings, trick cards, magic wands that turn into flowers. Once the boys were dressed, they performed Lordz of Illuzzion’s only hit! After thunderous applause (or perhaps it was just thunder) the band strikes a pose!

We were hoping to get in one last performance before heading home, but the weather started looking threatening again. Apparently, those thunderstorms in Newark had worked their way up the coast to Nova Scotia. We decided to call it a day. Next time we come to Nova Scotia, we plan to include the Busker Festival in our itinerary.