WHAT’S A TIDAL BORE???

Heading off to the next campground, the next city and the next adventure! And what an adventure it was going to be!  A four hour drive through more beautiful scenery to arrive at Scotia Pines RV park – and the name is perfect because the campsite was right in the middle of tall, beautiful pine trees!  When we started setting up the trailer, I could smell the pine trees all around – God’s creation is amazing!

On the way, we stopped at a fun general store/market called the Farmer’s Daughter – outside there was the BIGGEST Adirondack chair I had ever seen, which is a consistent thing you will see ALL over Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island!  On the Cabot Trail, on hiking trails throughout, at beaches, on beautiful scenic overlooks….there are always Adirondack chairs for people to sit in, relax and take in the beauty all around!   Seeing this GIANT one was fun, so of course we had to capture it in a photo…

The whole reason for this stop along the trip was to do ONE thing – TIDAL BORE RAFTING…I’ll get to that in a second!  We took a little drive to check out the area and find the location for our adventure, and guess what?  We found a WAL MART! Haha – it seems like, just when we need groceries, there is a Wal Mart!  After stocking up, we grabbed lunch – deciding to all try a local food we heard about all along the way – POUTINE.

Poutine is a dish of French fries and cheese curds topped with hot brown gravy. It is a classic and POPULAR dish of Canada, and it originated in the 1950s in Quebec.  It’s become a national comfort food and a cultural icon!  It’s part of Canadian cuisine, and we just had to be able to say we tried it!  Gravy on French fries isn’t something I would ever order, because in my mind, why would ANYONE ruin perfectly good, hot, crispy, salty French fries with GRAVY??? And THEN top it with cheese curds (which when they are described, the word SQUEAKY is used – what!?!?!) – anyway, I did my part and tried a bite….SURPRISE!  It was delicious!  I waited just long enough for the cheese curds to melt a bit and there was NO squeaking when I chewed it – I’ve determined that’s the key!

Back to the campground, enjoying a relaxing night as we prepared for our adventure – TIDAL BORE RAFTING! 

What is Tidal Bore Rafting? (here is the description on line)
“Feel the rush of riding waves that can be up to 13 feet high in a Zodiac boat as the power of the world’s highest tides in the Bay of Fundy turn the Shubenacadie River into a water roller coaster only found in Nova Scotia.  Expert guides take you cascading down rapids as the incoming ocean reverses the flow of the river.  This fun-filled voyage isn’t complete without going mud sliding, too!!!!”

When we were planning this trip months ago, I had seen this on a YouTube video and thought to myself, “WOW, we MUST do this!” – so we made the reservations!  Not thinking about it much again, as the day approached, I must admit that it made me nervous and I thought to myself, “WHAT was I thinking?”

I woke up the morning of our adventure and I was nervous!  The tides in this part of Canada are the highest in the world. And we were going to ride on them in a boat about 15 feet long!!!!!! The morning greeted us with FOG – everywhere!  My first thought was “what if we get out there and it’s so foggy that the boats can’t see each other?” … As we approached the destination, the fog was gone!

The first thing I noticed was a HUGE pile of shoes – I teased the employee standing near them and said “what are these? All the shoes people have left after getting them muddy?” I laughed and she said “that’s exactly what that is – feel free to pick a pair from the pile to wear today!”  We had all worn sandals, but I was told that mine wouldn’t work – the mud would pull them right off my feet!

SO…I went “shopping” in the shoe pile!  There was a pair of shoes that looked brand new – not sure how that happened after experiencing all the mud! They looked to be my size and they fit perfectly – so they became my “tidal bore rafting shoes” for the day!

The people who run the FUNDY TIDAL BORE ADVENTURES were amazing – they were organized, kind, good at what they do, and prepared!

Within a few minutes, Jess showed us a tidal bore that we could see in the distance.  A tidal bore is a wave or series of waves that form when the edge of an incoming tide rushes up a river or narrow bay, reversing the river’s current.  It’s the ocean tide suddenly surging into a narrow channel – and the speed of the incoming tide is faster than the speed of the shallow water waves that are in that river. The difference  in the speed creates a large wave that can look like a “wall” of water.

As soon as she explained that to us, we were able to watch the “wall” of water coming toward us!  That’s when the excitement started!

There was also a whirlpool at one point, which she said was not a usual sighting, especially on a low tide!  It was so fun to watch, and the best part is that they do NOT take the raft into the whirlpool! Haha.

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The waves got higher and more crazy as the trip went along, and the tide, which was SUPER low at the beginning, got higher and higher minute by minute – there was a sandbar showing at the very beginning, and within FIFTEEN minutes it was totally covered with water!  Wild to see it come in so quickly, which is exactly why the waves were so high – and FUN!

Enjoy some videos of our wild ride!

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After riding the waves for about an hour, we then had the opportunity to go mud sliding!  I remember this from the video, and couldn’t wait to try it!

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What an amazing day it was – one of the most fun and best things I have ever done! Now I’m glad that months ago we decided to make the reservations – AND FOLLOW THROUGH WITH IT!

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Here are two photos of the river before we started – LOW TIDE

And here are photos at the end of the trip at HIGH TIDE

When we returned from the trip, there were HOT showers for us to rinse off the mud, and also HOT chocolate for each of us!  We were freezing!!!  Our trip was at 8:30 am and the sun came out only the last 10 minutes!

What an AMAZING day!!!!!!!! We all left there so excited, so exhilarated, so exhausted (from holding on so tightly so we didn’t fall out!) and SO glad we did it!  And may I say, it felt GREAT to take a REAL hot shower in the trailer!

That afternoon, we headed off to a town called ONSLOW, which was just about 10 minutes away from where we were camping – the reason is that Leonard found out that his ancestors were from there!  What are the odds!?!?!?!  His aunt sent us information and we found one of two cemeteries in the town and went on a search!  Some of the last names of ancestors were…HIGGINS, WEATHERBEE, CROWELL AND BRIGHT….

  

We walked around the entire cemetery and guess what???  WE FOUND TWO FAMILY MEMBERS!!!

PHILLIP HIGGINS AND ELIZABETH HIGGINS! 

Elizabeth Higgins is Leonard’s great-great-great-great-great grandmother!  (That’s a LOT of greats!)

Phillip Higgins is “one more great”  than Elizabeth!  It’s her father!

We were so excited to find these and just stop to think about the fact that we were in the same town where his family started so long ago – these ancestors were alive in the 1700s and the 1800s!  What a small world it is and amazing to be in this area and “see” them with our own eyes!   Thanks Aunt Gail!

It was a full day and half, and one of our favorite parts of the trip so far – tidal bore rafting did that for sure!  Hope you enjoyed the videos and photos!

Next stop…Halifax, Peggy’s Cove, Mahone Bay and Lunenburg!

Until next time…