Beautiful Newfoundland

Thursday, July 15—Day 18

About 5:00 a.m. the captain of the MV Caribou wakes us by announcing over the loud speaker that we are 45 minutes from docking in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. As early as 5:00 a.m. would usually seem, it's even earlier this morning because we have crossed into the Newfoundland time zone. We are now 5 time zones or 4 1/2 hours ahead of California! Marshal gets up immediately and starts to wake the girls. I ask him to let the girls sleep another 15 or 20 minutes because there isn't really anything we can do other than head back to the car.

Marshal heads off to watch the ferry come into harbor and I get up to brush my teeth and wash my face. We've only had about five hours of sleep, but that's better than no sleep. When I get back from the washroom I wake the girls and get them ready to leave the ferry. Marshal returns with a cup of coffee for me (he is such a wonderful husband) and we gather up our gear and head to the proper deck to get in our car.

It is a beautiful morning in Port aux Basques. There are fluffy clouds and some low mist, but the temperature is comfortable in the low 60s. We disembark

from the ferry quickly and take some time to drive around the village. It is so early that it is very quiet in the village and the only place open for breakfast is Tim Horton's. We choose not to stop at Tim Horton's because the line is so long (it seems that almost everyone from the ferry is trying to get breakfast there).

We stop at the information center just outside of Port aux Basques and get a good map of Newfoundland. We ask the woman working at the center for a recommendation for breakfast further up the Trans Canada Highway (TCH) and she recommends a restaurant in River Brook, which is about 60 km up the highway. About 2 km up the road we see our first moose as he prances along the side of the road. He's young and has no antlers, but he sure is big!

As we head north up the TCH we leave the sunshine behind and enter thick fog. Occasionally the fog lifts and we can see the Long Range Mountains to our right and rivers and lakes (called ponds in Newfoundland) all around us. As we approach River Brook we're grateful that the woman and the information told us about the restaurant because otherwise we would have gone right past it. The restaurant is behind an Irving gas station and we can't even see the lights in the building. We have a good breakfast and then I use the pay phone to call Marine Atlantic to upgrade our reservation coming back on the Argentia ferry. We decided that the dormitory sleepers were a winner and we didn't want to spend the night in the reserved seats section.

We leave River Brook and head for Corner Brook another 120 km up the TCH. It is still foggy, but we are able to see the landscape a bit better now. The first thing we notice is the stunted plant growth. The wind on the western side of Newfoundland is unrelenting and the trees are unable to grow normally. Gnarled fir trees dot the landscape and none of them is over four or five feet tall. We later find out that these stunted trees are upwards of 200 years old!

The next thing we notice is that the water in the rivers and ponds is brown. The landscape in most of Newfoundland is covered with thick peat and as the water filters through the peat it is colored brown. Even the foam in the rapid sections of the rivers is tan, not white.

As we approach Corner Brook the fog over the city lifts and the town appears as if out of nowhere—our own Brigadoon! We stop in Corner Brook to buy groceries for our three-day stay in Gros Morne National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and then we have lunch. Corner Brook is the largest town on the west coast of Newfoundland and has a large paper mill. Corner Brook sits at the mouth of the Humber River, which opens into the Humber Arm of the Bay of Islands. Although the mountains around Corner Brook are not tall (1600 to 1700 feet) by California standards there is plenty of snow (16 feet) in the winter to make great ski areas. We see some of the runs down Marble Mountain from the TCH and they look frightening even without snow.

Groceries stowed in the back of the car, with Marshal driving and me sipping on a large cup of coffee from Tim Horton's we continue north to Deer Lake where we leave the TCH and head northwest on Route 430 to Gros Morne National Park. Around Wiltondale Marshal decides it is naptime and I take over the driving. We enter Gros Morne and the scenery is stunning. The rounded rock monoliths carved by glaciers over 12,000 years surround and tower over us. The striations on the rock faces are stark reminders of the power of the glaciers as they pushed tons of rocks in their downward flow. In contrast, there are also rock faces that are so finely polished by the passing ice that they gleam like mirrors.

We drive steep roads over the first of the rock monoliths and then drop to sea level along side the east arm of Bonne Bay. The water in Bonne Bay is a deep blue and whitecaps dot the surface. Pulling into a picnic area at the foot of Killdevil Mountain we see an orca whale out in the bay. We stretch our legs and walk along the rocky shoreline. There are wildflowers everywhere and the breeze is fresh and salty.

Climbing back into the car we make our way to the National Park Visitor's Center. It is small, but has an informative film about the park and the people who have made this corner of the world their home: the Maritime Archaic and Dorset, the Beothuk, the Basques and Portuguese, the French and the British, and the Canadians who now call the northern peninsula home.

One of the remarkable things about Gros Morne is that it is a record of the shifting of the continents throughout the geologic history of Earth. When geologists began examining the landscape in Gros Morne they found that the ancient North American trilobite fossils in the area differed from those of eastern Newfoundland (which matched ones found in Spain and North Africa) helping prove the theory of continental drift. More than 200 million years ago, continental drift sent Africa sliding into North America with a slow crunch. The ensuing curl and crush drove the continental plates skyward leaving the Appalachian Mountain Range in its wake, including the Long Range Mountains of western Newfoundland. The Appalachians stretch from northwestern Newfoundland to Georgia.

We get a schedule of events in the park and make our way to Rocky Harbour where we will stay at Cozy Corner Cottages for the next three nights. Rocky Harbour is tucked into the northwestern peninsula just below Lobster Cove Lighthouse. Our cottage is across the street from the harbor and is within easy walking distance of a fish market. We go to the fish market and purchase fresh halibut and salmon to barbeque for dinner tonight. On the way back to the cottage we stop at Earle's Market and Bakery and pick up a partridgeberry pie for dessert.

Back at the cottage we barbeque the fish and prepare steamed broccoli and pasta to eat with it. When we sit down for dinner about 8:00 p.m. we discover that the halibut and salmon are the best fish we have ever eaten! We wrap up the meal with our partridgeberry pie, which is delightful. Partridgeberry is the Newfoundland name for lingonberries and they are tart like cranberries. I do the dinner dishes while the girls get a bath and then I leave Marshal to tuck in the girls while I walk to the harbor to watch a peaceful sunset. When I return to the cottage Marshal and I curl up on the couch to spend a quiet evening reading. Tomorrow we will head out to the UNESCO Discovery center in Woody Point and hike in the Tablelands.

Friday, July 16—Day 19

We awake this morning after a good sleep and decide to take our time getting out the door. We eat breakfast and then Hilary and Olivia go outside to play with some of the other children staying in Rocky Harbour. While I get the breakfast dishes done Marshal goes to arrange tickets for the boat cruise up Western Brook Pond, an inland fjord.

We set out about 10:00 a.m. and make our way to the UNESCO Discovery Center in Woody Point. Gros Morne National Park was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The Discovery Center is superb and has

wonderful dioramas showing the life cycle of the caribou. The girls enjoy the displays in the Discovery Center. We eat our picnic lunch on a deck overlooking Bonne Bay and then depart for the Tablelands. Clouds are racing across the sky and we're afraid that we might get rained out of our walk on the Tablelands.

The Tablelands are an example of the continental lift in Gros Morne. The mesa-like rock formations were once part of the Earth's mantle, which is found deep in the earth, but because of tectonic forces the mantle

was pushed to the surface and created what is known today as the Tablelands. We park and start up the 4 km trail along the base of the Tablelands. Very few plants grow on the Tablelands because the soil does not have the nutrients to sustain growth. One of the few plants we see is the pitcher plant, which is a carnivorous plant eating passing insects. The soil lacks nitrogen and the plants are able to get their nitrogen by consuming the insects. As we hike, the small stream we are following gets larger. We turn into a cut in the mountain and the stream grows. The water from the melting snow higher up the mountains flows over large boulders and

provides a welcome bit of green in an otherwise red and barren landscape. The clouds fill the sky, but so far we haven't had any rain. We look across the valley to Bonne Bay and it is raining there.

When we finish our hike in the Tablelands, we get back in the car and begin the drive back to Rocky Harbour and then from there an additional drive to the hiking trail to Western Brook Pond (about 90 km). Hilary and Olivia fall asleep in the back seat of the car and Marshal and I have a quiet drive as we enjoy the scenery. About half way to Rocky Harbour it starts to rain. We are worried about the hike to Western Brook Pond. It is one thing to hike 6 km when the weather is dry, it's another to hike through peat bog in the rain (especially in moose territory).

We stop in Rocky Harbour to pick up some extra rain gear and continue to Western Brook Pond. The rain stops as we are leaving Rocky Harbour, but the sky is still overcast. When we reach the parking lot for the Western Brook Pond trail we eat a quick snack of bananas and crackers and then head up the trail.

We hurry because our sightseeing boat is scheduled to depart the foot of the pond at 6:00 p.m. so we have only an hour to hike up there. As we start the trail we see a moose across one of

the small ponds, but he is quite a distance away and doesn't appear to be a danger. The trail is clearly marked and in the boggiest parts there are raised walkways so we don't get wet. The plants and flowers along the trail are beautiful. We even come across a woodland grouse, which is a real treat because

they are only rarely seen. The interpretive signs along the path are informative, but about halfway up the trail we quit reading them because we are short on time. We'll read them on our way back down the trail after our boat ride. Interestingly, we hike over

three significant rises on the way to Western Brook Pond. These rises, in reality they are very large creases, were created at three different times when the continents collided.

Just as we reach the boat dock on Western Brook Pond it begins to rain. We don our rain gear, get the girls a hotdog for dinner, and

board the boat. The water at the foot of the pond is rough and the waves are made even higher by the windy rainstorm. The water calms as we move into the fjord and after about 30 minutes the rain stops. Hilary and Marshal ride on the bow of the ship and Olivia and I ride further back.

Western Brook Pond is a land-locked fjord that was created during the last ice age about 12,000 years ago. In many ways it looks similar to Yosemite Valley with its large stone walls soaring up to the sky and

many waterfalls dropping over the edges of the walls. As time takes its toll on the granite cliffs there are large landslides. These landslides give a foothold for plants to grow and also provide a path for the caribou to migrate from one side of the fjord to the other during the winter when the water is frozen. The landslides create a path that allows the caribou to descend into the valley and climb out the other side.

The pond is quite deep (about 500 feet) and cold and the water flows out of the pond very slowly. It takes approximately 15 years for a

complete water change in the pond. This slow change of water in the pond makes the pond fragile and the National Parks of Canada very carefully regulate the traffic up to and on the pond. The only boats allowed on the lake are the two sightseeing boats that belong to the family running the boat tours. Surprisingly, it wasn't until the late 1980s that there was really anyone near the pond. It was isolated and even after

roads were put through on the northern peninsula it wasn't until the 1990s that many travelers came to the peninsula. I need to point out here that we have seen only light traffic on Route 430, which runs from Deer Lake to St. Anthony's in the far north. At times we drive 30 minutes or more before seeing another car.

Our boat tour takes 2½ hours, but even through it is 8:30 p.m. when we begin the hike back to the car it is still light. We read

the interpretive signs that we didn't have time to read on the way up the trail and arrive back at the parking lot just as it is reaching full darkness at 9:30 p.m.

We drive to Rocky Harbour and have a very late dinner at the local pizza establishment then head to the cottage to drop into bed. The girls did so well today—we hiked over 10 km and they made it! As we get into bed the rain starts again and it falls heavily and steadily through the night.

Saturday, July 17—Day 20

When we awake it is still raining. After checking the weather report and hearing that it is supposed to rain most of the day we decide that a rest day is in order. We take our time with breakfast and then the girls find some of the other kids staying in the cottages and they spend the morning playing. Marshal and I read and rest.

After a nice lunch of vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwiches we take the girls to the indoor swimming pool built and maintained by the National Parks. It is a gorgeous swimming complex with a small pool for young children, an Olympic size pool for swim team use and general lap swimming, and a large hot tub. All the pools have ramps to allow easy entry into the water by anyone. Marshal gets into the hot tub and the girls swim for 1½ hours.

Leaving the pool we return to the cottage to change into dry clothes and then head to Lobster Cove Lighthouse for an evening celebration of the 100^th year of the lighthouse. We tour the interpretive center and then walk the trails around the lighthouse. Life on the northern peninsula of Newfoundland was very difficult well into the mid-1900s. Until the 1960s there weren't even any roads along the peninsula. The only way to reach the little villages along the coast was by boat.

After leaving the lighthouse we return to Rocky Harbour and have moose stew and moose pie for dinner. Moose is pretty tasty meat. It is similar to beef and does not have the gamey taste that venison and elk often have. We finish dinner and go back to the cottage to get to bed. Tomorrow we head up the coast to Port au Choix.

A Double Ferry Day!

Wednesday, July 14—Day 17

We rise early to catch the 8:00 a.m. ferry to Caribou, Nova Scotia. The morning is warm and a low mist hugs the coastline. After boarding the ferry we go to the top deck and watch as the ferry leaves the dock. The lovely red and white Wood Islands lighthouse is on the point near the ferry dock. Once we are in open water we go inside to eat our breakfast. The trip to Caribou is 75 minutes, so it seems to pass very quickly.

Once in Nova Scotia we hit the road to Baddeck where the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site is located. The drive through the Antigonish area of Nova Scotia takes a little over three hours and we pass through lovely green mountains dotted with many lakes.

The Historic Site is located just up a hill near the shore of Bras d'Or Lake. Although Alexander Graham Bell lived many places in his lifetime (Scotland, Ontario, and Washington, D.C.), he and his wife, Mabel, most loved the 37 years that they lived in "Beinn Bhreagh" their home in Baddeck.

Most of us think of Alexander Graham Bell as the inventor of the telephone and that certainly was a significant achievement in his lifetime. I am most impressed by the information about Bell's tremendous work to teach the deaf to speak. His father, Alexander Melville Bell, was an elocutionist in Scotland and he developed what was called "Visible Speech" which was a system of symbols that showed how to use the throat, tongue, and lips to produce the sound of language. From his father Bell learned the importance of strong communication skills. Bell used his passion for communication to develop a method to improve on his father's system of teaching the deaf to speak. He brought his method to the U.S. and played a large role in advancing education for the deaf. Both Bell's mother and his wife, Mabel, were deaf. It was Bell's work trying to develop hearing devices that led to his invention of the telephone.

In addition to his work in communications, Bell also made contributions in the areas of hydrofoils and aeronautics. At the Historic Site there is a full-sized replica of the hydrofoil he invented. Unfortunately, his work developing the hydrofoil was overlooked until well after his death. His work with heavier-than-air craft began in the late 1890s when he experimented with making wings out of multiple tetrahedral box kites covered with silk. The large wings were flown both manned and unmanned.

While Marshal and I go through the very informative displays at the Historical Site Hilary and Olivia participate in the activities in the children's area. They both make kites from scratch and enjoy making and setting off rockets.

We spend about three hours at the Historical Site and leave only because we need to arrive in North Sydney in time to have dinner and board the ferry for Newfoundland.

We drive through the rain and reach North Sydney in about an hour. As we drive past the docks we are awestruck by the size of the Marine Atlantic ferries. They are the size of cruise ships and the bow of the ferry opens just like a large mouth!

Searching around we find a restaurant that overlooks the ferries and we sit down to a delicious seafood dinner. As we eat our dinner we read about the early days of the Newfoundland ferry service. Until 1949 the ferry service to and from Newfoundland was entirely private. Once the Trans Canada Highway was extended through Newfoundland (Newfoundland entered the Confederation in 1947) the responsibility for the ferry service became a national requirement and responsibility. Regular ferry service to and from Newfoundland continues today with year-round service between North Sydney and Port au Basques and summer service between North Sydney and Argentia.

After dinner we take a quick drive around North Sydney and then get in line with all the motorcycles, cars, RVs, 18-wheelers, and large construction vehicles that are sailing on the ferry tonight. The rain is still falling steadily, but the temperature is comfortable at around 60°F. Once we have been issued our boarding passes and dormitory sleeper assignments we move closer to the ferry to wait for boarding. I go into the ferry building and call Mom and Dad before we depart.

The ferry is scheduled to depart at 10:00 p.m., which means we should board at 9:00 p.m., but that hour comes and goes and we're still sitting on the boarding dock in the rain. Olivia is asleep in the backseat, Marshal and Hilary are reading, and I'm checking email and preparing a blog to post (there is high-speed internet through the ferry terminal building). At 11:00 p.m. the boarding begins and proceeds very quickly. Within 15 minutes we have parked the car on the ferry and climbed three decks to find our dormitory sleepers.

The dormitory sleepers are full-sized bunk beds that are in groups of four so we have a little cubby of sleepers that are semi-private. There is a pillow and blanket for each bed and we have brought two extra blankets for the girls. Some people are already in their bunks by the time we board (passengers walking on the ferry are allowed to board earlier than those of us bringing cars on board), so we try to be as quiet as possible as we come into the dorm area. I get the girls ready for bed while Marshal explores the ferry. After the girls are tucked in, I brush my teeth and get into my bunk. It feels so good to stretch out! It's almost midnight and I'm really tired. Sometime later Marshal comes to bed. The ferry is sailing, but you can't tell it is moving because the ride is so smooth. The girls are asleep and we're not far behind them… In the morning we'll wake up in Newfoundland!

Enjoying the "Scope of our Imagination!"

Tuesday, July 13—Day 16

Today is my Mom's birthday—happy birthday, Mom! The day in Cavendish dawns hot and humid. Hilary and Marshal get up early and go in search of coffee and donuts as a surprise for Olivia and me. After realizing that Cavendish doesn't wake up until after 8:00 a.m., they ask a city caretaker who is working before the full heat of the day hits if any stores in Cavendish might be open at 7:00 a.m. He points them to Robin's Donuts. They return with a box of donuts and a large coffee for me. Bless them! We have milk in the refrigerator and the girls have a cup of milk with their donuts. We also split the last two bananas among the four of us. Not the healthiest breakfast, but it tastes yummy.

We eat, shower and load the car before stopping by the visitor's center. From there we head to Avonlea Village and arrive just as it is opening at 10:00 a.m.

The entrance to Avonlea Village is the train station and the first person we meet is Charlie Sloan, looking for the "boy from Nova Scotia." When we step out on the train platform we encounter and become a part of the Anne of Green Gables story! Matthew Cuthbert has arrived at the station to pick up the orphan he and Marilla had requested from Nova Scotia. Expecting a boy, he is somewhat flummoxed by the arrival of a girl, Anne Shirley. We watch as the story is acted out and follow the wagon as Matthew and Anne head for Green Gables to meet Marilla. There is a stage at the back of the Green Gables house and this morning and throughout the day we go back to the stage as the story unfolds.

At the stage we meet Mrs. Rachel Lynne and Marilla. Mrs. Lynne looks over the audience and chastises us for not being properly dressed—we women should properly be in long dresses and broad-brimmed hats to shade our faces and the men should be in long pants because they are over the age of 16 and should remove their hats in the presence of ladies! Ah, well, she comforts us, we can go to the general store and obtain the appropriate attire. Mrs. Lynne chastises Marshal for keeping his hat on and wearing sunglasses and for the rest of the day Marshal removes his hat and glasses every time he sees Mrs. Lynne!

We watch as Anne meets Marilla and her "bosom friend" Diana, then we head to the general store to get our "proper attire." The girls find lovely dresses to put on and I get several pictures of them dressed up.

The girls go to the arts and crafts shed and work on "spud people" (after all, this is Prince Edward Island, home of the great "Bud the Spud"). While they work on their potatoes, Marshal and I go to the barn to listen to some wonderful traditional island music. The musicians are quite talented and draw the crowd into the singing.

When the girls are done with their crafts, the school bell rings and they head to the schoolhouse for their first lesson of the day, which is history. After class we head back to the stage to see Anne's first day of school and to meet the handsome Gilbert Blythe! Charlie Sloane, always needing to work on his manners, eats watermelon in class by digging out the flesh with his hands. Gilbert Blythe makes the mistake of calling Anne "carrot head" and earns her wrath for a long time to come.

After the schoolhouse enactment, we get out our picnic lunch and eat in the shade. The day has become hotter and muggier and we appreciate having a cool spot in the shade to enjoy our lunch. After lunch I take some time and write a postcard to Mom and Dad and then mail it from the general store.

When lunch is done we watch the story of Anne's first tea party with Diana, in which Anne accidentally serves Diana blackberry wine instead of raspberry cordial. The scene is well acted and everyone has a hearty laugh. When the story is done, go back to the main street and there are Gilbert and Charlie dressed as girls having a mock tea party. Great fun!

Hilary heads to the barn to pet the animals and Olivia heads to the craft shed where she makes a pretty paper flower where the petals are her handprints. At the end of the day she gives her flower to Anne (by now all of us are on a first name basis with Anne and Diana!).

Next we hear the school bell ring again and the girls head back to class for a math lesson with Miss Stacey. The children sit at the desks and use slates and chalk to do their lesson. After the math lesson Hilary and Olivia go to the barn for a children's music show and sing along, then we go back to the stage to see the story of the lost brooch and Anne's new dress from Matthew.

Hilary and Olivia visit with Anne and Diana in Mrs. Lynne's house. They are thrilled to spend time with Anne and Diana and talk with them for quite a while before asking to have their picture taken with them. We wander over to the barn and go for a ride in a wagon pulled by two large draft horses.

The afternoon continues with a square dance by the barn (I dance with Matthew Cuthbert and Marshal dances with Miss Stacey). The girls participate in a circle dance and then Mrs. Lynne organizes a suffrage parade and even manages to get some men to carry the suffrage banner. Marshal plays the tambourine in the parade and Hilary and Olivia carry international flags. We march to the open field near the Presbyterian Church (which is the actual Presbyterian Church that Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables books, attended!) and spend the rest of the afternoon at the country fair.

Hilary and Olivia participate in the potato sack race, the egg-in-the-spoon race, and the water-in-a-boot race (one of the favorite races because the kids get wet and get to throw water on Anne, Gilbert, Diana, and Charlie!). There is even a pie-eating contest for the men.

When the country fair is over we go to the church for a concert before heading to the stable for the pig races organized by Charlie Sloan. There are three pigs in the race, all described by

Charlie as pink, hairy, curly tailed and with snouts. Truth be told, the only way we can tell the pigs apart is by the green 1, 2 or 3 painted on their sides… Even though it is the end of a long, hot day, the pigs are ready to race. The fact that there is a trough of pig slops at the end of the race is probably a bit of an incentive, as well. All of us choose the pig we want to win and then Charlie starts the race. The pigs are impressively speedy and reach the trough in no time flat!

That wraps up the day at Avonlea Village. We say goodbye to Anne, Diana, Gilbert, Charlie, Marilla, Matthew, Miss Stacey, and Mrs. Lynne as we leave. Stopping at the gift shop Olivia uses part of her spending money to buy a soft and cuddly Diana doll. Hilary eyes the beautiful tea sets for sale, but we don't know how we can transport a tea set safely and Hilary decides not to buy one. She'll keep looking for something special as we continue our trip.

We climb back into the car hot, tired, and slightly sun and wind burned, but we've just had one of the best days any of us can remember. We pull out some iced water from the ice chest and set out for Wood Islands where we'll spend the night before catching the ferry to Nova Scotia in the morning. Our time at Avonlea Village was well spent and we can't recommend it highly enough to anyone who is thinking of visiting. This is family fun at its best. Part of what makes Avonlea Village so special is that visitors are not just entertained, but they become part of the entertainment. Because we had already read the first two books in the Anne of Green Gables series we were better able to enjoy the day and participate in the activities. In our estimation, Avonlea Village beats Disneyland any day!

As we drive to Wood Islands we pass through miles of potato and wheat fields. We skirt the edge of Charlottetown and it looks like a clean a beautiful city. When we arrive at Wood Islands we find out there are no restaurants, so we drive about 25 more minutes to find a grocery store to buy ice and breakfast and lunch supplies for the next day and then we find a Pizza Delight restaurant where we have dinner.

Back in our hotel we collapse in bed and sleep soundly. Tomorrow we head to Nova Scotia!

From Ocean Flowerpots to Potatoes, Potatoes, Potatoes

Monday, July 12—Day 15

We sleep in a bit this morning then have a nice breakfast looking out over rainy Alma and the Bay of Fundy. After breakfast I do the dishes and the girls go out to pet the horses a few more times before we leave for Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick.

We decide to take the scenic route to Hopewell Rocks even through it will add about 30 minutes to our trip. We see several little towns and ranches with cattle grazing as we drive along the coast. We stop briefly to see one of New Brunswick's famous covered bridges just as a group of about 15 horseback riders come through the bridge.

We reach Hopewell Rocks about 11:00 a.m. and go into the interpretation center. The center explains not only how the striking geological formations at Hopewell Rocks came to be, but also gives a wonderful explanation of how the shifting of the continents, early volcanic activity, and advancing and receding glaciers created the Bay of Fundy and the Appalacian Mountains that stretch from Georgia in the U.S. to the northeastern tip of Newfoundland.

We spend almost an hour reading through the displays before beginning the walk along the cliffs to see the "flowerpot" rocks and the incredible four storey tidal shift. The first thing that strikes us when we see the Bay of Fundy is the muddy water. Because the tides are so dramatic in the Bay of Fundy, the mud and sand at the bottom of the bay are constantly stirred up, so the water is never clear. One hundred billion tons of water flow in and out of the bay at each tide change.

We arrive at the flowerpot formations while the tide is rising. At low tide you can walk on the mud around the flowerpots, but, to be honest with you, I'm really glad we didn't arrive in time to tromp through the mud. We see people in the large rinsing area trying to wash and scrape off the dark red mud. Hilary and Olivia would have been covered in mud from head to toe had they walked on the bottom of the bay. I would have had to strip off clothes and through away their clothes!

We observe the kayakers paddling around the flowerpot formations, talk with one of the naturalist about the flora and fauna of the region and then head to the hotdog stand for a quick lunch. Walking back to

the parking lot we make a quick visit to the gift shop and then we hit the road to Prince Edward Island.

On the way to the Confederation Bridge, which we will cross to reach Prince Edward Island, we pass through Moncton, New Brunswick. Moncton is a small city surrounded by agricultural areas. We pass through the downtown and are impressed by how clean it is and how the city planners have managed to artfully meld the old architecture with the new architecture. On the eastern side of Moncton we pass through fields of corn and wheat and encounter many miles of road repair. The winters are tough on the roads here, and repair work can only be done in the short summer months.

Just before we reach the Confederation Bridge we enter the 1700-acre Cape Jourimain National Wildlife Area. At the base of the bridge alongside the Northumberland Strait is the Cape Jourimain Nature Center. We stop to get a good picture of the bridge and are pleasantly surprised by the marvelous nature center.

We watch a movie showing the construction of the Confederation Bridge and then walk through the "Tale of Two Islands" exhibit with its amazing life-sized bird carvings and information displays. Olivia settles in at the controls of the bird migration display, which has a 20 by 10-foot wall of lighted bird pictures and interactive audio questions and answers. She spends more than 30 minutes listening to the audio about each bird that lives in or migrates through the Northumberland Strait.

Olivia and I walk through the life-sized bird displays and are awed by the beautiful carved wood birds. We see many birds we are familiar with, but also learn about some birds we've never heard of before. One of the birds is the black-backed seagull. It is the largest seagull and is easily twice the size of the seagulls we are accustomed to in California. We also see carvings of the great blue heron and loon.

The nature center also has many working displays of green technology (including green bathrooms!). Marshal and Hilary ride a stationary bike and make lamps light up, fans blow, and radios and TVs work. There are different kinds of solar cells and a large windmill powering various parts of the center. After about an hour at the center we prepare to cross the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island.

The Confederation Bridge is a spectacular sight. It stretches 12.9 km (8 miles) across the Northumberland Strait from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island. Construction on the bridge started in 1993 and it was completed in the spring of 1997 at a cost of $1.3 billion (Canadian). The company that built the bridge has a 35 year contract to collect the tolls from the bridge. Approximately 4000 vehicles cross the bridge each day. Prior to the construction of the bridge the only access to Prince Edward Island was the ferry and flights into Charlottetown. The tallest section of the bridge is 197 feet above the water, which is high enough to allow the sea-going ships to pass through without difficulty. The piers that hold up the bridge are 820 feet apart and are specially designed to break up the ice the floes in the Northumberland Straight in the winter. It takes us about 12 minutes to cross the bridge to Prince Edward Island.

Prince Edward Island is beautiful with its rolling hillsides covered with corn and potato fields. We also see wheat crops. Oh, and potatoes. Dairy herds graze peacefully under the golden evening sun. And there is a field of potatoes. Lush green-red beets grow along the road. And, surprise, there is a field of potatoes. A large plot of carrots appears just over the top of the hill. And did I mention a field of potatoes? Yes, potatoes are king on Prince Edward Island. The unofficial provincial song is "Bud the Spud" and is sung with great fervor across the province.

It takes about an hour to get across Prince Edward Island to Cavendish. We check into the Anne Shirley Motel and then go out to dinner. After dinner we go to Prince Edward Island National Park to see the red cliffs that Lucy Maud Montgomery writes about in the Anne of Green Gables books. It is quite hot and we hope that the cool air blowing in off the ocean will cool us down.

The red cliffs are lovely, especially in the late evening light. We decide to walk along the beach and watch the sunset. Watching the sun set over the Gulf of

St. Lawrence is fascinating because the gulf is really part of the Atlantic Ocean. Being from the west coast, we're used to seeing the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, so watching the sun sink in the Atlantic Ocean is unusual.

We stay at the beach until the sun has dipped into the ocean and then climb back up the red cliffs to the car. We drive along the ocean enjoying the fading light. Returning to the hotel we slip under the covers for a good night's sleep because tomorrow we will be visiting Avonlea Village!

Having a Fundy Time

Sunday, July 11—Day 14

At breakfast we meet a nice Canadian family on their way to New Hampshire. The wife is from Nova Scotia and the husband is from Newfoundland. We have a good conversation about places to visits in Newfoundland. After breakfast we load the car and head to Fundy National Park. It is an overcast, misty morning and it doesn't look as though the sun is going to put in an appearance today. On the way out of St. John, we stop at the Royal Bank of Canada and I use my debit card to withdraw cash—success! We were a bit worried and frustrated yesterday, but now that we know my card will work at specific locations, we are relieved and happy.

The drive to Fundy National Park takes about 2 hours. We have Sirius satellite radio in the rental car and have found several stations that we like: NPR, financial news, bluegrass, soft rock, and a short story/novel station. This morning we listen to bluegrass as we drive along. We stop to eat lunch and get groceries at Sobey's just before reaching Fundy National Park.

In the park we drive leisurely through and eventually reach the interpretation center near Alma. It is still raining, so we go to Alma and check in to our cottage overlooking the Bay of Fundy. Once we've unloaded everything and the girls have checked out both floors of the cottage and decided which side of the loft each of them gets for the night we don rain gear and head back into the park to do the Dickson Falls hike.

Even though it is raining, the temperature is about 72ºF, so it isn't unpleasant. The Dickson Falls trail is a little over 2 kilometers and has some rather steep sections. As we hike we identify fir, spruce, birch and maple trees. As we descend toward the stream and falls the ferns and moss become thick and Old Man's Beard, a green-grey lichen, hangs in the tree branches.

We hear the stream and falls before we see them and when we get to the boardwalk path along the creek the view is lovely! The forest is deep green and the water tumbles over the rocks and the edge of the falls.

We hike back up the hillside and arrive at the car soaked in spite of the raingear. We get in the car and turn on the air conditioning to dry off as we drive to see the covered bridge and Point Wolfe before returning to the cabin for a warm shower and dinner.

Fundy National Park was established in 1948 and the geography is known as Maritime Acadian Highlands. It is a large rainforest and receives nearly 60 inches of rain each year. We can attest to the rain in the park—it doesn't stop raining the whole time we are here. The rain, however, does not detract from the beauty of our visit.

When we get back to the cabin the girls go to stables to pet the horses, Emma and Pepper. They spoil the horses with sweet treats and clover and fall in love with both of them! Hilary colors a picture of the horses and gives it to the owner. He hangs it up in the office and is pleased because no one else has drawn a picture for the horses before.

After we get the kids to bed we enjoy an evening in front of the fire reading and listening to the rain falling outside. When we arrived at the park in the afternoon it was low tide. High tide was right around midnight. I get up around midnight hoping to see the high tide at the wharf we can see from our cottage windows, but the clouds have settled low on the town of Alma and the view is nothing but grey mist swirling outside the cottage.