We take our time making it back to Halifax

This is our last full day in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada, and the only thing on our agenda was to make it back to Halifax, about 3 12 hours away.  So we took our time. 

We first detoured through farmland to Saint Peters, on the very south of Cape Breton Island, to see the canal that is the only link between the lake and the ocean, and the tidal lock that makes it possible.  

Here I am holding the lock together!  And my reflection in the water from the top of it.  

We continued on to the Canso causeway, the only way on or off the Cape Breton Island. 

We then had to go through Truro, at the very top of the bay of Fundy, on our way to Halifax. And our timing was perfect to catch the tidal bore that goes through it twice a day.  A tidal bore is a wave (bore comes of the old Norse word for wave) that is formed in areas where a strong tide is funneled through a wide bay up a river.  As the funnel narrows, the tide is pushed higher, and eventually takes over and turns the river backward. It is not unique to the bay of Fundy (in fact, the Seine river in France used to have one until the 1960’s when they dredge it), but it is particularly strong and predictable there.  Most river that drain in the bay experience it to some extend, but the Truro one is particularly strong and has a great viewing spot.  We were extremely lucky with timing: we arrived shortly after 12, the weather was really nice, and the bore was predicted for12:46pm. 

So we, and a lot of other people just enjoyed the sun until, shortly before 12:46pm, all the Canada geese upstream took off and started complaining loudly that this big wave was disturbing them (you’d thing that, since it happens twice a day, every day, they’d be used toit. But after all they have bird brains….).

You first see it coming as a thin white line upstream, and then it moves forward, again disturbing more birds (also, stupid tourist have died waiting for it to come and standing on the river bed). It is very, VERY cool, and pictures definitely do not do it justice.  Here is the full sequence.

By the time we arrived in Halifax around 3pm, it was 86 degrees. I had planned to go for a walk up to the citadel, but that’s uphill and in the sun….. So I’ll do that in the morning instead, before checking out and going to the airport.   Instead, I walked along the Halifax boardwalk again, which is very enjoyable in this weather, taking in the sights and life that happens here. 

At the end of the boardwalk, where the big cruise ships dock, is a statue of John Cunard, who basically invented modern cruising (he was born in Halifax, where his parents emigrated during the American revolution because they were royalistes).  His statue is dwarfed by one of the ships in port, but that's far from being the largest one. The one behind it (the Liberty of the seas) is so big that you really can’t even take its picture. Can you see the huge water slide on top of it?  I am both fascinated by the engineering that goes into this, and a bit repulsed by its magnitude. 

This being our last day here, we splurged and got a room right on the harbor, making it easy to enjoy one last sea food meal outside. 

The weather has been just amazing!  We have been here 10 days and have not seen a drop of rain.  On the other hand, it’s time we go home because we have run out of summer weather clothing: we packed rain gear and cold weather gear…..because Nova Scotia in septembre….. We have not used any of it!