Mike and Roxanne travel east

Hopewell Rocks Sep 28, 2007

Sep 28, 2007

We left the RV at 4:00 a.m. this morning and we are headed for Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick. It is about 180 miles from here but it is on the Bay of Fundy and they not only record the greatest tidal variations in the world but also have the rock that have been created into shapes by the tidal action.

We head to Calais, get gas and make a fast border crossing. Crossing the border here was real easy; she did not even want to see the passports. Many people live on one side and work on the other and the cities enjoy a great international rapport.

It is pitch black, no moon and raining buckets. I am getting the feeling that when it rains on the east coast it doesn't drizzle like home, it pours. It is also foggy.

We finally reach the rocks at a little after 9:00. Low tide was at 6:52 a.m. eastern tine. That is another thing, each time we cross into Canada the hour moves ahead an hour and back when we come back into the U.S. This occurs even when Canada is due North of the U.S.

It is still raining so we opt for the shuttle ride down to the cliffs. We have about 90 minutes to walk on the ocean floor before the tide starts coming back in. We on walking on places that will be under nearly 20 feet of water in just over three hours. We stand under the "Lover's Arch", 18 feet from ocean floor to roof; this will be nearly full in just a few hours.

After taking lots of "before" pictures we take the shuttle back to the Interpretative Center. Three are several bus tours coming through so we kind of tag along and listen to the guides.

The geological formations here are sandstone and conglomerate (remember this from the Alaska trip?). These two are mixed together so that the tidal action has washed away the sandstone, in fact the ocean water is red here, and the conglomerate stays created the weird shapes. Eventually the arches are formed and in time pieces fall off, arches disappear and new ones are formed.

Geologists predict that there is enough conglomerate in the area to last or another 100,000 years.

We still have several hours to kill before high tide, which will be 45.3 feet today. We have breakfast in the café and sit around for a little while. We then decide to go back out to the cliffs and watch the water rise.

The water is rising at the rate o 12" every 5 minutes or 12 feet per hour. The arch where we had been standing at 10:00 was now under 8 feet of water. We continued to watch, in the rain. Until high tide, the arch was nearly full, the lower set of steps to the beach were covered as well as all the signs on the beach telling you to stay out of certain places.

The water became real calm, no waves and in about 10 minutes someone pulled the plug and in another 3 hours you would be able to stand under the arch again and in six hours the tide was be at low and 45.3 feet of water would have left the bay.

It is still raining as we leave and rains about half of the way home. We have driven nearly 8 hours today to watch a bathtub fill but it was a most inspiring bathtub and the rocks, arches, stairs and other landmarks give a real sense of what is happening.