7.10.18 Walking on the seafloor

The weather is cloudy as we sit in the car at 9.00 am to drive to Hillsborough. The 114 is once again our road, which we follow northeast. We googled the Cinnamon Soul Café as an open location for breakfast. Everything else in the area is closed. Not only is the season over now, but it's also Sunday. You have to be well informed... The Cinnamon Soul Café is about 50km from Alma, and we arrive there just before 10.00 am. They have just opened, the place is cold, and we grab a table by the window. The café fills up gradually and is packed after 30 minutes. I order porridge with fruit and toast with homemade blueberry sauce, along with a large coffee. It costs just under $13 here, can't complain, and it's all delicious, and homemade, of course.

Today's high tide is at 11:08 am and low tide is at 5:39 pm at the Hopewell Rocks, so we want to be at Rockwell Cape around that time. Here, there are the so-called Flowerpot Rocks, tall rocks that can be reached on foot at low tide, as this is where the Bay of Fundy has the highest tidal range of up to 16-17 meters. The Bay of Fundy is shaped like a funnel, which is why the largest water movements are here at the end. We are prepared to wait until about 3:00 pm to be able to walk under the Flowerpot Rocks on the seafloor during low tide. The seafloor there is walkable approximately 3 hours after the high tide peak. The Rocks Provincial Park, an official facility with an entrance, visitor center, restaurant, and the like, simply closes at 5:00 pm in this season. The parking lot also closes. As the tides continue to shift later in the coming days, it will eventually become impossible to witness and experience this spectacle because low tide may occur at 6:00 pm, and if you arrive here at 4:30 pm, it will be difficult to make it to the stairs and take a walk on the seafloor without risking the car being locked up at 5:00 pm. You can walk around here as a pedestrian as long as you want. But the entrance is not accessible without a car in this remote area. It's really a pity that they act as if it's the middle of winter here in early October. After all, Thanksgiving was this week, and many Canadians are also on vacation.

At around 11:30 am, we are on the lookout platform above the Flowerpot Rocks, which can be reached with a 15-20 minute walk from the visitor center located further up the slope. The entrance fee of $10/person is okay, and it's valid for 2 days. This would give you the chance to see the low tide on other days. However, on our 2 days, it would be delayed, making it worse as the low tide gets later each day.

From the lookout platform, you can now walk about 3 floors lower during high tide until you can't go any further because the water surface is in front of you. The rocks now only have the upper part above the water, and the narrower pedestals underneath are completely invisible.

We treat ourselves to a cold ride on a shuttle train for $2 back to the warm visitor center, take our position in the restaurant, have coffee, and read, as we are waiting at the Hightide Restaurant for the opportunity to walk on the seafloor.

At 2:08 pm, the seafloor under the Flowerpot Rocks is walkable today. The tidal range is about 13 meters today. We arrive there just before 3:00 pm and are surprised that the seafloor is not muddy but rather easy to walk on. The impression of the 13 meters under the rocks is gigantic. Suddenly, we find ourselves standing on the washed-out pedestals of these rocks, which still have pine trees on top. We walk back and forth and come back to ground level on a slope further to the left. Behind the snack restaurant is the departure point for the small shuttle, and even though it is now around 4:00 pm and many people want to go to the visitor center and parking lot, this little shuttle train with its unchanged capacity of 7 seats arrives after some waiting and a round of waiting. There are still several people here, and we estimate that not all of them are aware that the parking lot closes at 5:00 pm. We passed by here on the way in and wanted to drive into the parking lot at 5:04 pm to get information, but the barrier was already down, and the last employees were getting into their car.

After 30km, we reach Alma again and go to eat at the Tides Restaurant. Since they served my salmon with lime sauce instead of the ordered lobster sauce, I get the complete meal for free! Incredible. The Tides Restaurant is quite busy as it is Thanksgiving weekend, and the restaurant next door has already closed for the season.

Soon, we are sitting in our wooden house in jogging pants on the sofas, and I write in my diary, sort photos, while the TV is playing nonsense again.