July 13th....we headed towards Truro to a park I had read about in one of the tourist books that had a good walking trail with waterfalls. It was called Victoria Park and when we got there, a bike fundraiser of some sort was coming in to the park. There was a bagpiper and also a band playing on stage. Near the concession stand was a little water park for the kids and there were a lot of summer camp buses there.
We headed up the trail with the dogs and came to Jacobs Ladder.....
This was 175 steps to the top of a rocky gorge
I carried Lucky all the way up and was quite winded
We then walked along the trails and it was pretty quiet, not a lot of people were hiking on this day
Again we were amazed at the wooden walkways all around this park
When we got to the waterfalls we looked down and several people were in the swimming holes at the bottom
The water was cold and it wasn't that hot out but I guess they are used to it here
After our walk we got back in the car and stopped for a bite to eat at "Jungle Jim's" which reminded us of an RJ Gators. We then headed west on the Glooscap Trail through Maitland where we would be coming back on Friday to do the Tidal Bore rafting.
We passed through many farms right on the Fundy Bay and had to stop the car for this baby porcupine and his mama
We went over the Shubenacadie River which was the end of the Bay of Fundy
We came to Burncoat Head Park, home of the highest recorded tides in the world
The lighthouse was actually the visitor center but it was already closed
The landscape was pretty around the area
and there were a lot of apples on the trees
The hummingbirds were having a feast at the feeders here
What we saw was not what we expected at all once we got to the bay. The stairs led down to the bottom of the Bay
We walked on the rocks above first and then across the bottom. It was low tide but the red sand was still mucky from when it was high tide six hours before. It was slippery walking on the rocks but we crossed over to the other side.
It was hard to imagine that the water actually comes all the way up the to the top of the cliffs during high tide
It gave us goosebumps and it was really exciting knowing that water would be way over our heads if we were standing here six hours earlier or six hours later
This rock stood in the middle and during high tide would be covered
You can see from this picture how high the cliffs really are and picture the water all the way up
This was a bald eagle we saw flying over the cliffs with two others hunting for food
Bill standing next to the rock in the earlier picture
When we got here, there were two kayakers who had taken a break from paddling up the river. The one in the red kayak had left Otawa in Mid May so he had been on the water for over sixty days.
His name was Zack Krause and the other guy was a camera man. He was doing a documentary on kayaking his trip from Ottowa to Halifax where he lived.
Bill got to talking to him and he said four years ago he had done a trip around Newfoundland which he said was the hardest one he had ever done.
Ty liked it here too
We walked around a while then went to the top of the cliffs and watched as Zack and his camera man left to continue the trip around the Bay.
We continued our drive down the Glooscap Trail and came to Walton Lighthouse, built in 1878
The lighthouse looked over the bay
This was one of the views from the area the lighthouse was on
There was a trail you could walk on along the cliff but there was a fence here which we did not see very often in any of these lookoffs or scenic overlooks
There were several fishermen out on the shore and these two that were walking towards the tide line
As the sun was setting the scenery just got better and better
The lighthouse was open and you could just go in and climb the stairs and look at the books they had in there
We just wanted to stay here as long as we could because each minute was prettier than the next. However we needed to continue on the trail since it was already 8:00 pm
We came to another overlook spot where the bay was on one side and a marsh was on the other
We continued on until we got back to the campground to a beautiful full moon
Thursday was a rainy day so we stayed at the campground doing laundry, blogging and looked at emails (Bill says he gets over 100 a day!) We then took a drive down the road to Bedford, a quaint community where we found Finbars, a local Irish Pub. The bartender, Pam who took our picture for us turned out to be the proprietor along with her husband. We shared the popular Nachos and had their beer on tap then headed out to Dartmouth about 15 minutes away.
It was still raining but we snapped a few pictures from across the river of Halifax
and drove through the Shearwater Canadian Forces Base which according to Bill had not changed much except for the fact that you could just drive on with nobody at the gate
When we got back to the campground, the sun was setting and it looked like the trees were on fire off in the distance
We went to bed fairly early because we had made reservations for the tidal bore rafting the next morning, about an hour drive away from the campground in Maitland.
We got to the River Runners location before anyone else and signed the paperwork and paid then I decided to walk the dogs at a park next door. When I got back the parking lot was full and there were lots of people there.
We got our gear of yellow jackets and pants or if you wanted the warmer red suits you could get those.
We were assigned to a young lady by the name of Alli, our guide who would drive the Zodiac up river. She told us she was adventurous but careful. As we were waiting to get on the boat down on the river Bill spotted a kayaker and recognized him as Zack, the guy we saw a few days earlier at Burncoat Head! He was still on the river filming for his documentary! I think he was just as surprised to see us.
We had to walk in the water to the Zodiac and the water was very cold. Alli's Dad was a guide also but she said she had to keep her eye on him because even though he had lasik surgery on his eyes he still had problems seeing far away so once we were on the water she was telling him to watch out and stay with the other Zodiacs. She was good at her job and we had a great ride on the tides coming in.
There were a few times when I bounced off the Zodiac and into the bottom of the boat but thank goodness Bill was holding on to me so I wouldn't go over the side.....I could feel certain muscles cramping just from holding on for dear life on several of the waves which were at times about 13 feet tall. The boat was 16 feet and the waves would come over it and we got soaked. It was quite a thrill ride and the drive back was pretty rough. I would have to say though that it is on the top of my list of thrilling things I have done in my lifetime, better than white water rafting.
After we came back we jumped in the showers and changed into dry clothes. Bill took this picture of the ramp to the river which when we left was about 1/8 of a mile longer than what you see here....when we got back it was all under water.
We drove back to Truro and found a little cafe to have some lunch. We then drove up the other side of the the Glooscap trail. We turned off this road along a flowing river with the idea that there was a waterfall close by. We drove several miles before turning around not finding the waterfall.
Ty and Lucky had been in the car all day so we found a trail off the beaten path to walk them. It was very secluded on a long dirt road past farms and there was only one other car there. A couple was sitting outside of their car having something to eat. We entered the trail and walked down to the beach.
The beach was pretty wet and the orange sand was getting all over our shoes but there was no other way to go so we tried to find the driest spots to walk on. It was really pretty and quiet walking along the cliffs. We found where you could walk up on the trail in the forest and went back to the car.
We drove back to the highway and it was late afternoon so we decided to turn back and head over to the Shubenacadie River where we had been earlier that day when we did the rafting. On the way we stopped at a farm that advertised strawberries and I purchased a pint as well as some delicious smelling biscuits that had just come out of the oven.
We crossed over the bridge which our guide earlier in the day had said that it was not that old and already falling apart which we could clearly see dipped in the middle.
The look off here had a pedestrian bridge that stuck out over the river. On our rafting trip earlier we had gone under the bridge and this is where we had turned around to go back down the river.
The river was pretty calm now as it was at high tide and was just starting to go back out
The Shubenacadie River is the longest river in Nova Scotia
We left the look off and went back to the campground. It had been a long day and I was starting to feel the muscle pain from the rafting trip earlier in the day....couldn't wait to see how I felt the next day!
The next morning I was right about the muscle pain.....I felt like I had been hit by a truck as they say. I took a muscle relaxer in the morning and took it easy for the rest of the day.
On Sunday we wanted to go watch the Women's World Cup Soccer Game so in the afternoon we headed down to Halifax. It was a fairly nice day so there were a lot of people at the lakes and rivers on the way down enjoying the water.
We found Bubba Rays Sports Bar and went in to see if they had the game on which of course they did.
They had a bunch of flat screen TV's so we sat at the bar and ordered wings and beer. There were other fans there cheering as well. Too bad USA lost....
It was a very big place on the second floor with different levels. The windows were opened and you could watch people going by on the streets below.
After the game we walked across the street to the Public Gardens.
The gate was very ornate and you could see that the gardens were very well maintained.
That is my crazy husband!
The gardens which were opened to the public in 1875 had really nice designs on sixteen acres of land and is one of the rare Victorian Gardens left in Canada
There were a few people enjoying the park
This is a minature replica of the Titantic displayed in one of the lakes
A Seagull trying really hard to get something out of the garbage
This Gazebo is an original from when the gardens were first formed
Outside the Gardens was this hotel which Bill said was there when he was here around 29 years ago
We then got back in the car and drove up to the Citadal
The gates were closed but outside we could park and take pictures of the city below
Here at one of the gates their was a bagpiper playing and a "real gate guard" like in the billboard
Looking down on the city of Halifax
We enjoyed our time in the Halifax area but we were ready to leave to explore more of Nova Scotia.
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