Marlies' Creative Universe

Minas Basin Day Trip

August 16/2007

Finally the weather was just perfect for the long planned trip to the Bay of Fundy and the Minas Basin. It was not too hot and not to cold, just right.

I really like the satellite picture, from 1975, I found on the net of the area at the Canadian Government Resource site.

We left after the rush hour was almost over at 9 am and had very little traffic going North on the 101 towards Windsor and Wolfville. Just after Wolfville we took the turnoff to the right onto route 358 and followed it to the end.

First the road crosses the valley and then at Canning it makes a turn towards the hills separating the Bay of Fundy and the valley. On top of the hill was our first stop at a place called the Look Off. The view was just breathtaking. To the West spread out the Annapolis valley and to the East are the tidal flats of the Minas Basin. Today low tide was around 10 am and that added to the colors of the landscape. The tidal flats are a rusty brown color.

view from the Look Off

I really wanted to go the Bay of Fundy, so we got back in the car and kept on driving. The further North we got the more the sun pulled a disappearing act and by the time we reached Scotts Bay at the Bay of Fundy we were surrounded by heavy fog, a real pea souper as they say here. There was no reason to take any pictures as there was plain nothing to see. So we turned around and drove back the way we came. As we were reaching again the top of the hills, the sun came back out and the weather stayed that way all day long.

Halfway between Scotts Bay and the Look Off we took a dirt road down to Blomidon Provincal Park our next destination.

Tangled Garden

August 16/2007

After a delicious lunch in Wolfville we continued on the Grand Pre to the Tangled Garden. I delightful garden with a labyrinth and a store where they sell delicious jellies and highly unusual ice creams. Hubby had lemon thyme and I had rose petal ice cream.

sculptures at Tangled Garden

There is a $2 entrance fee to help support the garden. This is the first time I walked a labyrinth. I had never seen one with flowers. There were all kinds of flowers, but also poppies in various colors. Each poppy had a color matching thread around the stem to help them differentiate the colors of the seeds for next year.

flower labyrinth at Tangled Garden

The inscription above the gate to the labyrinth says:
Nosce te ipsum and that means Know Thyself.

This concluded our site seeing and by 4 pm we were back home, relaxed from a delightful trip.

Blomidon Provincial Park

August 16/2007

We had no problem finding the park. As with most parks there are great hiking trails to explore the area, but today all we wanted to do was to walk on the shore. With the enormous difference between low and high tides on the Bay of Fundy the water had retreated way out into the bay.

Also check out my picture of the difference between high and low tide in Saint John, NB and the Reversing Falls of the Saint John River.

low tide at the Bay of Fundy

view from the stairs leading down the the shore

various rocks on the shore

Panorama looking West

Our next stop was Tangled Garden.