The Tides!

Today we made it to Nova Scotia! It was a 2.5 hr drive from St. John to the UNESCO-listed Joggins Fossil Cliffs on the Bay of Fundy where we were perfectly timed to arrive at low tide. The tidal change here is FIFTY FEET making it the highest tide in the entire world!

Arriving at low tide was incredible and one of the most amazing natural sites I've ever seen. The exposed red sand/mud flats stretched out as far as you could see. But that was only one reason to come here. The other one was to see the 300 million year old fossils that are EVERYWHERE in the exposed cliffs. 

The oldest reptiles on earth on here (dinos didn't show up on the planet until 50 million years later). We decided to take the 1.5 hour guided tour and learned that these cliffs have the largest concentration of fossilized trees and we saw trunks and roots impressed into the stone.

The cliffs also have massive coal seams which were mined in the 1800s and are the reason fossils were discovered here in the first place.

 

We had to wear hard hats which I'm sure would have saved us if a 100-ton chunk of rock came rolling down the cliff.

We took a partially scenic coastal route from Joggins to our overnight stop in Pictou on the Northumberland Shore. A very small but very cute town selected by Mac because it was the first place in NS settled by Scots in 1773. Like most of America, the info in town talks about the Scottish immigrants being the first settlers then goes on to say the name of the town comes from the Mi'kmaq word for the place. Colonialism extends everywhere I guess. We had a nice walk in the afternoon sun then enjoyed a few pints, fish sandwich (#2 if we're counting battered haddock) and a shepherd's pie for the Scottish lassie.

We're spending the night in a nineteenth century customs house so will report tomorrow if we have a new location for the TAPS crew.


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