The Tidal Bore and Prince Edward Island

 Saturday, August 17, 2024

After spending the night in Moncton, we got up to head out to the Petitcodiak River to experience the magnificent tidal bore. We were informed at the visitors center the day before that right next door was the best place to see it. The town had even built a grandstand for people to view this phenomenon.  The high tide was expected to start rolling in at 8:30, so I was told be there at 8:00 just in case it came early. When I asked if we should be earlier to make sure we got a good parking space, she looked quizzically at me and said that there would be plenty of spaces. 

Because Paul likes to be on time, we made it to the grandstand around 7:45. The parking lot was empty. So we got our choice of parking spaces. I wandered around, walking the biking trail looking at the sights. Finally 8:15 arrived and I got into position. I sent Paul upriver a bit to take still pictures since I wanted to take video of the whole thing. There were probably 10-15 people waiting by this time.  

The placid Petitcodiak River 

The grandstand for viewing the tidal bore

Paul waiting for the excitement to begin 

And then it happened!

The tidal bore coming around the corner

A closeup of it passing me

Ripples that follow the front end of the tidal bore

After it passed me you could see it head on up river. 

And then it was over. The whole thing lasted one minute and forty-six seconds.  I think tidal “bore” is a very apt name. 😂. Although, honestly, I wasn’t expecting much else. Paul spoke to an older gentleman waiting around who said that years ago it was much more impressive. But they built a causeway over the river and that widened the river which lessened the impact of the tidal bore. 

But there was now more exciting things ahead. Since we were so far north, we decided to add a stop to our agenda - Prince Edward Island!  The home of Anne of Green Gables fame!  

Before going on, I wanted to give you an idea of where we’ve been and where we are going.  

It took us 2 days to make it to St John, New Brunswick. Then we traveled up the coast to St Martins, and then on to the Fundy Parkway which goes through the Fundy National Park. We entered Alma after leaving the Parkway. Hopewell Rock Park is on the cape up the coast from Alma, but it’s not marked on this map. Then we drove into Moncton. You can see how close PEI is to Moncton, which is why we decided to visit there too. 

Prince Edward Island looks small, but it isn’t as small as you think. It’s about 140 miles in length and 2 to 40 miles in width, depending on where you are. But it has almost 700 miles of shoreline. You are never more than 15 minutes away from a beach!  

So after our tidal bore experience, back on the road we went. It was only about two hours to PEI, as it is called by everyone around there.  

The first exciting thing was crossing the Confederation Bridge.  This is an 8-mile bridge built in 1997, and is the world’s longest bridge over ice- covered water.  Before the bridge was built, the only way onto the island was by ferry or plane.  The toll for the bridge is $50 Canadian, but since the ferry costs almost $100, I guess it’s a deal. The locals were told that they would be able to use the bridge for free once it had been paid for, but when that happened, no changes were made. They are now fighting to get some sort of discount at least, but are not holding their breath.

I was able to book us for an island/Anne of Green Gables tour for 1:00, so we headed over to Charlottetown, the capital and largest city on the island.  

We had about 2 hours to wait until our tour, so on the advice of a young lady at the visitor center, we drove over to the Farmers Market just a few minutes away  

I’m not sure what I expected, but the Farmers Market was a large building full of booths of P.E.I. farmers and artisans. The parking lot was full and the building was bustling. 

Absolutely gorgeous produce. And huge!

After going through the market a couple of times - and not buying anything - we headed back to our tour meeting place.  Joe McDonald, our guide, picked us up as well as a lady with her son and we were off.  

He drove us across the island to the north shore answering my many, many questions and filling our brains with all sorts of information about P.E.I.  

some interesting facts that I learned …

Most of the locals are descendants of Scottish and Irish immigrants who came over after their defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.  Our guide was a descendant of one of those immigrants. 

The old railway system that traversed the island became obsolete and was abandoned in 1989.  It was then repurposed and is now a recreational trail that covers around 292 miles called the Confederation Trail.

They have many dairy farms on the island. They make and sell the ice cream that is sold at the very famous Cows Creamery which has been voted the best ice cream in Canada and the second best in the world.  

The shores of P.E.I. are constantly changing.  Our guide showed us areas that used to be water which are now filled in and being used, while other areas have washed away.  One of his uncles used to have cottages which are now under water.

This is a small part of one of P.E.I.s many oyster farms. Those cage like things are buoys where they place the small seed oysters. They raise them up and agitate them periodically, then drop them back into the brackish water. After four years, they are ready to harvest. They place the cages into fresh water for a month to clean them out, then they are ready to be sold. P.E.I. oyster farmers grow 6.5 million pounds of oysters each year. 

One of the many beaches on the island. 

Enjoying the beautiful weather and the beautiful beach. I learned that the north shore beaches are the really nice ones. That’s because the Gulf of St Lawrence keeps the water clean and fresh. On the south shore, the beaches are full of smelly silt and mud because the Northumberland Strait cannot clean it all out. 

The Stanhope Lighthouse - this is actually a range light. Sailors line up two different lights to lead them through treacherous waters
This is just one of 63 lighthouses and range lights on P.E.I.  

Some of the famous red cliffs. These are made from red sandstone. 
The island is very interesting geologically.  Unlike most islands that are pushed up bedrock, this island doesn’t have any bedrock. It is made up of sandstone. It has a deep topsoil that is very fertile because of that. Agriculture is the main industry on the island, with potatoes being a top crop. The high iron content in the soil is ideal for potato production. 

A fishing wharf. Along with agriculture, the sea provides a lot of industry for the island. 

Lobster pots waiting on the dock. Lobstermen have two months in the spring to trap lobsters. Then they have to stop until the fall for two more months. P.E.I. has issued a limited number of licenses for trapping lobsters, and no one else can trap them. The license is passed down thru the family, and can only be sold outside the family if there is no one else in the family to get it. 

The tour went on, but that will be in the next blog.