August 5 - 7, 2019: Alma, New Brunswick, Canada
The next and last stop in Canada was Alma, New Brunswick. We choose this location along the Eastern coastline because they are on the Bay of Fundy which is famous for it's high and low tides.
As we left Prince Edward Island (PEI), we crossed the Confederation Bridge again and back into New Brunswick and into the Fundy National Forest where Alma is located.
We camped at Cannontown Campground which is a new campground in the town of Alma. I think it officially opened this year and was a little difficult to find due to the lack of signage. However, what a GREAT spot! The spaces are pretty far apart, we had a GREAT view of the Bay of Fundy, and the bathroom/shower house was brand new and spotless! It was also within walking distance to the town of Alma which was nice. We scored on this campground!
Once we were settled into camp and ate dinner, we walked into town to get the lay of the land. The population of Alma is 232 people, so it's a small quaint quiet town. Although there are three large major campgrounds in Alma, the town did not seem too crowded because people were in the Fundy National Forest or some where along the Bay of Fundy.
Below are various pictures from around town. Note the sign for Alma reads "Home of the highest tides in the world."
Notice the two pictures below. What is different about them? Look close at the second picture.
Craig's timing was perfect on taking the picture because someone is climbing the rocks behind me. I busted up laughing when I saw this picture and thought you may also ; )
From talking with locals, we learned that Alma Lobster Shop was the place to go for lobster. Since we had already eaten dinner, we thought we would check it out for the next night.
Wow...you could buy live or cooked lobster, lobster meat, any lobster dish you wanted, plus other seafood. And...they had ice cream at a great value!
This Lobster Crossing sign was at the entrance to their parking lot : )
Holy Lobster-A-Bunga...look at the size of the claw on the guy! We did not measure it, but it was probably the size of my forearm or about 12" just...for the claw. His tail was huge also. I really hope no one eats him because he is beautiful!
Since we had eaten dinner, we grabbed a scoop of ice cream and sat outside watching the tide recede, the sunset, and the seagulls taking a bath in the water. We are coming back here for dinner the next night!
One of the things we really wanted to see from Alma, was the high and low tides. So throughout our short stay here, we took pictures in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings to capture the tidal changes. Based upon the day, the tide can change up to 46' (yes that is feet) every 6 hours!
With the boats against the docks you can really see the difference.
Alma is really close to Hopewell Rocks which has Flowerpot Rocks that stand 40-70 feet tall and have been etched away with tidal erosion. We took an afternoon and visited Hopewell Rocks so we could walk on the ocean floor before the tide came back in. We had about 3 hours to walk around and climb over rocks that otherwise would be covered with water during high tide. We were able to stay and watch the tide come in, man...it actually moved fast and there were rangers that would patrol the ocean floor to get people off of it before they got stranded.
Since this was during the Summer months and is considered tourist season. We were with about 2,500 of our other friends while wandering along the ocean floor. It made it difficult to get pictures without people in them, but we did manage a few. If you have a chance to visit here, I would recommend in the off season so you can wandered around easier.
Despite the crowds, it was a breathtaking experience and seeing how the tides have eroded the rock formations is truly spectacular!
While waiting or the tide to start coming in, we played in the water and I thought maybe a little ocean floor silky mud would be good for my skin. People were wading in it up to their knees!
That evening for dinner I wanted to watch the harbor with the receding tide and the boats along the docks. So we ate along the harbor (I had lobster poutine - yum....two of my favorites) and then wandered to Alma Lobster Shop for ice cream again.
What a great little town. The temperatures were around 80f for the high and 65f for the low.
Since this was out last stop in Canada, I was disappointed for this leg of the trip to be over. We both really liked the Maritime Provinces for many many reason. We are DEFINITELY coming back to this side of Canada and do some more exploring!