Tides of the Bay of Fundy

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Memories of Canada

As Canada celebrates their 150th anniversary, promoted by the Canadian government as Canada 150, we continue taking a look back at some of our memorable moments from cruises and tours to Canada.

This would be an excellent time for you to visit Canada, as there will be year long celebrations throughout the land.

New Brusnwick

Our next stop down memory lane brings us to the Atlantic (east coast) side of Canada. New Brunswick (French: Nouveau-Brunswick) is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces, together with Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, and is the only bilingual (English–French) province of Canada. This is a typical port of call during a Canada & New England cruise.

We booed a very unique shore excursion in Saint John, NB.   Our guide for the day was a professional photographer who took us to various locations where we could experiment with different techniques.  It was a small group, so he was able to provide individual attention to each of us.   If you like photography, consider checking either the ship's excursions or with local guides for a similar tour.  We quite enjoyed the experience.  This post will only concentrate on one stop of our tour.

Bay of Fundy - Reversing Falls

The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is one of the 7 wonders of North America due to recording the highest tides on earth along with having the rarest whales of the world.

View Entire Bay of Fundy Album

The Bay of Fundy was recently named the 3rd best attraction in Canada by USA Today. USA Today’s 10Best travel guide ranked the top 20 nominees, and the public decided the final 10. View the entire list here: the top ten attractions in Canada.

A unique phenomenon created by the collision of the Bay of Fundy and the Saint John River. At low tide the river empties into the bay causing a series of rapids and whirlpools. As tides rise they slow the river current for a brief period called slack tide. The Bay's tides continue to rise, gradually reversing the flow of the river, and rapids form again, peaking at high tide. Tide cycles take about 12.5 hours.

During our visit to New Brunswick and the Bay of Fundy, our ship docked early in the morning and we toured the bay.   You'll note from these pictures that the gangplank had a steep angle in the morning when we disembarked the ship, but when we returned several hours later, the tide was low and the gangplank was now almost completely level with the pier and the ship was lower in the water.

The unique thing about this excursion was that we visited the Bay of Fundy twice so we could observe the change of directions cause by the tides.

Did you know that over 160 billion tons of water move in and out of the Bay of Fundy, every day, twice a day?

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Visit to Buchart Gardens

Memories of Canada

As Canada celebrates their 150th anniversary, promoted by the Canadian government as Canada 150, we take a look back at some of our memorable moments from cruises and tours to Canada.

This would be an excellent time for you to visit Canada, as there will be year long celebrations throughout the land.

British Columbia

Our first stop on this trip down memory lane finds us in British Columbia, Canada. The capital of British Columbia remains Victoria, the fifteenth-largest metropolitan region in Canada, named for the Queen who created the original European colonies. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, and the third-largest in the Pacific Northwest.

Canada in Bloom

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Over a century ago, Jennie Butchart began building what is now one of the world’s premier floral show gardens. The Butchart Gardens is a group of floral display gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada, located near Victoria on Vancouver Island. The gardens receive close to a million visitors each year. The gardens have been designated a National Historic Site of Canada.

Just last month, Butchart Gardens was named the 8th best attraction in Canada by USA Today. USA Today’s 10Best travel guide ranked the top 20 nominees, and the public decided the final 10. View the entire list here: the top ten attractions in Canada.

We have had the good fortune of visiting The Buchart Gardens multiple times. Here is a sampling of images from our most recent visit, which was during an Alaska cruise, when we stopped in Victoria.

View Entire Album:  The Buchart Gardens

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Special Canada Day 2017

The 150th anniversary of Canada, also known as the 150th anniversary of Confederation and promoted by the Canadian government as Canada 150, occurs in 2017 as Canada marks the sesquicentennial anniversary of Canadian Confederation.  This would be a perfect time to plan a cruise or land tour of Canada.

Canada Day, frequently referred to as "Canada's birthday", commemorates the joining of the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada into a federation of four provinces (the Province of Canada being divided, in the process, into Ontario and Quebec) on July 1, 1867.

Canada Day is very similar to the  July 4th holiday in the United States.  Most communities across the country will host organized celebrations for Canada Day, usually outdoor public events, such as parades, carnivals, festivals, barbecues, air and maritime shows, fireworks, and free musical concerts.

Learn more:  Official Website for Canada Day

We have had the pleasure of visiting several Canadian cities during our cruise vacations.  These included ports of call on multiple Alaskan cruises,  Canada and New England cruises, and even Transatlantic cruises.  One of the highlights was when we extended our Alaskan cruise with a pre-cruise exploration of the Canadian Rockies.

Have you ever ridden on a glacier?  You can while visiting the Columbia Icefield Glacier in the Canadian Rockies. Specially designed vehicles, Massive Brewster Ice Explorers, take passengers on a remarkable excursion onto the surface of the Athabasca Glacier.

Have you smelled flowers or gotten up close to thousands of unique flowers in bloom?  You can at one of Canada's botanical gardens such as the fifty acre Butchart Gardens located near Victoria, British Columbia. You'll see stunning floral show gardens and a National Historic Site of Canada.

British Columbia is known for floral gardens.  Minter Gardens, which has since closed, thrilled us with thousands of flowers and gardens.

Would you like to visit a fishing village, have some fresh lobster, or visit a lighthouse?  Nova Scotia has much to offer including the Bay of Fundy and many beaches where you can build sandcastles, fly kites, take a surf lesson, or just walk barefoot in the sand.

For the maritime lover, visit the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, where you can visit the Titanic ~ The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax, Nova Scotia exhibit and learn about the role the people of Halifax played that fateful day.

Would you like to walk where birds fly and squirrels hang out?  You can in Vancouver, Canada, at Capilano Suspension Bridge and Treetops Adventure.  I'm afraid of bridges, but I had a great time crossing a series of elevated suspension bridges, some reaching as high as 100 feet (30m) above the forest floor.

Capilano Suspension Bridge is one of Vancouver, British Columbia's most popular tourist attractions.  Odds are that unless you extended your cruise vacation in Vancouver, you probably didn't visit this attraction during your cruise vacation.

There is so much to see and do in Canada, I hope that you'll plan a visit in the near future and get to know more about this North American country.   We have only scratched the surface in this article.   There are other Canadian destinations featured in past blog posts and also on our Facebook Fan Page.

To all our Canadian friends .... Happy Canada Day 2017.

Near Russia Food Experience

Day 7 - Kirkines

The border area of Eastern Finnmark has, with the exception of the Cold War (1945-1989) been a place where Norwegians, Russians, and the indigenous Sami population have traded and interacted. In Day 7's menu, Coastal Kitchen featured the Russian influences with ingredients that are common to both countries.

Reindeer Meat - Finnmark

Reindeer know no borders and traditionally both reindeer and indigenous Sami have crossed the borders between what is today known as Russia, Norway,  and Finland.  The reindeer meat served on the menu was from the traditional Sami territories in Finnmark.  It was complemented with Borscht, pelemini (a form of Russian filled pasta), and celery puree.  Dessert was Pavlova with berries.

Breakfast & Lunch

For some passengers, Kirkines was the conclusion of their voyage.  There was time for everyone to enjoy the usual breakfast buffet prior to arrival.   Directly upon arrival there were buses at the dock for those passengers heading to the airport or city center.   Tour buses were also there for passengers, like us, that were booked on organized excursions.

We spent the morning at the Russian Border and returned to the ship just in time for lunch.  As usual there were several cold and hot choices on the buffet.  After enjoying a cup of soup and a sandwich there was time to relax in the panorama lounge while enjoying the scenery.

Additional photos can be found on our Norway Shutterfly page

Norway's Coastal Kitchen



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Stopping in Vardo

Vardø 

Vardø is the oldest town in northern Norway and the easternmost in the country. 

The Vardø Lighthouse, built in 1896, is erected on the island's peak. The island is now uninhabited and in the steep mountainsides around 40,000 pairs of birds have their nesting place. Hornøya is, because of this, a preserved wildlife reserve. When you turn south, you will see the southern side of the Varanger Fjord behind the Globus-II radar.

In Vardø you can enjoy wind from all directions, waves splashing, snow in large amounts and - in clear weather - truly fantastic northern lights. We stopped here for about an hour before dinner.   It was just enough time to visit the nearby fortress.

Vardøhus Fortress

Vardøhus fortress was built in 1734–38 by 40 soldiers from Bergen. The star-shaped fort was built in eighteenth-century fortification style, with low embankments designed to withstand cannon fire. Inside the fortress installation, there is a collection of historical wooden buildings from the 1700s and early 1800s.

 The fortress was built to guard the border with Russia, although it is not known whether Russian forces ever attacked the installation. However, the fortress guns did open fire on English troops during the mainland blockade in 1808 and targeted German aircraft in June 1940.

Additional photos can be found on our Norway Shutterfly page

Vardo



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