My Canadian
JOURNEY
dubious about. Kayoga, offered by Seascape Kayak Tours (
www.seascapekayaktours.com), combines sea kayaking with yoga sessions. It sounded weird, but it worked! The yoga, to everyone’s relief, took place, not in the kayak, but before and after on an airy deck area. It really did help relax the muscles called into action for the kayaking and helped encourage an authentic connection with the beautiful natural environment. Out on the water the kayaking was a peaceful and serene experience in a wonderful setting, coupled with a relaxed beach break for a simple picnic with our guide. In contrast, my next two trips on the
water couldn’t have been less serene - whale-watching with the Fundy Tide Runners
www.fundytiderunners.com and jet boating the St John River rapids at the Reversing Falls. Fundy Tide Runners operates a unique
vessel, a 25-foot Zodiac Hurricane, which speeds you out to the Bay of Fundy in a matter of minutes. Dressed like Michelin men in Mustang survival suits I cruised between the many islands, bound for the whale-feeding grounds. Finback, Minke and Humpback whales,
porpoises and dolphins are regularly and reliably encountered here from June to mid-October but, as I was a bit too early in the season for them, it was the exhilaration of the ride, plus seals and a bald-headed eagle with a whale of a wing span – six foot wide – for me. There were times on the Reversing Falls
in St John when the survival suits might have been useful too. This series of rapids on the Saint John River are located where the river runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy. The diurnal tides of the bay force the flow of water to reverse against the prevailing current here when the tide is high, creating dramatic rapids or 'falls' as the water blasts past a series of underwater ledges. Set out for a closer look by jet boat (
www.jetboatrides.com) and wet and wild pretty much covers it. St John is Canada’s oldest incorporated
city and celebrated its 225th anniversary in 2010. It is the only city actually on the Bay of Fundy and is a key port-of-call on many of the Canada-New England cruise ship itineraries. The highlight for most visitors to New
Brunswick is a trip to Hopewell Rocks, the iconic destination where at low tide you
From top: All set in survival suits for whale watching; My view as I joined the Kayoga trip: Confederation Bridge and cute St Andrew's
32 WINTER 2011 • SELLING CANADA
can ‘walk on the ocean floor.’ The Tidal Exploration Site is the point where the world’s highest tides are the most visible. Twice a day the tides roll in and out of the bay rising up the shoreline to a height of a four-storey building. I visited at low tide when you can fully
appreciate the heights involved as you stand on the beach where shortly afterwards 100-billion tons of sea water flood in. (
www.thehopewellrocks.ca) The Rocks are at the heart of the Fundy National Park created in 1948. It was one of Canada’s first and time here should include exploration of the Bay of Fundy coast and Acadian forest which offers over 120 km of walking and hiking trails, with breathtaking scenery
www.pc.gc.ca/fundy. The Bay has been short-listed in the
New7Wonders of Nature campaign and will be campaigning hard for votes until the results are announced on November 11 (
www.myfundy.com). This area also gives visitors the chance to
spot plenty of the emblematic lighthouses so well known in the Atlantic Canada provinces. I checked out the Cape Enrage lighthouse (
www.capeenrage.ca/en), one of New Brunswick's oldest, dating back to about 1840 and built after many ships were wrecked in the waters of the bay.
" The highlight for most visitors to New Brunswick is a trip to Hopewell Rocks, the iconic destination where at low tide you can ‘walk on the ocean fl oor’. This is the point where the world’s highest tides are the most visible."
The lighthouse traditionally warned
those arriving in the area about the turbulent waters and hazardous reef – today they should perhaps best be used as a warning to visitors to pull on their elastic waistbands or cut another notch in their belts!
GETTING THERE
Sample prices
HALIFAX is the key gateway for PEI and New Brunswick. Air Canada fares from London Heathrow to Halifax start from £670, including taxes for travel in June 2012.
www.aircanada.com To find out more about the Atlantic Canada region visit www.
AtlanticCanadaHolidays.co.uk
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