Road Trip, Day 6: Fundy National Park & Hopewell Rocks

DAY SIX: AT A GLANCE
Starting Point: St. Andrews-By-The-Sea, New Brunswick, Canada
End Point: Point Wolfe Campground, Fundy National Park, New Brunswick
Starting mileage: 188,890
Ending mileage: 189,104
Daily total (miles): 214
Trip total (miles): 809

Ah, it’s the last day in June, and I’m bundled up in a long-sleeve tee, a fleece, and a puffy vest. And a rain jacket. The temperature has barely topped 60 degrees, and oh, we’ve only seen sunshine for about four hours. TOTAL. In the last SIX days. This rain and these gray skies are killing me…but, other than that, we’re having a blast…well, minus a few hiccups—namely, me getting hangry and complaining that G (an introvert) isn’t talking enough to me (an extrovert)…yes, that really is one of my more common complaints.

We woke up today to rain—and even more steady than it’s been in days past. Our plan today consisted of driving from St. Andrews-By-The-Sea in New Brunswick to Fundy National Park (Alma, NB), then to Hopewell Rocks Park in Hopewell Cape, NB, and back to Point Wolfe Campground in Fundy NP, where we’d be staying the night. Not including stops for food and the time we’d take at the rocks, we were looking at four hours of driving.

We got a later start than usual—9:30ish—and made a quick stop (or so we thought) to grab coffee and breakfast. We decided on the Tim Horton’s a mile from the Algonquin, where we had spent the night. We had enjoyed our last Dunks the day before in Machias, Maine, and knew we’d be Dunks-free for the next two weeks and hoping for at least a Starbucks along the way. We’ve had Tim Horton’s before, as they’re all over Gavin’s home state of Michigan (GO SPARTANS!). This morning, however, was an utter fiasco. We joined a line about 15 deep that didn’t seem to be moving; then, they seemed to run out of eggs. And pretty much all non-donut breakfasts. And when I ordered an iced decaf coffee, I seemed to be asking for something kind of exotic—yes, please fill the cup with ice and pour decaf coffee atop said cup of ice. I felt bad for the poor kid (in training) trying to manage the one cash register—and he looked maybe 9. 11, at most. Then, a few minutes later, as I’m still waiting for my coffee, I’m told they’re out of decaf. Tired of waiting and thinking I could use the caffeine to jumpstart my Vitamin D-deprived body, I go ahead with the full stuff. And an apple fritter. I know, I know…I know better. Oh well. I’ll blame it on the weather.

So, off we went toward Fundy. The main reason I added a stop in Fundy was to visit the Hopewell Rocks and walk across the ocean floor at low tide to see them. In my mind, I pictured stunning rock formations against a bright blue sky…at least I’m batting .500. Fun fact: The Hopewell Rocks were featured as the Google Doodle today (the day I’m writing this)—in celebration of Canada Day!

We followed the Fundy Coastal Drive leading to Fundy NP and arrived at the visitor’s center around 1pm. We paid our $15.60CAD daily fee for the park, grabbed a map, bought a sticker for the cooler, and drove down to check in to our campsite. Then, we were off to grab lunch before visiting the rocks.

G slowed down just long enough so I could snap a pic of the sign.

Do me a favor: if you are ever even remotely close to Alma, New Brunswick, please go visit An Octopus’ Garden Cafe in Alma. It’s PHENOMENAL. First of all, any place that’s named after a Beatles lyric and has Simon & Garfunkel coming out of the speakers is good in my book. Cool vibe, GREAT music (the owner and I seem to share the same love for mellow 70s music—JT, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, and some Motown), and really amazing food.

G ordered the lobster sandwich—fresh lobster meat on a brioche bun with a side salad—which he really enjoyed (though he prefers the top-sliced frankfurter bun, this roll passed his lobster-to-bread ratio test). I ordered the special: fish tacos. I’m not usually a fish eater—seafood, yes; fish, not so much. However, the woman sitting next to me had ordered it and raved. Okay, then—sold! Three strips of lightly breaded and pan-fried haddock with cabbage slaw, avocado, black bean and corn relish, and lots of other awesomeness I can’t recall. This lunch might just be the food highlight of the trip thus far. It was that good.

On to Hopewell Rocks. Low tide was at 5:20 p.m., and we arrived right around 4:45 p.m. We paid our entrance fee ($20CAD total) and followed the winding trail through the trees and down a few flights of stairs. And then, we were on the ocean’s floor at the site of the highest tides in the world.

G snapped this one of me trying to get a shot

By the time we left, it was raining steadily. We got back into the van and headed back to the campground. Our first van-camping night of the trip wouldn’t quite be what we had hoped—the rain kept us from having a fire and hanging outside. Instead, we each cracked open a root beer and retreated to our separate sides of the van’s backseat. I wrote down some notes about the trip, and G took some much-needed “introvert time” (his words, not mine!) to catch up on news and social media, as he’d been the one doing all the driving for the entire trip. We also started decorating our YETI cooler with the stickers we’ve been accumulating.

Point Wolfe Campground was one of a few in the park; the location was good, and had the weather cooperated and we had more time, we would have loved to explore the park more. The sites were large, there was some (but not a ton) of privacy, and the bathroom was a short walk away (220 steps—I counted!). It was nice to have a real bathroom: four stalls with flushing toilets, two showers (though I didn’t bother), and hot and cold water. The bathroom was clean and reminded me of a typical rest area bathroom. We settled in for the night, as we planned to be on the road between 7 and 8 the next morning for our drive into Nova Scotia.

As we discussed on the drive back, the trip to see the rocks was worth it, even with the less than ideal weather (it’s been a theme). Walking on the ocean floor, G said, was really cool. I reminded him that we do that all the time at home, when we walk on the beach at low tide. He said it was different. I said it wasn’t. But it’s the beach—not the ocean floor, he said. Now keep in mind that he’s the super-analytical one; I’m the one who says stuff that doesn’t always make sense (to me, yes; to others, not so much). But that’s what the beach is, I said—it’s the ocean floor (sand) at low tide. He then proceeded to tell me that I had ruined the magic.

Stay tuned for Day 7—the start to our Nova Scotia adventures!