Our cousin reunion is over and I have three weeks on my own at Nature’s Nest before the next round of guests: four girlfriends from western Denmark. I am so pleased that they are interested in coming all this way to see my beautiful native country.
They are here for two weeks. The first week we spend in my cottage, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, spotting beaver, observing hummingbirds, listening to loons, feeding the chipmunk, hiking in the area and enjoying each other’s company.
We drive up to Digby on the Bay of Fundy and stay the night to be ready for a whale watching adventure the next day. Digby is a fishing town that boasts of being the scallop capital of the world, so of course we eat seafood, including fresh scallops. Yum!
We discover a good hiking spot with interesting rock formations just out of town.
Next morning, we begin the day with a hike out to Balancing Rock, a basalt rock formed by volcanic action and erosion. The walk goes through a lush forest with lots of lichen called old man’s beard/usnea (“skæglav” in Danish) hanging from the trees.
253 wooden steps lead up to a platform with views of St. Mary’s Bay.
We cannot stay too long because we have an appointment with some whales, so we proceed to Brier’s Island via two short ferry rides and some driving. The whale watching is perfect. The weather is clear, the ocean calm and the whales stay close to our boat. We spot several groups of about 6-8 humpback whales. They spout, breach, dive and show their tales (called flukes) before disappearing in the briny depths. I am not quite sure where we are, but it is somewhere in the Gulf of Maine, which leads out into the Atlantic Ocean. We might even be in American waters, who knows? The whales don’t care and we sure don’t!
Back in the harbour, we note that the tide has switched from high to low while we were away. The difference is dramatic. When we left the boat was as high as the dock, but when we return it is so much lower. The water has completely disappeared from the beach.
The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world, but lots more about that later. Stay tuned!
