We spent most of the day driving back to the Fundy Discovery Center, stopping for lunch at a scenic park along the shore. This would be our third time visiting the Fundy Discovery Center which is very unusual since we usually do not like to backtrack. However, Nova Scotia is almost like an island with only one main way to drive into and out of the province. This means that Truro, where the Fundy Discovery Center is located is a central point that you almost have to pass in order to get from one part of Nova Scotia to another. The excellent playground, internet plus easily assessable parking make it well worth multiple visits.
The next day we went to experience one of the most unique experiences in the world, tidal bore rafting with a company called Fundy Tidal Bore Adventures. Tidal bores only happen in a few places in the world and Nova Scotia is one of the only places where people can actually raft the tidal bore. It was a little expensive at CAD$195 for the three of us but it is these unique experiences for which we are travelling.
We chose a great day to rafting as it was bright, sunny and warm. We all boarded a small zodiac boat along with four other people and went down the Shubenacadie River. Our first stop was a muddy river bank where we did some mud sliding down the riverbank. The mud was very soft and squishy and we often sunk up to our calves while walking to the riverbank from the boats. It was some good dirty fun sliding down the slick chocolate colored mud and everyone got coated in mud from head to toe.
After a quick rinse off in the muddy brown water we got back onto the boats to got the mouth of the river where we waited for the tide to come in. The tidal bore on the Shubenacadie River is smaller and more dispersed than in Moncton since the river is much wider but we took a run at the wave and smacked it head on sending a huge spray up and completely flooding the boat. This was not a problem since it was an inflatable boat and the water drained out in time for us to come around and run right into the tidal bore wave again!
As the tide continued to come in the tidal bore passed us but the water was still rushing upriver so fast that there were a number of standing waves that we crashed into and over. It was a bit like white water rafting, except we didn’t have to paddle and the brown water was surprisingly warm instead of clear and cold. If it were white water rafting the size and number of waves we hit would have easily counted as a class 4 rapid. Fortunately, we didn’t have to paddle and all we had to do was to hold on. It was a really great way to experience the power of the water and tide.
To get a good idea of our day of Tidal Bore Rafting check out our Youtube video!
After we returned to base, we were all able to get a very nice hot shower and some snacks before drove to the nearby Masstown Market where we had dinner including an interesting seafood pie. Imagine a pie filled not with apples or cherries but a very thick, chunky clam chowder except with fish and scallops in addition to the clam. It was interesting but not as good as we imagined. After dinner we drove for a couple hours back to New Brunswick and stopping at a Walmart in Sussex.
