Hopewell Rocks

Location: Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, Canada
Address:  131 Discovery Road
Date: July 2006
Website: www.thehopewellrocks.ca

    Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick experience some of the highest tides in the world.  There is only a 6 hour gap between high and low tide. You can walk on the ocean floor during low tide and then come back later in the day and see the water fill back in.  You can see the difference between the two photos (above and below).

The resulting erosion from the tides has created the unusually shaped flowerpot rocks.  These rocks experience higher erosion at their base and therefore appear to defy gravity.

  Most recently in 2016 one of the more popular rock formations lost its battle with erosion and collapsed.  This is just how erosion works and eventually all of the rocks will lose their fight against the water.

 

  The erosion is accelerated by these high tides.  Being immersed in water is not as damaging as having all that water push in and pull out again several times a day.

  When the tide goes out, seaweed clings to the rock waiting to be happily submerged in water yet again.

  We visited the Hopewell Rocks on two different days in order to see both high and low tides.  There are tide timetables on their website that can help you plan your trip.

  Most people want the experience of walking on the ocean floor when the tide is low.  Later you can see the same area where the water level would be up over your head.

   Some people rented kayaks in order to explore the rocks during hide tide.  If you have good eyes you may be able to spot a kayak on the right hand side of the photo above.

  We stayed in Moncton, New Brunswick where you can also experience the Tidal Bore.  The river was dry.  We then sat in the bleachers of Bore View Park and waited for the river to return.  Sure enough it started to make its way back along the riverbed.   It traveled sort of like how an overturned glass spills its contents across a counter top.  A tidal bore is the name for the little wave that is created as the water is pushed back up the river by the tides.  It has nothing to do with how exciting it is.  While not a particularly dramatic event, it is a great example of how gravity, the moon, the sun and the earth affect the water on our planet. 

  The Bay of Fundy and the Hopewell Rocks area in general is a great spot to see what the tide brought in....and what it left behind.

---

Map of Our World
Hopewell Rocks Park , Bore View Park

---

Post # 184

The Toronto Zoo

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  2000 Meadowvale Road
Date: July 2017
Website: www.torontozoo.com

Click here to take a virtual tour and see our collection of Toronto Zoo animal photos.

   The Toronto Zoo opened in August 1974 and we have been frequent visitors through the years.  The zoo is divided into geographic regions and each area contains birds, animals, fish, bugs and plants from that region.

This makes you feel like you are traveling the world during a visit.  In fact, Toronto Zoo is one of the biggest zoos in the world.

   The main areas of the zoo are Africa, Canada, Indomalaya, Americas, Australasia and Eurasia.  Some of the areas have indoor pavilions with huge glass roofs such as the African Pavilion below.

  For those who don't wish to walk the zoo, there is a zoomobile that will take you to each of the different areas.

We have written blogs about the zoo many times.  We could go on and on about how much we love the zoo, but we feel that pictures say it best.

Click here to take a virtual tour and see our collection of Toronto Zoo animal photos.

---

Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo

---

Post # 183

Giant Rubber Ducky

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  339 Queens Quay West
Date: July 2017
Website: towaterfrontfest.com

 When we visited HTO Park down on the waterfront everyone was excited about the fireworks displays that were set to take place later that evening. As we approached the park we realized that a giant visitor was also in Toronto to help celebrate Canada's 150th birthday. A 6 storey tall, 30,000 pound visitor.

  We worked our way through the crowds to get an up close view of the giant rubber duck that was floating in Lake Ontario. He was very cute. He was very yellow and chubby too.

  We took various photos of the duck. As we were walking around to see if we could get a picture from the next pier we spotted a line-up for a water taxi. We thought "Why Not?"  We still had a couple of hours before fireworks lit up the CN Tower. The taxi was taking people out for about a 20 minute ride around Toronto Islands.  The taxi could hold up to 12 people. The 10 people in line plus the 2 of us filled up the next boat.

  A new view of the duck awaited us as our taxi worked its way out of the harbour. It was a little busy out there with Canada celebrating its 150th and no less than 5 fireworks displays visible from the water. The duck was getting lots of attention too.

We circled through the islands which unfortunately were closed due to the recent flooding. We got caught behind some large boats that were heading out to get a good spot to see the fireworks.

As the sun was setting we headed back towards our giant, yellow friend. The familiar CN Tower and Rogers Centre were there as well. The duck had a light inside for nighttime viewing.

  We took one last look at the duck as he smiled back at us. We had to head out and find a good spot for viewing the CN Tower fireworks display. The duck will also be visiting a few other Ontario cities in July such as Owen Sound and Midland. Maybe we will meet again.

---

Map of Our World
Giant Rubber Ducky

---

Post # 182