2016/08 Newf'land trip - Five Islands |
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We were tempted to explore further and take the ferry across the harbour but we left more or less the way we’d come in, a really pretty route through lush green countryside. It didn’t seem to be growing anything other than grass and trees and goldenrod, which brought up the question of what everyone there did for a living. We concluded they had to all be retired to have enough time to mow the acres of lawn around their homes.
Bouncy roads took us to New Glasgow, where Sandie picked up a quilt pattern, and then onto Truro for another, more difficult with one-way narrow streets and tiny parking spots to cope with. Just outside town we pulled off into what we thought was a rest area, but on the east coast they are more like shopping malls; the emphasis is on spending more than resting. This was lucky for Sandie as she was able to pick up a fish and chips takeaway.
We took off along the coast road, with distant views of the Bay of Fundy, at low tide judging by the reddish colour. The Bay of Fundy is famous for its forty foot tides and its tidal bores. Back in ’97 we rode the tidal bore up the Shubenacadie River on a raft. This time we were going to camp at Five Islands, a park we’d only visited before.
After securing a campsite, from a human this time, we went into nearby Parrsboro to visit the Fundy geological museum. Nova Scotia’s geology is amazingly complex and varied with rocks from all major periods, and further complicated by the collision of continents. It has a lot of famous fossil sites, so we had an interesting few hours. I asked about the Joggins fossil cliffs and they recommended the tour; we’d do that in the morning at low tide.
Back at Five Islands we went down to beach like we did in ‘97, only then we’d had our 30 foot trailer behind us. “Sure there’s a turnaround 
down there. You’ll be fine”, says the ranger. Except that the turnaround had a bollard on each side restricting access, and we had to do a ten point turn through the woods to get turned around. The ranger had just waved as we left and probably sent everyone down there in the 
future, regardless of length. I’m happy to report that bollards are now gone, one way or another.
We took a walk on beach below the cliffs, relatively safe as we were above the high tide mark. Even so there was much less beach by the time we came back. The cliffs are colourful and soft, with rocks and trees slumping down, always busy with the sound of rocks rattling.
Thursday August 25th
It was another bright morning but a bit breezy. I took a walk to find the clifftops and try to get a picture of all the five islands, but the trail was hard to find, quite steep, and knee deep with wet 
grass.
I got the idea that use of the trail was not encouraged, probably because the clifftop was crumbly. I was directly above the beach and still couldn’t see all five islands. But it was a good walk through the woods, alive with woodpeckers.