Fundy National Park, New Brunswick

After a well-rested sleep, I was eager to hit the trails of Fundy National Park this morning (there are over twenty trails, each at least three kilometres long). My dad instructed me to get in the van for another car ride. This time, we were heading towards Saint John (of New Brunswick, not Newfoundland!) to witness the Reverse Falls. I had no clue on what these falls were, but in my head, I imagined the water flowing up and defying gravity!

River flowing upstream

  Thirty minutes later, we reached Saint John. My dad located the perfect spot to witness the reverse falls, in which I still had no clue about. Noon approached, and after lunch, I noticed something very odd; the water in the Saint John River was flowing uphill and back towards its source!  At least a hundred water birds, identified as Cormorants, swarmed the river for easy prey (the fish were literally being dragged back by the high tide).


Whirlpools created by reverse flow

Afterwards, we visited the Visitor Centre, where my mom made me read all the facts about the reverse falls. I learnt that when the tide in the Bay of Fundy rises, the Saint John River’s current is disrupted and slowed down to the point at which the river stops flowing into the Bay. This momentary stop (called the low slack tide) is then followed by the increase of the tides of Bay of Fundy, which exceeds the water level of the Saint John River and forces the water to flow upstream (in reverse) as the tide grows. I snapped a couple of photos, although these photos never quite captured the true beauty of this natural phenomenon. 
     

Dickson Falls Trail

Deciduous Trees and Lush Vegetation

 At around two in the afternoon, we headed back towards Fundy National Park for some trails (my family LOVES trails). The park officials recommended the Dickson Falls Trails, as it had the best scenery. Time was very tight, as we were supposed to go to Hopewell Rocks again and my dad did not want to miss it – again. Luckily, we finished the three kilometre trail in an hour. I was surprised by the fact that the forest was completely comprised of deciduous trees (in contrast to the coniferous trees that I saw at the northern entrance to Fundy National Park) and that the vegetation was extremely lush, as the following photos shows (lots of moss)… 



After dinner, we drove to the Hopewell Rocks again, but this time, we arrived at 7:00pm (early enough to descend to the bottom of the Bay and explore the flower-pot rocks). I walked around and took a lot of photos, as you can see.  



My reflection in the
muddy "chocolate" water

Touching the seaweed

  Because of the low tide, we were able to see and touch rock formations that would not be visible during the high tide. I explored the coves and touched seaweed growing on the flower-pot rocks. Large rock formations were eroded over the course of millions of years and nowadays, have been reduced to the small rock formations in the background in the photo below, which are covered with seaweed.   



  It was all fun and games until we had to leave. As you can see from my previous photo, I was almost knee-deep in mud! Luckily, there was a cleaning centre in which cold water would shoot out and wash the mud off.
  

Standing beside rock formations
 found at the bottom of the Bay

After washing myself, we headed back to Fundy National Park and with plenty of time to spare (it was 9:00pm), I decided to play cards with my parents. Oddly enough, I didn’t recall a single mosquito invading our campsite, which was a very nice surprise. Soon enough, fatigue began to wear in, forcing me to call it a day. As of yet, this was the best day of my summer and I expect even better ones to come over the next weeks!