By Andrea Grant | Outpost Travel Media
When To Go
The majority of attractions and services open at the beginning of May and close at the end of October. Summer offers activities such as hiking, canoeing and tidal bore rafting. Winter options include cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and camping.
Getting There
Visitors can drive into St. Andrews, Saint John or Moncton, New Brunswick, as well as Bar Harbor, Maine, U.S.A. A catamaran service that runs back and forth from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, from Sunday to Thursday, and Portland, Maine to Yarmouth from Friday to Sunday, is also available between May and October. Non-stop flights to Bangor, Portland, Fredericton, Moncton and Halifax are offered from most major Canadian cities, including Toronto and Vancouver.
Acrobatic Fundy Trees, spectacular specimens of survival. (Outpost/Andrea Grant)
Getting Around
Consider renting a car to explore the province. Tour the Annapolis Valley wineries, stalk Bay of Fundy lighthouses or stumble upon deserted Acadian beaches. You can rent vehicles at the Halifax airport or at agencies downtown on Hollis and Upper Water streets. Acadian buses run daily routes across Nova scotia, from Digby to Sydney.
What to See and Do
The Bay of Fundy offers plenty of activities, many of them based around the area’s record-breaking tides. One popular option is tidal bore rafting on the Shubenacadie River. (A tidal bore occurs when water piles up rapidly into V-shaped bays that can reach several metres in height.) Shubenacadie River Runners in Maitland offers both full-day and half-day tours for $60 and $80 respectively. Or get up close and personal with the tides by sea kayaking. Nova Shores Sea Kayaking runs kayaking tours along the Bay of Fundy and in Dover Archipelago. Choose from day tours or two-night kayaking and camping trips.
A popular hiking spot is Cape Chignecto Provincial Park. Boasting remarkable scenery and eight different trails (which vary in level of difficulty), the park is located in the West Advocate harbour (about 45 kilometres west of Parrsboro). The cost of a day pass is $5 a person; a season’s pass goes for $25 a person. In spring 2009, a new day-use park will open in Eatonville allowing visitors to access walking trails and the three sisters Interpretative Centre, an off-the-grid building that offers information on the area and its history.
When in Parrsboro, consider staying at the seven-room Gillespie house Inn. Rooms go from $119 a couple and the inn is open year-round. Or consider taking in a show at the ship’s company theatre. Now in its 25th year, the theatre showcases the newest Canadian and Atlantic Canadian plays. The cost of a single adult admission is $27.50; seniors, $24 and youth/students, $18.
To learn about the area’s rich geological past, visit the Fundy Geological Museum in Parrsboro. Ticket prices range from $3.50 to $6.25. The 16-year-old attraction features some of the oldest dinosaur bones in Canada. Another option is Joggins Fossil Cliffs— $6 to $8 admission—where visitors can explore the new state-of-the-art facility and appreciate the natural wonders of the past and present.
