Part 2 – Quebec City to Fort Lauderdale by Sea!

We finally boarded the ship for a 4pm sail-away, only to discover that a nasty storm was passing through and we would remain in port! Could have spent another hour at the Museum after all !! Shortly there-after, we were advised that due to to our safety we would not be visiting our first port of call [Saguenay] and would remain in Quebec City. All good, safety first, but my goodness was it cold. We took ourselves on anther walk, but decided that in the interests of freezing, it was back to the ship for coffee and pastries to warm our souls!!

We had one day at sea [trying to imprint the ship to our memories [bit like the Salmon!!] before landing in Sydney, Nova Scotia. We only had six hours here, so we just did out own walking tour, took in the beautiful parks, church’s and all the halloween decorations that were around town. Unfortunately the rain set in, and because it was sooooooo cold we returned to the ship. Had to allow extra time for getting on / of the ship as it was by tender.

Next morning we were in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Again we just did our own walking tour, saw some incredible art [old and new] gorgeous old homes, visited the historic church and graveyard before returning to the ship to warm up!!

This returning to the ship to warm up has become a theme on this trip. There are so many people who have done nothing but complain about the cold and how it is the worst weather ever!!!!! We are a couple of weeks late [well not late, but the early snow took the leaves of the trees earlier than usual] for the spectacular fall colours, but as we sailed away from Halifax the sun came out giving it a warm gold colour [but it was still freezing!] across the trees to the horizon. I also loved seeing all the lighthouses dotted around the coastline as we sailed on by.

Our next port of call [and the last one in Canada] was Saint John, New Brunswick. It is in the Bay of Fundy and again is rich in history. We booked a trolley bus tour here, so as to make the best use of our time. These tours always just give you that little bit more information and this one had a stop at the incredible ‘Reversing Rapids’.

Here in Saint John the tide rises and falls an average of 30ft each day [but can be up to 50 ft]. The tides rises a foot a minute and they estimate a 100 billion tons of water rush in and out of the bay from the Atlantic Ocean. We went to the rapids two hours after low tide and watched the rapids fall from the river head, toward the ocean. At nearly high tide, for 20 minutes, the tide and the river are equal and create a lake. This is the time when ships can traverse the ‘rapids’. Then the tide over-runs the river and the rapids flow the other way! (Apparently there is a time-lapse video of this on YouTube – of course there is!)

The phenomenon happens because of rising sea levels and the riverbed being eroded by the river/sea. There used to be a waterfall here (3,000 years ago) but with the powerful water movement, and the eroding of the land, eventually the waterfall ‘drowned’, creating the reversing rapids. This apparently is climate change happening over the past 3,000 years – so ‘humans’ have not been responsible for all the damage happening to the planet …… hmmmmm!!

Our tour guide had told us that she had no idea how much 100 billion tons water was, she couldn’t imagine it [and neither could I] so when she learned it is enough water to fill the Grand Canyon with each high tide, she went there to see it. So we have been to the Grand Canyon and done a fly over…so we able to visualise this. I am sure that here you would only swim on the incoming tide [like the Salmon]!!

St John has a lot of history [and wars, and fires!]. After the great fire [when all the timber houses burnt to the ground] the ‘powers-that-be’ declared that they must build all their buildings in stone. They then used all the wood for the ships, so then it became a shipbuilding centre. The buildings are all so interesting and have been standing a long time – such rich and fabulous history in Saint John.

And I loved all the doors on their homes 😍