The slow road from Truro along the Bay of Fundy took us past a number of muddy rivers that experience extreme tidal fluctuations. At South Maitland, Highway 1 crosses the Shubenacadie River and we arrived as the tide was ebbing. A number of tourist operators run tidal bore rafting tours during the summer season near here. Today it was just us and some black ducks enjoying the showery weather. 

From the river's edge you can see the remains of an old railway bridge that was built at the turn of the 1900s. The bridge piers are still standing after more than 100 years of constant tidal action due to the caissons that were erected to keep out the water.



Further along the coast was another ubiquitous lighthouse at Walton. Built in 1873, this lighthouse, like many others along this coast, no longer operates. Walton is located on Minas Basin in the Bay of Fundy and at low tide the mud flats extend well out into the bay.

 














During our travels, we have learnt about the history of the Acadian people in the Maritimes. Interestingly, more is said about the Acadians than the First Nations people who originally lived in this area. The Acadians are the descendants of French settlers who came to North America from 1604 onwards and lived primarily along the shores of the Bay of Fundy where they farmed and raised livestock. The Grand Pre area of Nova Scotia, which was the centre of Acadian settlement from 1682 to 1755, has been commemorated by a National Historic Site. Unfortunately, this territory was in the middle of continuing battles between Britain and France and the Acadians lived alternately under British and French rule until 1755 when the local British authorities decided to deport them. Lesson to Donal Trump: this did not work. While the visitor centre was closed for the season, we were able to walk through the gardens. 






















Many of the exhibits and the gardens were being wrapped or covered in black plastic to protect them from the ravages of winter frosts and snows. The bust of Henry Longfellow, an American poet, whose poem Evangeline : A Tale of Acadie was published in 1847 and became a symbol of the Deportation and resiliency of the Acadians, was well and truly swathed from head to neck in plastic. Very artistic!

 

On the way to Cape Split after leaving Grand Pre we came to a lookoff (lookout for us Aussies) that gave incredible views of farmland with the Minas Basin in the background.



We decided to spend the night at the small village of Kentville just off the highway. Unbelievably, we were caught up in a traffic jam at the onramps to the highway. This is a village of only 6,000 people and there were queues over a kilometre long at 5 pm. Canberra folk have it good!