Episode #9: Bay of Fundy

Episode #9 marks the final chapter of our 72-day journey through eastern Canada. From the rugged Gaspé Peninsula and the red shores of Prince Edward Island to the world's highest tides along the Bay of Fundy, this has been a summer filled with spectacular scenery, fascinating history, welcoming communities and, yes, some unforgettable seafood.

We hope you'll enjoy joining us for one last episode as we explore one of Canada's greatest natural wonders before making our way home.

Few places in Canada inspire as much awe as the Bay of Fundy. Immense, powerful and ever-changing, it is home to the highest tides in the world and unlike anywhere else we have visited. During our twelve days exploring its shores, we discovered dramatic landscapes, fascinating history, remarkable seafood and some of the friendliest communities of our entire trip.

Before we begin, here are a few facts that help explain why the Bay of Fundy is so extraordinary.

• The World's Highest Tides: The Bay of Fundy has by far the largest tidal range—the difference between low and high tide—in the world. While the average tidal range worldwide is about 3.3 feet, Fundy's average is approximately 52 feet, largely because of the bay's unique funnel shape.
• An Astonishing Volume of Water: Every day, the tides rise and fall twice, moving an estimated 260 billion metric tonnes of seawater in and out of the bay. To put that into perspective, it would take approximately 19 months for Niagara Falls to move the same amount of water.
• Tidal Bores: Many rivers flowing into the Bay of Fundy experience a tidal bore—a wave that travels upstream against the river's normal current. Depending on the river and the tide, these waves can range from just a few inches to more than six feet high.
• Spring Tides: Twice each month, when the sun and moon are aligned, the tides reach their greatest height. These are known as spring tides, although they occur year-round and have nothing to do with the spring season.

Many of the places we visited around the bay are shown on the accompanying map.

Digby, Nova Scotia

While staying at Scallywags Oceanside Campground, we made a day trip to Digby, Nova Scotia.

Originally home to the Mi'kmaq people and later settled by Acadians, the community changed dramatically in 1783 when United Empire Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution settled there and renamed it in honour of Admiral Robert Digby. Over the years, Digby evolved from a shipbuilding and lumber-exporting centre into one of Canada's premier fishing ports.

Today, Digby is known around the world for its sea scallops. The powerful Fundy tides constantly stir nutrients from the ocean floor, while the cold Atlantic waters allow the scallops to grow slowly, producing the large, sweet and exceptionally tender scallops for which the region is famous.

Our timing couldn't have been better—we happened to arrive during the annual Digby Scallop Days Festival, a four-day celebration of the town's fishing heritage featuring parades, scallop-shucking competitions, live entertainment and, of course, opportunities to enjoy fresh local scallops.

Needless to say, we did our part.

Griddle filled with Digby Sea Scallops

Yum...

Everyone loves a parade

Rum Running on the Bay of Fundy

One piece of local history we hadn't expected to discover was the region's important role during American Prohibition.

Between 1920 and 1933, when alcohol was illegal in the United States, Nova Scotia became a major hub for international liquor smuggling. With traditional fishing incomes declining, many fishermen turned to transporting alcohol across the border. Coastal communities such as Halifax, Lunenburg, Yarmouth and many smaller ports became active participants in a surprisingly sophisticated smuggling network.

The nearby French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon legally imported enormous quantities of liquor from around the world, making them one of North America's principal staging points for bootlegging operations.

A short drive from Digby took us to Smuggler's Cove Provincial Park, where a hidden sea cave was once used to store contraband alcohol awaiting shipment south. Standing on the rugged shoreline, it wasn't difficult to imagine small boats quietly slipping in under cover of darkness or dense fog, a century ago.

Sea cave used for rum running during prohibition

Large shipyard used for maintenance & repairs

Living with the Fog

One thing we quickly learned about the Bay of Fundy was that the weather could change almost as dramatically as the tides.

The combination of cold Atlantic waters and warm summer air frequently produced dense banks of fog that rolled in and out with remarkable speed. We planned our activities around the forecast whenever possible, but often found the fog would disappear—and just as quickly return—within minutes.

Our drive to Smuggler's Cove was a perfect example. Every few kilometres the scenery changed completely as we alternated between bright sunshine and thick fog.

For most of our stay at Scallywags, we looked out across St. Mary's Bay at a solid wall of fog hiding Brier Island from view. Then, on the morning we were leaving, the sun broke through, the fog lifted and the island suddenly appeared across the water.

Timing is everything.

Scallywags Campground with a wall of fog over the bay

Scallywags campground beach when the fog briefly lifted

Departing Scallywags - bright sun, no fog, Brier Island in new across St. Mary's Bay

Brief lunch stop on the pier at Annapolis Royal. It's easy when your home is being towed along behind

Blomidon Provincial Park

Our next stop took us nearly 200 kilometres northeast to Blomidon Provincial Park, a spectacular 1,875-acre park perched atop 600 foot red sandstone cliffs overlooking the Minas Basin.

Screen shot from the internet of Cape Split, NS. Blomidon Provincial Park is set back about 2 kilometres from the tip of this spectacular peninsula. 

Reaching the campground required climbing a steep, winding access road with switchbacks. The GMC Sierra EV handled it effortlessly and we suspected we had one of the largest trailers in the campground. Many owners of larger fifth wheels and motorhomes would probably think twice before attempting that climb.

The campsite itself was beautiful, but the real attraction was the shoreline below.

Our Blomidon Campsite

At low tide, visitors can walk far out onto the vast red mudflats that only hours later disappear beneath more than 50 feet of seawater. We visited both at low and high tide, and no matter how many photographs we took, it was impossible to capture the true scale of what we were seeing.

Watching the Bay of Fundy transform the landscape twice each day was one of the most unforgettable experiences of our entire trip.

Low tide at Blomidon

Walking on the ocean floor

Standing on the ocean floor pointing to how high the tide goes

It's easy to feel insignificant next to these cliffs

Tide is in. No more mud flats

Another lookout over Minas Basin and Acadian dyked farm fields

Acadians Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Throughout our travels in Canada's Maritime provinces, we regularly encountered references to the enormous influence of the Acadian people. But during our stay at Blomidon, their history really came to life for us when we visited Grand Pré National Historic Site, (also a UNESCO World Heritage Site) managed by Parks Canada. 

Located in the Annapolis Valley, Grand Pré is famous for its rich Acadian heritage and its spectacular dyked farmland. Standing there and looking across the broad fields, it was easy to appreciate why this area was so important to the Acadians.

Depiction of the Grand Pré site and large area of dyked farmland

The Acadians originated in western France and began settling in what is now Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in the early 1600s. Separated from the larger French population of New France centred around Quebec, they developed their own distinctive Acadian culture and identity.

The Acadians were Roman Catholic and developed close relationships with the Mi'kmaq people, who had lived in the region for thousands of years. The Acadians learned from the Mi'kmaq how to build complex systems of dykes that allowed them to reclaim fertile salt marshes from the tides. They developed prosperous, self-reliant farming communities and traded with the Mi'kmaq, the British and French settlements throughout the region.

For generations, the Acadians managed to live relatively peacefully despite the growing conflict between France and Great Britain. As these two European powers repeatedly battled for control of the Maritimes, the Acadians attempted to remain neutral.

That neutrality became increasingly difficult to maintain.

The British demanded that the Acadians take an unconditional oath of allegiance to the Crown. The Acadians resisted, unwilling to promise that they would take up arms against France or the Mi'kmaq. At the same time, French authorities wanted the Acadians to support the defence and economic interests of French settlements in Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island.

Caught between two warring empires, the Acadians ultimately paid a terrible price for their determination to remain neutral.

Beginning in 1755, the British forcibly deported more than 10,000 Acadians. Families were separated, homes and farms were destroyed, and people were scattered throughout the American colonies, the Caribbean, France and Britain. Many eventually made their way to Louisiana, where their descendants became known as Cajuns. Others slowly returned to resettle in Canada's Maritime provinces, where a vibrant Acadian culture remains today.

Grand Pré

The Grand Pré National Historic Site commemorates the area as a centre of Acadian settlement from 1682 to 1755 and tells the story of the deportation and its devastating impact on Acadian families.

We thought Parks Canada did a marvellous job of bringing this history to life.

The setting itself is beautiful, with the historic site overlooking the vast reclaimed tidal marshes first settled by Acadians in the late 17th century. But knowing what happened here made the landscape feel very different. The peaceful fields and carefully maintained dykes represent not only the remarkable agricultural accomplishments of the Acadians, but also the home they were forced to leave behind.

It was one of those places where the history we had been hearing about throughout the Maritimes suddenly became very real.

Evangeline

The Acadian tragedy was immortalized in 1847 by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his epic poem Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie.

Evangeline is a fictional Acadian woman whose life is devastated when she is separated from her beloved Gabriel during the deportation. The poem follows her extraordinary journey as she travels through the landscapes of North America for years in search of him.

Eventually, Evangeline settles in Philadelphia as an elderly woman and works as a Sister of Mercy, caring for the poor and dying during an epidemic. There, she discovers Gabriel among the patients. He dies in her arms shortly afterward.

The poem is remarkably substantial—1,393 lines and more than 13,500 words—and is written in dactylic hexameter, a poetic form associated with the great Greek and Latin epics. Evangeline became Longfellow's most famous work during his lifetime.

Church at Grand Pré with bronze statue of Evangeline in front

Grand Pré and Evangeline Today

Although Evangeline was a literary creation of Longfellow, her story became much more than a work of fiction.

Her separation from Gabriel and her lifelong search came to symbolize the real-life scattering of Acadian families. Over time, Evangeline became deeply woven into Acadian folklore, heritage and artistic expression—a powerful symbol of loss, perseverance and survival. A bronze statue of Evangeline was unveiled at Grand Pré in 1920.

For Acadians around the world, Grand Pré has become the spiritual heart of their ancestral homeland. It represents the place where their ancestors built farms, raised families and created communities before being forcibly expelled.

Today, Grand Pré remains a place of pilgrimage for Acadians from around the world. Families return to commemorate their ancestors, reconnect with their heritage and celebrate Acadian identity, particularly around National Acadian Day on August 15.

Standing at Grand Pré, looking across the fields and tidal marshes, we found ourselves thinking about how much history can be contained in one seemingly peaceful landscape.

What had begun for us as a summer of sightseeing had, once again, turned into something much more meaningful.

Five Islands Provincial Park

The next leg of our journey around the Bay of Fundy took us to Five Islands Provincial Park. I don't think there could be a more peaceful place to sit and watch the enormous Fundy tide come and go.

From our campsite, we had a wonderful view across the Minas Basin. We also spent a couple of hours sitting on the beach, sipping our morning coffee and watching the tide roll in.

The campsites were large, the campers were quiet, the weather was perfect and, for us, it was probably the most relaxing stop of the entire summer.

Sometimes, you don't need an itinerary.

Sometimes, a comfortable chair, a cup of coffee and a spectacular view are enough.

A rest stop on our way to Five Islands PP. Cape Split & Blomidon PP are far off in the distance

Pic from our campsite looking out onto Minas Basin

Low tide & sunset

Low tide again about 12 hours later

Coffee on the beach, watching. the tide roll in

Fundy National Park

From Five Islands, we continued around the bay into New Brunswick and Fundy National Park.

Enjoying the good weather at Fundy National Park

Two EV Pickups charging at Fundy National Park

This 207-square-kilometre national park occupies a spectacular stretch of the southeastern New Brunswick coast along the Bay of Fundy. It has five campgrounds, more than 100 kilometres of hiking trails, 25 waterfalls and, of course, some fabulous Fundy scenery.

While staying at Fundy National Park, we backtracked a little to spend a day at one of the region's most famous attractions: Hopewell Rocks.

Hopewell Rocks

The shoreline at Hopewell Rocks features the famous flowerpot-shaped rock formations created by millions of years of erosion from the powerful Fundy tides, combined with wind and rain.

The scale of the tides here is difficult to comprehend until you actually see the ocean floor disappear beneath them.

At low tide, visitors can walk among the enormous flowerpot formations and explore the exposed ocean floor. At high tide, the same area is covered by an enormous amount of water, allowing kayakers to paddle around the tops of the formations.

And these aren't permanent monuments. The relentless forces of the tides, waves and weather continue to erode the rocks, and eventually these spectacular formations collapse and disappear.

We planned our visit to arrive during a period of low tide and spent several hours wandering around the ocean floor, with our cameras working overtime.

The incoming tide is particularly impressive. It begins slowly, but as the water moves into the bay the momentum picks up to where the level rises by approximately 13 feet an hour. As a result, there is considerable emphasis at the park on making sure visitors leave the ocean floor well before the tide returns.

After our walk, we spent another few hours at the park restaurant, enjoying lunch on a sunny deck overlooking the tidal flats.

It was a wonderful place to sit and watch the landscape disappear beneath the rapidly rising water.

Hopewell Rocks was one of those experiences that photographs simply cannot capture. You can take hundreds of pictures—and we did—but standing on the ocean floor surrounded by enormous rock formations while knowing that this entire landscape would soon be underwater was something we won't soon forget.

Hopewell Rocks

Walking the ocean floor at low tide

A close up of the sedimentary rocks

Lunch on the deck watching the tide roll in

Mudflats at 11:07am

Mudflats at 11:46am - tide filling in fast

Pics from info centre - low tide

Near high tide

Lobster before departing Fundy National Park. Yummm

A rising tide floats all boats??

St. Andrews by-the-Sea

Our final stop on the journey around the perimeter of the Bay of Fundy was St. Andrews by-the-Sea, in southwestern New Brunswick, right next to the Maine border.

It is a lovely historic seaside resort town, founded in 1783 by United Empire Loyalists. Today, the town is a National Historic Site, with beautifully preserved 18th and 19th century British colonial and Victorian architecture.

We stayed at Kiwanis Oceanfront Campground, which has a wonderful location right on the water and within walking distance of downtown.

Kiwanis Oceanfront Campground

One of our highlights was a visit to Kingsbrae Garden, a spectacular 27-acre horticultural attraction. The garden was created from the former estate of John and Lucinda Flemer and opened to the public in 1998. Today, it is operated as a non-profit organization involving the Flemer family, the Town of St. Andrews and the Province of New Brunswick.

With more than 50,000 perennials, Kingsbrae is an incredibly colourful, peaceful and inspiring place to explore.

There are 33 different gardens and sections to discover, including the entry garden, perennial garden, labyrinth and maze, orchard, edible garden, children's fantasy garden, hydrangea garden and rhododendron garden, along with many others.

We loved our walk through Kingsbrae. Afterwards, we enjoyed refreshments at their award-winning on-site café, overlooking the gardens.

We also explored St. Andrews' quaint downtown along Water Street, wandered along the waterfront and enjoyed a light lunch at the Char and Chowder restaurant.

The Char & Chowder

Sadly, my back decided it had had enough of our adventures and gave me grief for several days in St. Andrews. We skipped a planned whale watching trip to concentrate on getting me back into reasonable shape. With the help of a local chiropractor, we did everything we could to speed up my recovery.

It wasn't quite the ending to our Bay of Fundy adventure that we had planned, but after nearly ten weeks on the road, perhaps my back was simply suggesting that it was time to slow down.

And, as it turned out, we still had one more adventure ahead of us before heading home.

Homeward Bound

Before making our way home, we headed to Scarborough, Maine, to visit our daughter Ria and her family for a few days.

We had a wonderful time with them. We managed to fit in a pre-season soccer tournament in which our 17-year-old grandson was playing, a showing of The Odyssey at IMAX, and a couple of family meals at local restaurants.

It was a wonderful way to begin the final leg of our journey.

With grandchildren Connor and Maya

From St. Andrews, driving through Maine is also considerably shorter than heading north around Maine and back into Quebec, so it made sense to take the more direct route home.

Our remaining stops included an overnight at the lovely Camping de Compton campground in Compton, Quebec, followed by a couple of nights at Woodland Campground in Parks of the St. Lawrence.

Woodlands Campground - Parks of the St. Lawrence

Our final stop was supposed to be Presqu'ile Provincial Park, on the shores of Lake Ontario. I have fond memories of camping there as a child, so I was particularly looking forward to returning after all these years.

Unfortunately, things don't always go according to plan.

We simply couldn't get our trailer into the campsite we had reserved many months earlier. The site had an upward slope that caused the trailer bumper to hit the ground as we tried to back in. Add a large muddy hole and a substantial tree stump, and the three conspired to make the site impossible for us.

The campground was fully booked, as were the other campgrounds in the area.

So, late in the afternoon, we made the decision to head for home, resulting in an extraordinarily long travel day for us.

We arrived home a few days earlier than planned. And while we were disappointed to miss Presqu'ile, there is always something wonderful about arriving home after a long journey and climbing into our own, much larger-than-the-trailer bed!

The EV Nerds' Trip Summary

For the EV enthusiasts who have followed along, here are a few statistics from our 72-day adventure.

Distance Travelled

• Total distance: 8,760 kilometres
• Towing distance: 6,113 kilometres
• Non-towing distance: 2,647 kilometres

Energy Used

• Towing: 3,252 kWh
• Non-towing: 714 kWh
• Total: 3,966 kWh

Energy Efficiency

• Towing: 1.88 km/kWh
• Non-towing: 3.7 km/kWh

Charging Expense

• Public charging: 1,631 kWh — $803.07
• Campground charging: 2,478 kWh — $0

That means approximately 40% of our energy came from public chargers and 60% from campground charging.

For those who enjoy doing the math, our $803.07 in public charging worked out to about $0.49 per kWh.

Towing with the GMC Sierra EV Max vs. Tesla Model Y

This was our second summer towing our 28-foot Airstream with an EV. Last year we used a Tesla Model Y; this year we made the switch to a GMC Sierra EV Max.

The difference was significant.

Over our 72-day trip, we had 29 travel days. On only 10 of those days did we need to stop for charging, and on four of those occasions we had to unhitch the trailer.

Overall, travel days were considerably more relaxed with the GMC.

Here's why:

• We only had to stop and charge on about one-third of our travel days.
• The GMC has roughly 2½ times the towing range of the Tesla Model Y we used last summer.
• The truck's cab is extremely quiet, spacious and comfortable.
• While the Tesla Model Y towed very well, we now prefer the GMC. It is a very capable tow vehicle and, because of its substantial weight, crosswinds and passing buses and tractor-trailers have virtually no impact on the trailer.
• The truck's four-wheel steering also makes it surprisingly manoeuvrable for such a large vehicle.
• Tesla's technology remains far superior, but for our particular needs, the GMC is the better towing vehicle.
• With a 95% charge, we can comfortably tow about 350 kilometres and still have approximately 15–20% battery remaining, depending on wind and weather.

For us, the bottom line is pretty simple: the Tesla may be the more sophisticated EV, but the GMC Sierra EV Max is the better tool for towing our Airstream.

And after spending more than 6,000 kilometres towing with it this summer, we are very happy with our choice.

Our Search for the Best Seafood Chowder—and More

Many of you commented that we seemed to be eating our way through eastern Canada.

Thank goodness for stretchy waistbands!

As the summer progressed, we started keeping track of several foods to see who could claim bragging rights for the best. After all, someone had to do the research.

Here are our winners.

Seafood Chowder

The winner was The Grand Banker Bar & Grill in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Their Traditional Maritime Seafood Chowder, made with haddock, shrimp, scallops and clams in a New England-style cream broth, was far and away the best we tasted.

Nothing else came close.

The broth wasn't too heavy, the bowl was loaded with seafood and, unlike many chowders, there were no potatoes acting as filler. A very deserving winner.

Poutine

We sampled poutine in numerous places, but none came close to Schwartz's Deli in Montreal.

Their Poutine à la Schwartz's adds a generous serving of their famous homemade smoked meat on top of the traditional combination of fries, cheese curds and gravy.

It is definitely not health food. But it is very, very good.

Burger

This category was much tougher. We ended up with two restaurants tied for first place.

The first was Bentley's Burgers & Fries food truck in West Chezzetcook, Nova Scotia. Their OG Double Smash Burger, with cheese, grilled onions, pickles and house sauce, was absolutely delicious.

The second was, once again, The Grand Banker in Lunenburg.

Their creatively named Lunenburger is a six-ounce hand-formed local beef burger topped with smoked mozzarella, smoked bacon, baby spinach, garlic aioli and a generous serving of Nova Scotia lobster. It is finished with tarragon butter sauce and served on a local artisan bun, with a bacon-wrapped scallop on top.

Yes, you read that correctly. A bacon-wrapped scallop.

My half of the Lunenburger

Truthfully, we couldn't choose between these two burgers.

They are both best in class.

Mussels

The Salt Rock Restaurant in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, prepared their mussels in a very basic combination of white wine, shallots, cream and garlic—but somehow managed to do it far better than anyone else.

The mussels were as fresh as you could possibly find, and there wasn't a drop of broth left in the bowl when we were finished.

That tells you everything you need to know.

Fish and Chips

There were plenty of good contenders for this category, but the winner was the Tipsy Farmers Restaurant in Souris, Prince Edward Island.

Their beer-battered haddock was cooked to absolute perfection.

Crispy on the outside, tender and flaky inside.

Exactly what fish and chips should be.

Final Thoughts

We had a fabulous summer travelling through eastern Canada, and we are extremely grateful that we were able to do it.

Over 72 days, we travelled thousands of kilometres, stayed in some remarkable campgrounds, explored beautiful coastlines and islands, learned an incredible amount about Canada's history, took what feels like thousands of photographs, ate our way through the Maritimes and somehow managed to find the time to write about it all.

But perhaps the most rewarding part was sharing the journey with all of you.

Your comments, questions, encouragement and stories about your own travels became part of our adventure. Knowing that people were following along made the blog more than simply a record of where we had been—it became another part of the experience.

We have no idea how many more adventures like this lie ahead, but while we're able, we intend to keep exploring, learning, photographing, writing and sharing our travels.

For now, though, it's wonderful to be home.

Thank you for coming along for the ride with us.

Until the next adventure...

Stephen & Fran

Whale watching - Tadoussac on the St. Lawrence on June 27, 2026