A Whale of a time in the Bay of Fundy

A few days ago, we travelled out to Brier Island again with some fellow artists from the Bear River Working Studios Tour. It is such a beautiful place. (Note to self: return in the fall with huge canvasses and try and capture the scenes.)

Brier Island

This time our destination was the middle of the Bay of Fundy to spot some whales. I’m a very terra firma kind of person so I wasn’t sure how I would feel about bobbing up and down in a boat surrounded by an enormous amount of water.  I had occassionally fretted about it in the weeks leading up to the event as I imagined the worst kind of weather. (What’s the use of worrying unless you bring on the extras!)  As it turned out, the day was clear and calm and the waves were minimal. So that part was way better than I thought it would be.

In many ways coming to Nova Scotia is turning out to be my chance to experience and challenge my imagined and real physical limitations. It’s amazing how much of one’s interior realities are self-imposed.

Cruising the Bay of Fundy

So here I was inventing disastrous scenerios in my head when I was introduced to an inspiring group on the boat from the Mersey River Chalets. This lakeside chalet is a paradise in the woods and was the dream and brainchild of several Germans who are nature lovers and also happen to be Paraplegic / Quadriplegic. They envisioned a place where common physical barriers are minimized and where every one can experience the serenity and beauty of nature regardless of physical ability. They have a top-notch chef too. I had heard of the Mersey Chalet because our yoga teacher gives occasional weekend workshops there. Able bodied people are more than welcome there – the chalet doesn’t discriminate! 

Meanwhile, back on the boat, we saw some humpback whales and at the first sighting, I gasped and felt quite moved to see such a large mammal out there in the water.  As you will see from my video, we only saw a small part of the animal, but it was exciting nonetheless.

We went out with  Mariner Cruises and I would definitely recommend them. They are a husband and wife team. Roy operates the boat and Penny gives the talks. She was very informative about ocean life and available at all times for questions. A special treat was when Penny served tea, coffee and muffins! 

Humpback

And you know what, whales are way bigger in real life than in the movies- even when you just see parts of them.

Brier Island – camping on the Atlantic Ocean

Larry and I used to spend every August long weekend camping with our kids and relatives and friends in Renfrew County, Ontario where we owned a couple of acres of new-growth forest on a small lake.

Cameron Lake, Ontario (watercolour)

Some of my favorite summer memories are of that time and place, of sitting around a campfire at night watching the burning embers;

Camp Fire on Brier Island

or listening to the kids daytime squeals of pleasure as they jumped into the cool lake. We thought we were roughing it because we had no electricity or running water– just an outhouse and pails of fresh water for washing, dragged up from the lake.

During those years, a thousand kilometers to the east, people who we didn’t yet know in Bear River were camping on Brier Island every August long weekend. This August we were invited to join their annual trek.

Brier Island is on the tip of the Digby Neck

Brier Island is down the Digby neck, the last island before it descends into the ocean. It takes 2 hours to get there from here, including 2 ferry rides. The trip there is pretty scenic and relaxing due to the light traffic, the little villages and coastline.

Fishing huts at Westport, Brier Island

I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned to you how laissez faire Nova Scotian’s seem to be about the ‘private’ in private property….at least the ones who are accessing it! You see, Brier Island doesn’t have an official campsite and people were pretty vague about the land where we put up our tents. “Doesn’t Harry so-and-so own this land?” “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind…..especially as we will leave the site in better shape than when we got here”. Meaning, we’ll take with us all of our garbage and any extras that we come across. I ask “well what if the owner(s) show up and don’t want us here?” People looked at me like I was speaking an incomprehensible language. “But we’ve always come here.”…..and then finally: “well, we’ll just move our tents.” I mean, come on, tradition is tradition!

Brier Island - Bay of Fundy side

So with that said, about a dozen tents went up, well spaced from each other, but within a short distance to a communal kitchen. A few people pitched their tents on the edge of the ocean, and listened to crashing waves all night.

Tenting on St. Mary's Bay side of Brier Island

 

Our tent was in a more sheltered spot where we could hear the sounds of distant waves and seagulls all day and all night long.

Our tent's fly kept us dry in the downpour.

We played horseshoes and explored the island, gathered driftwood for the fire and drank wine with supper.

Horseshoes is supposed to be fun, right?

The forcast had called for non-stop rain, but we only had one big downpour. The reward the following morning was hundreds of delicate spiders’ webs which appeared in the bushes.

Spider's web after the rain.

The fog rolled in and rolled out and watching it blow and move around us created the illusion of living in the clouds. In fact the whole island felt like out of the pages of a 19th century novel what with the soaring birds, blowing wild flowers of purple and yellow and white, and the sounds of crashing waves.

I had stessed before the trip about what it would be like for me to stay where there are zero bathroom facilities. Like, how does that work? I’ll tell you how. You bring a trowel. You bring a roll of toilet paper in a plastic bag (so it doesn’t get wet from rain or dew). You find a place in the bushes where things are growing (ie. not sand, but earth). You dig a hole. You squat and do your thing. You deposit the toilet paper into the hole and cover everything up with the earth. This way it all decomposes. Don’t use kleenex because it doesn’t break down as well. Then you go back to your tent where you have a basin of water, brought from home and you wash your hands with soap. It made our former camping adventures in Ontario seem like 3 star experiences, but at the same time I was surprised at how easy it is to adapt.

Wld flowers bloom everywhere.

Briar Island is a favorite migratory spot for birds and I recorded some of their sounds which you can hear in this photo montage of flowers on the Island. We heard the birds all the time and I wished I had an interpreter with me!

It was yet another great weekend spent with over a dozen Bear Riverites of all ages, along with several of their dogs. Watching tides, looking at rocks and camping on the edge of the world.

Pat and Reggie walk the beach facing the Bay of Fundy

Air-conditioning – Bear River style

Scarlet runner beans

It’s been quite hot In Bear River for the last couple of weeks -uncomfortabley so- and sometimes the high humidity levels have made everything you touch feel damp. Paper curls in the printer, wooden banisters feel waxy-sticky. On the plus side, it’s much easier to pull weeds out of damp soil, which, along with the edible plants, are thriving because of the humidity. 

Pamela's hand-collected Blue Lake Beans in my garden

Back in hot, and humid Toronto, air-conditioning in public places was a given and central air-conditioning in peoples houses is the norm, and it’s built into all new housing. I remember in the 60’s, movie cinemas in Toronto hung signs outside that said “…it’s cool inside”, because before malls were invented, there were few public air-conditioned places to go to besides the cinema and another helping of ‘Cleopatra’. Buses, streetcars and the subway are all artificially cooled. Office windows aren’t even designed to open, making airconditioning  an essential life requirement.

Queen Anne's lace

So far this summer, I haven’t been into any home in Bear River where air conditioning is installed. Somewhere there must be a few examples of ac units, but I haven’t seen any. Traditionally, it hasn’t been hot enough, long enough to warrant air-conditioning. Temperatures usually drop into the teens at night and if you live on the coast, the ocean breezes are cooling.

Clouds blow across St. Mary's Bay

Even with the heatwave we’ve been having, people here aren’t rushing out to buy air-conditioners. I see this as another example of the frugality and even consumer resistance practiced here. It is the knowledge of knowing the difference between ‘want’, ‘nice to have’, ‘could use’, and ‘essential need’. Those finer nuances in consumer awareness and resistance allow people here to live with far less income (and debt) than their counterparts in a large city can. 

Gilbert's Cove, Nova Scotia

I was thinking last week that this is the first summer in quite a few years where we haven’t had uber-airconditioning at work during the week, followed by inadequate, but constant air conditioning at home. I used to wonder how I ever managed without it when I was a child growing up. It is amazing what we humans get used to and what we learn to take for granted.

Larry at the beach at Gilbert's Cove

Now that I don’t have it, I find that I am adjusting to feeling hot and sticky. So it isn’t that I don’t feel the sweat rolling down my back, dampening my shirt, dripping from my brow. It’s just that it doesn’t feel as disgusting and as oppressive as it once did. I definitely wouldn’t, couldn’t feel that way squashed into a subway car. But I never, ever thought that I would ever be able to adjust to life without airconditioning, but apparently it’s possible.

Beach stones and shells at Gilbert's Cove, St. Mary's Bay, Nova Scotia

These are some of the tips I’m learning about keeping cool in Nova Scotia:

• there is comfort in numbers….it really helps that everyone else feels hot too
• walking around with a damp small towel around your neck feels great…the evaporation has an amazing cooling effect
• Drinking lots of water is refreshing
• sticking your feet in cool water has a cool-down effect
• living in a house with lots of ceiling fans is a must…moving air cools
• opening windows at night to let the cool air in and closing them in the morning keeps the cool in
• eating cold food like salads and cold soups helps
• ice cream is your friend
• if you live in Nova Scotia, you are at most, under 2 hours drive to the ocean where the water is always cool and the breezes refreshing
• if it’s still unbearable, go fo a  drive…..with the car ac on to the grocery store in Digby

So, the other day we drove 40 minutes down the coast to Gilbert’s Cove on St. Mary’s Bay. The breezes were cooling and the cloud formations were gorgeous.

 In that tearoom at the lighthouse we drank cold bottled water in china teacups and ate warm homemade blueberry muffins for a total of $4.

Gilbert's Cove lighthouse

Which turned out to be the perfect combination of hot and cold.

Ferry, cross the Bay of Fundy

As you can see, Larry was pretty thrilled with the trip. We could barely contatin our excitement to finally be arriving at our new adventure.

 

Here is a video of the ferry ride: