Blomidon Provincial Park

River side to Windsor
Started the morning early - sky was sunny and clear - a good sign. Pack the bike and … can't find the GPS. Unpack everything, unload each bike, retrace my steps from yesterday (I had sat outside by the BBQ reading) - nothing. One last check of the room before going to the desk and asking if anyone turning a GPS (desperation move), lift the tank bag, and there it was. When I got off the bike, I attached the GPS to the tank bag handle so I wouldn't forget it during sign in. Whew, I had visions of navigating with just the maps, which really don't have a lot of detailed information.

Quickly returned to Lunenberg to see how it looks in clear weather. The bay is very scenic and the town is painted in vibrant colours that really must be seen in full sunlight. Then, it back to Halifax along the coastal route. The ride is a lot of fun because traffic is minimal. On stop on the way is the Bayswater site of the SwissAir flight 111 memorial and interment site. Yesterday, I had stopped in at the Peggy's Cove site. Both of these communities played an important role in the recovery of the aircraft and it's passengers and crew. As an aircraft nut, I remember reading about the recovery and the event has stuck in my mind.
Originally, I had planned to ride back to Peggy's Cove as well, but the traffic was way too heavy. It was close to 11am and coffee was on my mind, so I drove down Peggy's cove road a few kilometres to the White Sails bakery. Their coffee gives Starbucks a run for the money and fresh baked goods are excellent. Highly recommended for anyone travelling in the area. I also took a photo of the lagoon against a sunny sky, as compared to the storm wall that was there yesterday. On the way back to the main road, there was another Cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) cloud building in the distance. The system seems to be following a constant line. This early in the day - that cloud was going to be a probem.

Off to Dartmouth to buy chain lube from the Honda dealer that I spotted the prior day and then to Andrea's for a quick visit. We had lunch - and guess what, the storm that I and seen earlier dropped rain on us as well. We chatted and caught up on "stuff" and then Andrea took me for a quick tour of Halifax. She also frequents the White Sails bakery - small world. Andrea recommended a few side trips to Wolfville and Blomidon provincial park. This is the Bay of Fundy area with some of the highest tides in the world. Just outside of Halifax, another monster cloud was building over the same spot. It looked like my more northerly route would miss it, but what is it about that spot? It must be a big storm because an aircraft was steering around it.

Wolfville is home to Acadia University. They have a quaint campus in but with school out, not a lot of activity in town. On the way to the park, I experience my first evidence of how big the tide really is, with several boats sitting in the mud beside a pier.  The provincial park is famous for it's red cliffs and large tidal beach so I had to walk out to the edge. The pictures say it all. Quite a walk in my Klim pants and motorcycle boots. The cliffs are the end of a long chain of a mountain (hill actually) that runs along this entire coast. I found a dirt road, called mountain road, that went to the top of the ridge to a road that goes to the end of land here. Followed that to the "Spit". There, the tide depth is even more evident (see the pictures). The tide was rolling in and you could actually see it building a bit of a front as the water rolled in shore. There were some people exploring out by water's edge, so I hope they realized tide was coming in. It can be really fast and if you are on a high spot, you can get surrounded quickly. There are warnings everywhere there is beach access.
By now it was 7pm, and I was hoping to get to Truro for the night. Started back and stopped at a great over look of the valley (see pic). By the time I got back to Wolfville, it was clear that I was not going to easily make Truro since the GPS route wanted me to go back to Halifax. Julie confirmed that there were hotels available but it was a 2 hour journey at least. I was getting tired - started the day at 5am, and pulled over in Windsor, just before cutting off at 104, which bypasses Halifax, and low and behold, there is a Super 8 in Windsor. Done for the day. Plus, they have laundry facilities so my clothing is ready for the last run to TO.