A Bore that's Worth the Visit

A Great Blue Heron is about to be overtaken by the tidal bore at Moncton, New Brunswick.

The tidal bore on the Petticodiac River in Moncton, New Brunswick, is not boring. The water comes in twice a day, racing around the elbow of the river with a wall of water pushing hard against the down-flowing stream. It fairly races along, with birds riding it like surfers.

Jo and I were there at the appointed hour on Thursday morning. There is a place called Bore Park where you see the sweep of the tidal bore. We were surrounded by a busload of French-speaking lst or 2^nd grade students, along with a couple who were visiting from New Zealand and who were proudly showing their currency to a Moncton native. The money actually had windows in it which, to my view, was unique.

Anyway, as the bore came in, the Canada Geese that had been riding the wave decided it was enough. They swam to the muddy shore and waddled up the bank.

Suzanne, a perky young woman from the Moncton Museum, told us in alternate French and English the history of the area, along with the lore of the bore. It comes in because Moncton is at the head of the Bay of Fundy where the largest tides in the world are to be found. The water rises up to 50 feet twice a day and that results in awesome currents. Jo and I had sailed the Bay of Fundy back in the summer of 2003. It was wonderful to sail with the tide – we made 13 knots in our sluggish little boat.

Suzanne explained how the Acadiene French were pretty friendly with the local Mic-Mac Indians. But they refused to swear allegiance to the French king. Nor, when the English arrived and took over, would they swear allegiance to the British king. The price: all their homes were burned and they were shipped out. This explains why Louisiana is loaded with “Cajuns”. Lots of them found their way into the deep South of the U.S.

The previous evening, we visited Magnetic Hill to experience the wonder of putting our car in neutral on an apparently level surface and having it roll along backwards, gaining speed until it climbs a hill backwards. I'd asked the woman at our campground whether or not it was worth the visit. She sagely suggested we go there after 7 p.m. and get in without paying. “It eez a how-you-say optical illusion,” she told us in her French-accented English. She was right. It is not really worth paying $5 to experience. But it was fun to see the car take off on its own on an apparently flat road. We couldn't figure out the illusion even after letting it happen to us three times.

PS: I have received a response from Don and Terry, one of our fellow-travelers, about how lucky we were with the $60 charge from Verizon for our use of Canadian cell towers. While they were in the northern U.S., near the Canadian border, they were regularly using the cell towers without knowing it. Their monthly bill was $1,200! Happily AT&T let them off the hook after they howled.