Sunday, June 27, 2010

Fundy Whale Car sightings


View Fundy Whale Car Adventures in a larger map Folks who visit our bay are often quite keen to claim they've sighted a whale during their holiday. Well now, with a bit of a watchful eye, they may also be able to claim 'whale CAR sightings' too....we've been having fun introducing our new Whale Car to many people around Bay of Fundy.

I've snapped photos wherever the Whale Car has been since it's June 5 launch so we have an ever-growing collection of quirky 'sightings' to share. Here's the Google Map we've created (which is also embeded on the Whale Car's website).

If you happen to see the Whale Car yourself & you take a pic, please feel free to email it to me (bayoffundy@gmail.com) so I can put it on the map or post it yourself to the car's facebook page!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Cruising across the Bay of Fundy


I'm Pisces so that may explain why I'm always keen to get near, in and on the water!

This week I had the perfect chance to be on the water: we hosted some travel writers aboard the Fundy Ferry that traverses the mouth of the Bay of Fundy from Saint John, New Brunswick, to Digby, Nova Scotia. The trip is only 3 hours and enables folks to make a loop around the Bay in both provinces without backtracking.

I love this ship, the Princess of Acadia...it's one of those nice solid, clean & bright ferries with plenty of viewing decks fore and aft (as well as Starbucks coffee & internet on board). Here's a view off the bow as we were about to dock in Digby. I spent 6 hours aboard this week, going from Digby to Saint John and back.

The other image is Rose from the New Brunswick Museum doing their on-board interpretive program during the daily cruises: the theme is Bay of Fundy, of course!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Test tidal turbine takes a beating


Having the highest tides in the world also means having the strongest tides ~ and that's what captivates those dreaming of harnassing tidal energy from the Bay of Fundy.

Tidal turbine testing started last November with the installation of the first of three different in-stream technologies. The test site is just a few kilometres from my daily dog walking route on the shores so I've been keeping a close eye on the project. Ultimately, as part of this testing phase there will be three turbines installed.

The Bay is quite intense in that location: the narrowest passage of a bay where 100 billion tonnes of seawater is passing with each 2x daily tide cycle and the news came this week that the 1st turbine lost a couple blades and will need to be removed from the Bay for further testing.

Monday, June 07, 2010

Whale car revealed!




At long last our Bay of Fundy whale car is now revealed!

Here are a couple photos from its weekend adventures and there are plenty more photos on our Facebook page.

We're holding a contest to name her or him on our facebook fan page - send us your best & brightest names....

The winner (has to be a resident of New Brunswick or Nova Scotia - sorry Alberta!) wins a 'guest appearance' of the whale car at the event of his or her choice this summer.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Whales, beetles and strange Fundy-themed dreams


Once, after reading that the heart of a Blue Whale is the size of a VW Beetle, I had a dream that my Volkswagen beetle morphed into a whale....and then I thought 'why not', let's do it!

The Fundy Whale Car launches this Saturday, June 5, in Saint John, New Brunswick, at the Fundy Food Fest. It seemed only fitting that the whale car's 1st trip would be to sample fabulous Fundy cuisine!

There's going to be some fun curbside contesting with the Fundy Whale Car throughout the season, so watch for it in its travels throughout Nova Scotia & New Brunswick. Check out the car's website and join its facebook fan page for updates!