Oat Cakes & Ice Cakes

Ice cakes in the harbour make me think of oat cakes in the cupboard, so I thought this was the perfect time to share my grandmother's secret Scottish Oat Cake recipe from the 'old country'. If you live down here by the Bay you'll automatically know that oat cakes are not actually 'cakes' but rather a type of cookie.

Scottish Oat Cakes

3 c. unbleached white flour or whole wheat flour
3 c. rolled oats
1 c. sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 c. cold butter
about 3/4 c. cold water

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter to fine crumbs. Add enough water to moisten. Roll to the depth of a woolen blanket. Cut in traditional diamond shapes. Bake at 350 degrees F for 7 to 10 minutes. Longer time = crisper cookie. Enjoy a chunk of cheddar cheese with this heritage recipe. Makes lots so share some with a friend!

Bay of Fundy Mud'icure...all in a day's work!

Believe it or not, the job of promoting Canada's wonderful Bay of Fundy can be a challenging one. Although the planning, publicity and outdoor adventure may seem fun it really can be quite arduous...don't believe me?


Alright decide for yourself if you'd take on this week's challenge...the mission: to choreograph and host a day's worth of zany adventures on the Nova Scotia side of Bay of Fundy for Jeff & Chris Eager, hosts of the Great Canadian Adventure Tour.


Oh the day started off ordinarily enough...just speeding out at dawn for whale watching with Ocean Explorations, then opening lobster with bare hands on the beach at Halls Harbour, but got decidedly more interesting after a tromp & tasting through the vinyard at Domaine de Grand Pre winery when the three of us had an up-close-and-personal look at mud ecology at Evangeline Beach....heh heh heh...all in a day's work here on the bay.


The day was captured on film as part of their Great Canadian Adventure Tour series (will be posted on their website in a few days). In the meantime, follow these crazy fellas as they head out across Canada to capture the essence of our great country, coast to coast, 41 days, check 'em out on facebook or on twitter @CanadaAdventure.

Recipe for sun-dried starfish

Take two (or more) starfish washed up on a Bay of Fundy beach after a wild & windy tide.

Lay out starfish "sunny side up" on your patio table or deck.
Place on newsprint initially if they are gooey.

Bake in full sun for 8 hours, flipping to the other side about half way through.

Lightly brush to remove seaweed or loose rocks.
To lighten, leave in sun an extra couple days.
Once dry, bring inside for decoration.

P.S. Do not eat - bleck!!

Must....have....chocolate?

I was visiting Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESCO World Heritage Site today when I crossed over this tidal river and remembered that I had a photo of it buried in my archives somewhere.

Sure enough there it was! My Ontario colleague, Colin, snapped this pic when we were attending some meetings around the Bay of Fundy a few years ago.

Many of Fundy's tidal rivers (or estuaries, if you want to be fancy!) show interesting sights at low tide when the sea water recedes and the fresh water river lingers beneath.

Every time I see such mud-flanked rivers my mouth waters...their edges look for all the world like creamy chocolate! So be warned: travels around the Bay of Fundy may be hazardous to your waistline.

Crazy Saint Johners make Giant 7

There's certainly LOTS of excitement about the Bay of Fundy representing Canada in the global New7Wonders of Nature campaign. In fact, folks in the Fundy city of Saint John, New Brunswick, are so excited about 700 of them decided to turn up on the waterfront a couple days ago to form a giant human 7. Check out this time-lapse video... Gooooooooo Fundy!

Baby 'christening' in Bay of Fundy?

I was visiting Hopewell Rocks this week when I came upon this couple 'dipping' their baby's toes in the Bay of Fundy. It turns out they are former residents of the Maritimes who now live in Ontario but wanted to be sure to give their little girl a taste of Bay of Fundy on her first trip home this summer. Starting that east coast salt running in her veins ~ cute!

Terri's top 10 reasons to vote Fundy TODAY!

This is the last day to vote in the 2nd phase of the global New7Wonders of Nature contest. Bay of Fundy is competing as Canada's top site. Click here to vote for Bay of Fundy!

Need to know what makes Bay of Fundy so awesome? Here are my top 10 fav things about our bay:

10. The Bay of Fundy boasts some of the best and freshest seafood in North America: lobster, scallops, salmon (fresh & smoked), halibut, mussels, sole, haddock, herring, mackeral, flounder, dulse (edible seaweed), etc.

9. The Bay is home to the largest whirlpool in the northern hemisphere: the Old Sow Whirlpool off Deer Island, New Brunswick.

8. The Fundy region has so many geology firsts it's almost embarrassing:

• world's best fossil forest
  
• Canada's oldest dinosaurs
• world's most complete fossil record
• world's smallest dinosaurs
• evidence of the 'missing link' between the Jurassic & Triassic periods of geological history
• best place in the world to see all three rock types from three different geological time periods: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic

7. Fundy is the hottest site in the world for tidal power potential (outdated barrage or causeway-style technology - destructive to the environment!! - has been replaced by new, much less invasive, underwater turbines that look like modern wind mills).

6. Our Bay is the summer habitat and feeding ground for these gentle giants: 12 species of whales, including the rare and endangered North Atlantic Right whale (half the world's population of Right whales visit Fundy annually).

5. Fundy's low tide mud flats are a critical feeding ground for 95% of the world's semi-palmated Sandpipers on their annual migration from the Arctic to the west coast of Africa then South America.

4. UNESCO loves us! Upper Bay of Fundy as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and Joggins Fossil Cliffs as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

3. Bay of Fundy tides, 54 feet/15 metres are the highest on the planet. To put this in perspective: South Carolina, USA, tides are 5 feet and Vancouver, BC's tides 10 feet.

2. Fundy is one of the world's richest marine ecosystems and has been compared to the Amazon rainforest in biodiversity.

1. The people of the Fundy adore & protect their bay and love sharing its mysteries with visitors. They are also a formidable troupe who have risen to the challenge of promoting and voting for our Bay... propelling to top Canadian site in this contest. I love yez!!

How's the weather 'up' here?

View Larger MapWhile I'm on the topic of interesting questions asked by visitors, I'd like to answer two common visitor questions: where is Bay of Fundy? and, what's the weather like up here? This may be especially helpful to our American friends who may be a bit less familiar with our geography.

LOCATION: As the crow flies, the Bay of Fundy is located about 200 miles (650 km) east of Portland, Maine, or about 400 miles (750 km) from Boston, Massachusetts. In fact, we're actually closer to Boston than we are to Canada's capital city, Ottawa, in the province of Ontario - 600 miles (950 km) away - see map.

The Bay of Fundy is actually situated at 45 degrees latitude: 4 degrees further south than the Canada-U.S. border, commonly referred to as the "49th parellel". The Bay lies between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick & Nova Scotia (see coloured sections on the map)

WEATHER: Since we are on the eastern seaboard of North America, we get basically the same weather as Boston, just a few hours later as the Gulf Stream moves further along the coast. Just like Maine, we do love our fog in the summers which often 'burns off' by mid-morning.

Our temperature is reported in degrees Celsius (C). Yesterday's daytime temperature of 26 degrees Celsius is 80 degrees Fahrenheit; our 32 degrees C is 90 degrees F to Americans. Typical daytime summer and autumn temperatures are in the high 20s and sometimes 30s C. Summer evenings can stay in the 20s or high teens (70s in F) - better for sleeping!

We do get snow but only in the winter - starting in December (by Christmas if we're lucky) and ending in March. Just like Boston, we don't have snow in the spring, summer or fall, nor can you see the Northern lights from our Bay - you'd need to be much further north. We are as far away from the north pole as we are from the equator!

To check the weather forecast prior to your arrival, visit the Environment Canada website for New Brunswick or Nova Scotia or check out the weather maps links on the Fundy tourism website.

Bay of Fundy Mud Drum Workshop

I wish I lived a little closer to the Canada - U.S. border that enters the Bay of Fundy at St Stephen, New Brunswick. There's a fun 8-week workshop starting tomorrow at the Cobscook Community Learning Centre over the border in Trescott, Maine:From Mud to Music - Making & Playing Musical Instruments From Clay. The class will be instructed by Connie Harter-Bagley, master potter and owner of Clay of Fundy Studio. Participants will create clay instruments such as drums, ocarinas and flutes, and will learn to play them. Course includes clay, glazes, firing and one goatskin drum head.

I've been playing the djembe (african drum) for about 2 years and would love to make my own drum from Bay of Fundy mud! Well, perhaps I'll have to get myself down there this summer if they re-offer Mud to Music.

Bay of Fundy Ice Pebbles

When exploring the Bay of Fundy coast it's important to look down at the beach as well as out at the view. While I busily snapped away at the scenery earlier this week, my dog snuffled along the wrack line left by the receding tide.

Wrack is a great place to find little treasures - sea glass, shells, starfish amid the assorted flotsam. This time the wrack line produced something I'd never seen before: ice pebbles! Initially I thought they were bits of opaque white sea glass but, when my dog began eating them I kinda clued in. (Belle usually explores the beach with a large rock in her mouth but never swallows it!). I hope you can catch the cool contrast of the ice pebbles, the sea shells and the tumbled beach stones in this blog-sized photo.

High to low Bay of Fundy tide in 55 seconds

In an effort to help folks figure out how this whole Bay of Fundy tide thing works, I've found myself collecting both high/low photo sets and time lapse videos. I know...most people collect stamps or spoons, but hey, each to her or his own. I did some surfing on YouTube this weekend and located this great little time lapse video taken last summer from a great clifftop vantage point. It really gives a sense of the volume of water moving into the bay on one tide cycle. Take notice particularly at the end when the Bay appears to be filling up like a bathtub! Click on these links or use the side menu to see more videos or high-low pics.

Watch A Mussel Grow Webcam

OK, this is really cool. The folks at FlexMussels in our neighbouring province of Prince Edward Island have a great website feature: a web cam that follows the growth of, ahem, a blue mussel. Since we also harvest mussels around the Bay of Fundy, I thought I'd make an exception to my unofficial all-things-Bay-of-Fundy blog rule and give you a chance to take a look at the little fella, here's the web cam link. Remember: patience is a virtue...

You may know by know that I'm a huge mussel fan. I see a foodie trip to PEI in my future... Check out some of my previous recipe posts: Mussels with Ginger Pesto, Blue Cheese Mussels, Green Thai Curry Mussels, Spiced Beer Mussels and Mussels Panagea.

Bay of Fundy whale video

Tom at Ocean Exploration Zodiac whale cruises in Tiverton, Nova Scotia, just sent me this 4 minutes video footage he taped a few days ago on the bay...these are Humpback whales flipper and tail slapping!...living proof that there are still lots of whales to see in the Bay of Fundy.

Mud, mud, glorious mud!

Here's some Bay of Fundy insider information: how to enjoy a do-it-yourself, no-cost Bay of Fundy foot spa.

• Visit the upper part of the Bay of Fundy - Minas Basin or Chignecto Bay - best.
  
• Walk down to the beach at low tide, remove shoes, roll up pantlegs, walk out on the ocean floor, seek muddiest sections of beach
• Enjoy the sklooshing of good clean mud between your toes, repeat, laugh, and celebrate our wonderful Bay in all its forms.

Took this video on Evangeline Beach, near Wolfville, this weekend. It was about 30 degrees with no wind so by late afternoon all roads lead to the beach, not to swim, but to mud. Not very sophisticated but oh, so fun! (p.s. don't forget to check the local tide schedule before you go and to keep a close eye on the moving beach around you!). Also please refrain from walking on these beaches in August when migratory birds are feeding & should not be disturbed.

Conquering Red Rocks!

A glorious day today on the Bay of Fundy! We had company this weekend and did what any Fundy-ite does: took 'em to the beach. We had fun at "Red Rocks" just inside the entrance to Cape Chignecto Provincial Park in Advocate Harbour, NS: clambering up and over these smooth but abrupt rock formations.

If you want to be assured of taking photos that always look 100% perfect, there is no better subject than the contrast between sandstone boulders and blue sky. This is a photo of me "conquering" one of the higher ones - Terri on top of the world!!

"Not Since Moses" run across the ocean floor

Just when I thought I'd heard everything along comes a new, wildly zany yet oddly spiritual event: the first annual Not Since Moses run across the Bay of Fundy's ocean floor.

Happening this Saturday, July 7, in Five Islands, Nova Scotia, the aptly named Not Since Moses is reminiscent of Moses' biblical parting of the Red Sea. For awhile at low tide the ocean floor linking the islands to the coastal village is fully exposed (see photo). This, with proper planning and guidance by a local, is enabling a fully organized 10 k run and a 5 k walk. Yikes - don't ever try this on your own!!

Owner of one of the islands, Dick Lemon, is the originator and organizer of the event. Lemon, from California, purchased Long Island in 2003 to build Five Islands Retreat, a “restorative place for writers, musicians, artists and other interesting people.”

I chatted with Dick this week about the run. He's convinced the Not Since Moses will become a world famous running event and, after hearing more about it, so am I!

Netting the catch

As luck would have it, I timed my dog walk to the beach perfectly today to watch the weirmen netting their substantial haul from the weir. Once the fish are drawn in by the weir they are gathered by hand net, boxed and shipped immediately as much-desired bait for lobster traps.

Here's a closer photo of one of the weirmen scooping the herring and dropping them into the crates. As usual, the guys mused at my perennial fascination with this historic tradition yet kindly insured that I had a couple fresh herring in a grocery bag to take home for breakfast.

7 Wonders of Canada - Bay of Fundy makes shortlist!

Wow, heard yesterday that our beloved Bay of Fundy had made the shortlist of 50 possible Wonders of Canada. This friendly contest initiated by CBC received about 18,000 nominations from all across Canada! The big list was whittled down to 50 from which an eventual 7 will be chosen sometime in the next few weeks. I think this contest was a great way to raise awareness of some pretty amazing places and some quintessentially Canadian wonders like the Montreal bagel and the canoe!!

Visit the CBC website if you'd like to vote for your favourite 7 Canadian Wonders.

A whale on my lawn?

Great snow around the Bay of Fundy today. Had a bit of fun in my back yard sculpting this whale out of snow.

Very cool Fundy 3D map

OK this is really neat. While I was looking for Fundy maps I came across a really cool map on the Gulf of Maine Aquarium's website. It's an interactive, "pop up" style map that shows the depth and undersea topography of the Bay of Fundy within the Gulf of Maine watershed. It's clear that the Bay is part of the vast inland see known as the Gulf of Maine.

Also here's an excellent description about where the Bay of Fundy is located (nicely said by the folks at the Aquarium):

"Look as far eastward as you can on a map of America. Trace your finger along the coast, over Long Island, past Rhode Island, then slide along the edge of a neatly cupped body of water called the Gulf of Maine. Apparently open to the Atlantic, a discerning eye (and a bathymetric chart!) will note that the Gulf of Maine is a semi-enclosed sea, bordered on three sides by Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, and neatly boxed in on the east by two underwater banks. Though a part of the North Atlantic from the surface, the Gulf of Maine is really a sea nestled beside an ocean....

...traveling up the Maine coast, rocky headlands and granitic islands offer the drama and beauty many associate with the rugged Northeast. Farther east, in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the landscapes show the effect of the world's highest tides. In the Bay of Fundy, which separates Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the tide may rise by as much as 54 feet (17 m) in height. By contrast, tides in Boston Harbor will vary by just 9.5 feet (3 m) from high to low tide. At low tide an array of sandbars, vast mud flats, and even ancient forests drowned by the rise of the sea are exposed."

Hey I appreciate living here today even more than I did yesterday!

September 8 -- Fixed hyperlink.