DESTINATIONS: The South Shore — Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia
from Jan/Feb 1994 issue of Wave~Length
Scott Cunningham of Coastal Adventures, based in
Tangier, Nova Scotia, Canada has now produced the
second volume of his paddling route guide for Nova
Scotia covering The South Shore and the Bay of
Fundy.
The South Shore of Nova Scotia extends southwest
from Halifax around to Yarmouth where it gradually
blends into the Bay of Fundy. From headland to
headland it stretches a distance of about 325 km
but, as with the Eastern Shore, inclusion of all the
harbours and inlets would inflate this figure
several fold. This is a young submerged coastline,
highly irregular, with drowned estuaries and
headlands producing a largely indented coast,
fringed with islands. This feature, couple with
localized sediments has contributed to a large
number of habitats: sand and cobble beaches, mud
flats and salt marshes. The predominant feature,
however, is the rocky shore. The most remarkable
feature, of course, is the extreme tidal range of
the Bay of Fundy. The Bay is a funnel shaped tongue
of ocean separating Nova Scotia from New Brunswick
stretching over 200 km from its mouth in the Gulf of
Maine to its upper reaches. The special nature of
the Bay of Fundy follows from its extreme tides.
These range from about 20 feet at the entrance to a
record of 58 feet at Burntcoat Head, in the Minas
Basin.
The province’s South Shore has a great deal to offer
the coastal paddler. It is unspoiled, easily
accessible, and you can put in almost anywhere.
Camping on the islands isn’t a problem. Services
(gas stations, grocery stores, and accommodation)
are available in the numerous towns and villages,
and tourists are welcome. If the weather is poor you
can still find sheltered groups of islands for your
trip or head inland to Kejimekujik National Park. If
the weather is good, your options along the coast
are limitless.
(excerpted from the guidebook)
Coastal Paddling Routes in Nova Scotia: the South
Shore and the Bay of Fundy (8.5 x 11 fomat, cerlox
bound, 106 pages) is available from Scott
Cunningham, Coastal Adventures, PO Box 77, Tangier,
N.S. B0J 3H0 or calling (902) 772-2774.
DESTINATIONS: Doubtful Explorations — New Zealand
by Scott Melzer
from Jan/Feb 1994 issue of Wave~Length
Riding in the back seat of a double cab truck with
four kayaks on the roof and bouncing over the
roughest road in the world with snow falling all
around us, I wonder how I have gotten myself into
this mess.
My new fibreglass kayak is riding atop three plastic
boats above us on the roof rack. The driver who is
transporting us across the Wilmot Pass to Doubtful
Sound doesn’t give a damn about them and the ropes
are getting looser and looser. I finally demand that
he stop and let us adjust the ropes.
Getting out of the truck, I glance down through
falling snow to Doubtful Sound, 2200 feet below. All
doubt is banished as I see just pure beauty of the
most natural kind.
This is Fiordland National Park, the southwestern
part of New Zealand’s south island. Fiordland is one
of the most remote places in the world. This area is
impressive, with overpoweringly steep mountains and
narrow valleys. For the last million years this
region has been subjected to intense glaciation. The
present result is almost sheer vertical walls rising
from sea level to around 3000- 4000 feet.
This midwinter trip is a fact-finding mission.
Although we have heard that the weather is best at
this time of year, we expect little sun. Because the
sun at its highest point midday during the winter
solstice (late June) is only 21 degrees from the horizon,
and due to the height of the mountains and the
narrow valleys, at least half of Fiordland receives
no direct sunlight during winter.
Nevertheless, four of us are tempting the frost
monsters, and already, on our first day, we have
verified Fiordland’s reputation of quick changing
weather with wind, hail, sun and rain, making us
feel very small. We quickly learn why some of the
surrounding areas are called Refrigerator Valley and
Hurricane Passage.
Arriving at Deep Cove at the head of Doubtful Sound
the wind is so strong we can hardly stand. After
unloading the kayaks and gear we search for an
answer to our first problem. It is too windy to
paddle and there is nowhere to stay or camp in Deep
Cove. Camping in the Sound is generally difficult as
flat ground is rare.
We are lucky to hitch a ride onboard the Seaspray (a
cray fishing boat) that takes us out Doubtful Sound
towards Secretary Island where there is a forestry
hut we can stay in. We spend four days at the hut
with short kayak trips in between lightning,
thunder, gales and hail storms.
The weather finally clears and we set off to explore
some of the arms of the Sound where we meet up with
dolphins, seals, and many different types of birds.
On our last day, at the head of Crooked Arm, we
awake to the most wonderful morning of the trip. It
is clear and very cold with frost on everything
including our wetsuits, which require a bit of
courage to put on.
Packing up and heading back to Deep Cove, we
encounter a very unnerving occurrence. Doubtful
Sound gets around 300 inches of rain a year which
produces hundreds of beautiful waterfalls and 10 to
15 feet of fresh water on top of saltwater at the
heads of the arms. The combination of fresh water
(which is lighter and freezes at a lower temperature
than salt) and the flat calm have created a
continuous sheet of ice 2 mm thick, shore to shore,
and about 4 to 5 kilometres long. We have no choice
but to paddle through it. Although extra work is
needed, we encounter no real problems, just our
fears of what could have happen if the ice had been
any thicker.
All in all, our twelve day trip went relatively
smoothly. Given the remoteness and remarkable beauty
of the area I consider Fiordland National Park a
premier sea kayaking destination. I plan to return,
armed with the experience gained and knowing that no
amount of preplanning can take into account all of
mother nature’s little surprises.
For information about Fiordland National Park
contact: Scott Melzer, c/o Te Hoiere Sea Kayaks, Box
33, Havelock, Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand. Ph:
035742610. Fax: 035742333 Or the Department of
Conservation , PO Box 29, Te Anau, New Zealand.
Ph: 032497921
