Hopewell Rocks

Last week we took a trip "over & across" (as the locals say) off the island to New Brunswick & Nova Scotia with PChad's sister & family. We went to Hopewell Rocks one morning & "walked on the ocean floor!" To get from the visitor centre to the beach, there's about a 15 minute walk, but the ticket agent kindly gave us all tram tickets since I was a bit handicapped in the walking department.

There are 99 steps from the top down to the ocean floor. This is a view from the top.

We walked around a bit.............

Some faster than others.........

The kids really enjoyed exploring all the tide pools & dodging the waves

I had no problem dodging the waves.

From where I was seated, most tourists had to pass by me, & I heard quite a few interesting conversations. One clearly American couple discussed quite loudly how this area wasn't so great & they didn't think they would get their money's worth out of their park fee since it's "not much different from the Oregon coast." I conceed that the beach might have a similar feel when the tide is out, but it's missing the large rock formations & the tides that can only be found at Hopewell Rocks.

I finally got tired of waiting for everyone to come back, so I left my not-so-comfortable rock, & I headed back up the stairs. I was greeted my many people, who all felt the need to comment on how difficult it must be to go back up those 99 stairs, but not one person offered to help.

Once I finally made it up to the top & had found a bench to lie across, the park personnel informed me that had I gone a little bit further down the path, I would have found a place to access the ocean floor with a mere 22 steps. While I did find that information interesting, I think it might have come in handy before I went down, & certainly more helpful had I been told before I started my ascent.

One benefit I have found is that at the end of this ordeal, it's quite possible that I will be the proud owner of some sweet rippling biceps!