Explore Saint John • Stonehammer Global Geopark | The Escapades of Pookie and Allan

Accommodation: Delta by Marriott Saint John

Yesterday, I forgot to mention – the guide at the Hopewell Rocks told us about the brown seaweed that we saw all around the sand. It has a substance called alginate which is in the brown bulbous segments of the seaweed, that is used as a thickening agent in foods. It is also used in pharmaceuticals to aid in acid reflux as well as for wound dressings, and it’s also used by dentists to make dental molds. But a new use has been discovered and is being tried.

Scientists are exploring alginate for help to contain oil spills in the oceans. It is natural and won’t harm the environment, and it seems to be able to repel oil, absorb it without water and solidify it for easy cleanup. It would be wonderful if it could be used to save the world’s waterways from disastrous oil spills that take such a toll on the wildlife and the marine life.

So now starting our day today…We embarked on a bus tour around St. John and took in the highlights of the historic district, the city area, and the piers where the container ships dock. It was into this port that explorer Samuel de Champlain sailed in 1604 –claiming it for France.

We passed where the Redrose tea company was started by Theodore Harding Estabrooks in the 1800’s. Mr. Estabrooks was the first to realize that making a cup of tea with loose tea leaves did not produce consistent cups of tea in both flavor and strength, so he invented the tea bag so that each cup of tea produced the same results because of the exact amount of tea leaves in each bag.

We stopped at Wolastoq park which means “the beautiful river” in the language of the Maliseet people who once lived here. The park features a collection of wooden statues of historical St John people. It was built in 2004 and overlooks Reversing Falls Rapids that we also visited.

The Reversing Falls is a series of rapids where the Bay of Fundy and the St. John river meet in a narrow gorge. 160 million tons of seawater at high tide, overpowers the river, pushing it backwards. 6 hours later, the phenomenon would be reversed. It is a sight to behold and is only one of two in the world (the other one is in Norway). We took photos of what it looked like in the morning, because we would be returning to the site in the afternoon to observe the difference.

Allan and I had lunch at one of the nearby restaurants, and then we met our group and we all boarded the bus. A local guide joined us and we went to the beach at Stonehammer, a UNESCO Global Geopark that incorporates more than 60 geological and fossil locales.

Our guide told us to walk the beach and find “wishing rocks” – a stone that features a single white unbroken line wrapping completely around the stone. Sometimes you can find stones with two or more circular lines. These stones are believed to grant wishes and once you find one, you go to the water’s edge, close your eyes, make a wish, and throw the stone into the water. I’m happy to say, all of us found wishing rocks. Let’s hope all of our wishes come true.

Then we went back to the Reverse Falls and we were amazed to see the current going opposite from what we saw this morning. An amazing phenomenon!!

We all went for dinner and Allan and I had salmon which was delicious.

Tomorrow will be a very early day!