As large as the image of Anne of Green Gables is in Charlottetown, L. M. Montgomery overshadows her in the “Green Gables National Historic Site.” It is an ample 19th century home surrounded by a substantial museum and grounds for hiking. When we visited on Monday it was congested by people of all ages and nationalities: young Asian families, Caucasian teenagers, mature Indian couples– the wide appeal of Anne of Green Gables is stunning. The museum does justice to her career as a children’s writer, but also as a newspaper correspondent, and writer of poetry and short fiction. 

Her portrait with her minister husband belongs to her later life, after most of the Anne books were published. He was not well for most of their marriage and predeceased her. Apparently they both share bouts of depression ( see above journal excerpt).

On Day Nine we entered Hopewell Rocks at Fundy National Park, heard a lecture on the origins of the rock formations, and then descended 99 steps to the ocean floor at low tide. At right the squarish formation with a rounded cavity is known as “the elephant.” Other formations, created by the erosion of sandstone by the action of the tides, include the “dinosaur,” various “flowerpots,” and an enormous version of E.T. High tide ranges from 35 to 48 feet, the highest in the world. The positioning of the moon and the sun and the force of the seas determine how high each tide reaches. The local record is 54 feet.

The tide visibly surges twice in 24 hours at the channel running through Moncton, Nova Scotia. When we stayed at the Rodd Moncton the night before, we were told we could observe the hide tide cresting as it came up the channel at approximately 2:45 a.m., so we had a dilemma. We decided to get out of bed at 2:30, since the channel was steps from our hotel door. There was partial streetlight shining on the channel when we staggered out to the observation platform. Sure enough, around 2:37 we could hear a rushing sound around the bend and presently a small breaker rounded the corner and crawled in our direction. The cresting foam was barely  high enough to notice, but it approached like a living thing let out of its confinement.  If there is such a feeling as “slightly awed,” I felt it. It rolled by our eyes and upstream into the night.