Thursday, August 9, 2007

Saint John, New Brunswick

Today I toured Saint John, the city which has been my home-base since my arrival. I have been staying at a great place called the Homeport Inn. The Homeport was built in 1858 by a family of prominent ship builders and has an awesome view of the Bay of Fundy!

I spent the first part of my day at the New Brunswick Museum. This museum has a great marine and geoogy section. The display I found most impressive was that of the whales. Check out these pictures:

Whale Baleen
(The hair like structure that filters food from the water)

Skeleton of a Whale




Skull of a Whale

While at the museum, I also saw some really cool fossils. Here are some of my favorites:

Stenosaurus (Jurrasic Crocodile)



Fern Leaf

Trilobite
(This is not a fossil, just a model)

My day ended with a visit to the Reversing Falls. This is was an awesome tour where I learned why the Saint John River actually reverses its flow of water during high tide. My tour guide for this boat tour was a middle school teacher, so we had lots to talk about when it came to comparing schools!!

Check out the videos to the right labeled "Reversing Falls."

4 comments:

Jody said...

Hey Will, (Mr Rhodes)
It looks like you are having a great time. The pictures are very interesting! I bet you are having a wonderful experience. We can't wait for you to get back and tell us all about it. The students are going to enjoy hearing about this trip. Be safe and we'll see you soon.
Jody (Mrs. Rathke)

Mr. Rhodes said...

Hi Mrs. Rathke. I can't wait to get back either, but I have much more to see. On Sunday I am rafting on a tidal bore.(Well, I won't actuall be rafting, I will just be hanging on!!) It is a 10 foot wave of water that rushes into the rivers during high tide. I am sure it will be quite the experience!!!

Lucy Thompson said...

Hey Will,
Kyle and I read your blog today and he was wondering what it was like getting close to the whirlpools in a raft. What an amazing trip!

Mr. Rhodes said...

Hey Kyle and Lucy!!

The whirlpools were not too scary. However, if you fell out of the boat, you would be sucked right down into the water and not make it out. The only scary part was when one of the whirlpools formed right under our boat and started sucking the back of the boat down and water started to come in. The captain just revved the engine up and got out of the whirlpool and we were ok. However, I could really feel the power of the whirlpool...definitely would not want to be in a little small boat!!