Last day in Newfoundland

All going well, we will be sailing from Newfoundland back to Nova Scotia tomorrow, a 14 hour overnight sailing so we have reserved a berth and will get some sleep.  I say 'all going well' because high winds are forecast and that could cause a delay or cancellation.
After a hike to the lighthouse in Ferryland this morning, we drove around the southern parts of the Avalon Peninsula today and saw some interesting landscapes.  When we saw Avalon Protected Wilderness area on the map, we envisioned forested area. Instead, we discovered what looked like tundra, endless vistas of very low growing plants interspersed with small ponds and lakes.  Some of the lakes were just sitting 'on top of' the tundra with no noticeable depression to hold the water.  I think the land around the lakes was probably boggy barrens but am not sure.  Interesting to see.  The rest of the time, the coastal road went up over hills then down into coves, many with small fishing villages, so we were glad we weren't pulling the trailer over the steep up and downs.  Not much traffic on the roads and not much to see as it was cloudy and a little foggy at times today - some lovely seascapes that would have been stunning on a sunny day.
We are so glad we came to Newfoundland.  It has added a whole new dimension to our knowledge of Canada and one that everyone should experience.   It is like being in a different country, a beautiful, friendly place with a culture all its own.  Shon describes it as quiet and slow.

End of the road

This morning, we drove out to Cape Spear, the easternmost point in North America. That means all of our travels from now on will be part of our return journey.  It has taken us more than 12,000 km to reach this point, definitely more than the length of the Trans Canada Highway as we have travelled a meandering path.  It has been fun, educational and beautiful!  We live in a wonderful country and appreciate it more than when we left home.

End, or beginning, of the road in Canada

1836 - lighthouse at Cape Spear.  A newer one was built in the 1900s and has now been automated.  We toured this old one where the lightkeeper's house was built around the light tower.  That means each room has one convex wall.  Lightkeepers were well paid so it was a lovely house.

 

We arrived in St.John's last night and have worn out our knees and feet today - everything is up or down in this hilly city of 100,000+.  As well as hiking around Cape Spear, we visited Signal Hill this morning.

View of St. John's and its harbour from Signal Hill, where Marconi first sent a transatlantic radio signal.

 

  Tried to visit the Quidi Vidi brewery but their next tour was not until afternoon and we didn't want to wait - Quidi Vidi is a tiny, historic village on the outskirts of St. John, between a cove of the Atlantic and Quidi Vidi pond.  We then parked the truck back at the B&B and wandered the historic, steep streets of the older part of town. Much of the city burned in 1892 so there are many, many Victorian style row houses, all painted in bright colours (think Silver Star or San Francisco).  Here they are called 'jelly bean houses' and our B&B is in one of them - sloping walls in the room and dormer windows - very convenient to everything.

jelly bean row

The veiled virgin, face and veil were sculpted from a single piece of marble - amazing to see the illusion of depth created by the artist.

 

 We toured both the Anglican cathedral (mid-1800s but interior rebuilt after fire with very informative docent tour) and the Catholic basilica (mid 1800s) today but the highlight was seeing a 'veiled Madonna' sculpture in the Catholic convent, carved in the 1800s by an Italian from one piece of marble. Exquisite!!

We are resting our weary feet right now before walking down to George St, the place to go for entertainment in St.John's.  We will seek out a pub with traditional Newfie entertainment with our dinner and drinks - we may even get 'screeched in' (google that and see what it is all about!).  No screeching in but we had a delicious dinner at a brew pub (Yellowbelly), then listened to music at three different pubs.  The entertainer at the second one was a very talented young man who played the fiddle, the conertina, the guitar, the harmonica and sang beautifully, including Cohen's Hallelujah and French-Canadian traditional songs, very versatile and personable.  The third stop caught a Newfie folk music jam session with about 15 musicians playing fiddle, accordion, concertina, Irish drum and flute.  Great fun!

Yesterday, on our way to St. John's, we stopped at East Trinity to hike the Skerwink Trail, a coastal trail that hugs the edges of windy Skerwink Head.  Unfortunately, fog often hugs the area as well so we didn't get the full impact of the supposedly spectacular scenery.  What we saw was impressive, especially near the start of the trail when we thought the fog was lifting.  The wind on the cliffs was exhiliarating, and a little scary at times.  Same today on Signal Hill - loved the strong gusts of wind up there!  Photo upload just jammed again.

We are really hoping to catch our overnight ferry back to the mainland on Sat - Marine Atlantic is still juggling schedules due to one of their ferries being out of service.   If our boat is taken to the other route (as it will be tomorrow), it means we are stuck here on the island longer or we have to drive the 900 km back across Newfoundland to use the shorter ferry route back to Nova Scotia.  We strongly dislike either option so keep your fingers crossed for us!

Bonavista

Frustration again - I managed to upload two photos successfully then the system quit again. 
I will let you know if and when I am able to add the rest of the photos to this post - especially the puffins.

One day in the Bonavista area is not enough but we sure tried to see and do it all!!    As in many of our stops across Canada, culture, history and nature all competed for our attention so what you will read here is a random attempt to capture our thoughts throughout the day.

-          Scenery – the coastline here is very jagged with many small coves hiding between rugged headlands.  Any one of the coves may have a small fishing village or even just one house.  Offshore islands are either all rocks or have some soil and grass.  The latter make good seabird nesting sites.

-          When the landscape has few trees, power lines and poles seem to dominate the towns and barren lands. It can be a challenge to shoot a photo without power lines!   I should not say barren, as the low growing bushes produce many types of berries, all of which the locals use.  Our B&B breakfast table here  is resplendent with 44 types of jam!!!!!  Our hostess is creative with her combinations and choices.  We tried many varieties yesterday with a different taste on each bite of pancake.  We shall sample more this morning on her homemade bread toast.

-          Ryan Premises  National Historic Site is a collection of 5 old buildings here in Bonavista that were a hub for the cod industry here.  The Ryan family men were fish merchants – buying fish from the fisherman and running a retail store to sell the fisher families the necessities of life.  Money did not change hands; account books were kept.  As the fish merchants set the price for both the goods and the fish, the fishermen seldom came out ahead.  However, it was a system that worked for centuries because the merchants and the fishermen were reliant on one another.

-          Bonavista’s United Church is said to be the largest wooden building on the east coast.  It can seat 2200 people!

 

-          On a pebble beach, when a wave goes back out to sea, the water burbles over the pebbles like a babbling brook – a delightful sound.

-          The placement of houses seems very random in most NL towns – no town grids or planned subdivisions.  Houses are scattered at every angle so the streets are curved, angled, usually narrow – makes for an interesting town and many short streets.  Very hard to capture this on film unless there is a high point overlooking the town.

-          A small nearby town, Elliston, bills itself as the ‘root cellar capital’, with about 140 old root cellars.  As you drive through town, you notice them in random places.  Made me remember my great aunt and uncle’s root cellar in Winfield, BC – a source of fascination when I was young.

-          When we stopped for a quick lunch in Gander on Sunday, the Subway, McDonalds and Tim Hortons all had very long lineups (inside), so we ate at KFC.  The drive-through lines were also long and had double lanes leading up to a merge before the window.   No wonder we are noticing many overweight people here!  We have eaten fast food very seldom on this trip as we want local food. When we have the trailer (we didn’t bring it across to Newfoundland), we do our own cooking. 

-          Newfoundland food – a small tea room here in Bonavista makes everything from scratch and it is delicious so we ate there both nights.  The family’s grandma used to run a tearoom in the house many, many years ago so they decided to recreate it.  I had seafood chowder one night and cod au gratin last night – both excellent.  Shon had Fisherman’s Brewis the first night – we learned how it is made at Ryan Place yesterday – ‘hard bread’ is soaked overnight as is salted, dried cod then both are added to fried salt pork bits – no potatoes as I had thought before.  All ingredients can be kept without refrigeration so good for out on the boats.

-          Lighthouses were, and still are, important to life in Newfoundland.   The lightkeeper’s house was sometimes built around the circular lighthouse so each room had one convex wall – quite intriguing!

-          We walked on a boardwalk around a marshy pond last night at sunset.  Many locals out for a brisk evening walk as we tourists snapped photos by the dozens of the town in evening light.

-          The traditional Newfie house is called a ‘salt box’ house as it is shaped like the boxes that salt came in. Very utilitarian style.  In some areas, there are also houses with two or more gables but not exactly Cape Cod style.

-          Saving the best for last (breakfast is almost ready – will have to add photos tonight in St. John’s).  The highlight of our time here was watching the puffiins on their island colony.  They are soooo cute and there were hundreds of them, all waddling, hopping, flying and trying to keep the gulls from grabbing the fish they had caught.  VERY enjoyable!
 

Twillingate

We have found another little piece of paradise - Twillingate is a charming fishing village with lovely coastal walks/hikes (complete with blueberries and partridgeberries to nibble on), a delightfully funny dinner theatre group, a warm B&B with seven homemade jams from which to choose, and gorgeous seascapes around every corner.  Okay, I may have just described many towns in Newfoundland but Twillingate is where we spent the last two nights. We also thoroughly enjoyed a couple of hours at Prime Berth, a fishing/family museum, complete with a cod splitting lesson and talk with Captain Dave, the owner of the place, a retired teacher and fisherman from a family of many generations of fishermen.  Dave also has a sei whale skeleton on display, along with its baleen. He towed the whale home, let scavengers clean the bones for a couple of years then finished cleaning the rotting carcass and put the bones back together again. Yup, he was an interesting guy - poet and storyteller, too. The photo is of cod tongue (right) and cod cheek (left) - we haven't tried them yet but will let you know if we do.

partridgeberries along a coastal path

one of many little coves with a fishing village. This is Little Harbour, NL near Twillingate.

Today, we drove southeast and are now in Bonavista, which many of us know from the song, 'This Land is Your Land, This land is my land, from Bonavista to Vancouver Island.'  The song has more meaning for us now!  And we saw our first puffins today!!!!! They are just too cute!  Many have left the land for a winter at sea but at least we have seen some now.   Still no moose, even though we have now driven through the heart of Newfoundland and everyone we meet has seen at least one recently!  We are beginning to feel slighted by the multitude of Newfie moose.
Newfoundland food -

cod cakes with baked beans and molasses bread

 

 So far, we have enjoyed seafood chowder, fish and chips (here, cod is called fish and all other fish are called by their names), pea soup with dumplings, baked beans, cod cakes (cod and potato),  touton (like bannock) with molasses, molasses bread, Fisherman's Brewis (cod, onion, bread, fried salt pork all scrambled together like hash browns), partridgeberry (lingonberry) pie, fresh blueberies, bakeapple (cloudberry) jam, pumpkin jam (like marmalade) and stuffed salmon.  The salmon was part of a lovely home cooked meal we ate at Marie Mathews' in Rocky Harbour, a town in Gros Morne.  Marie was a neighbour when I was a young girl in Langley, BC.  The Mathews moved to Nfld in 1963 so it had been many years since I had seen Marie!!!

Shon near Twillingate

I was surprised and delighted to discover that I can once again load photos. I will try to find time in the next few days to go back and add some photos to the Gros Morne and Cape Breton files.  Our country is so beautiful that words alone cannot do it justice!

Western Newfoundland

Okay, all of you who told us that Newfoundland was the best province to visit just might have been right!  Great scenery, great music and friendly people all add up to a lovely place to visit.   It all started on the 6 hour ferry trip from North Sydney, NS to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland.  A duo played live music for most of the trip, some country, some traditional Celtic fiddle numbers, some Newfie ballads, some original numbers - along with jokes and banter that had us all in stitches. 

 The scenery in Gros Morne National Park was stunning beyond words - strange geology made it even more special.  For example, The Tablelands are high, flat mountains with nothing growing on them due to concentrations of heavy metals from the mantle of the Earth - ancient upheavals sent part of the mantle to the surface. 
oh, fiddlesticks, I still can't upload photos. Is anyone else having trouble uploading to their blogs this week??  I want to know if it just a glitch in my blog or is it the system?  We have so many awesome photos to share right now, too, from the NS and Nfld. C'est la vie.  To continue....

We took a 2 hour boat ride into Western Brook Pond, actually a large lake that used to be a fjord before changes cut it off from the ocean a LONG time ago.  Now it is a fresh water lake but lack of nutrients and its depth keep it from being biologically productive - it supports almost no life.  What makes it stunning are the 600-700 metre high cliffs which line its shores - new, breath-taking scenery around every curve along with some very steep waterfalls.  A misty fall near the far end of the lake had us guessing names like angel falls or bridal veil falls but, wait for it, it has the very Newfie type name of Pissing Mayor Falls.  The 3 km walk into the lake to catch the boat was a mix of treed limestone ridges and boardwalk covered bogs.  After the boat tour and the walk back to the truck, we stopped at an ocean beach, full of pebbles all smooth and rounded from eons of wave action and ate our lunch in sight of the scattered rusty remains of a 1919 ship wreck.  We rounded out the afternoon with a walk on a coastal trail, a visit to a lighthouse where a Parks Canada employee shared her life stories as one of the first female fishers in the province, a visit to a marine research plant where we enjoyed an informative tour about life in Bonne Bay in the park, and a drink on a pub deck overlooking Bonne Bay.  So much to see and do in the park, so little time!!!
Last night we went to a local pub in Norris Point, a small town in Gros Morne, and enjoyed some local singers at an open mike night. No traditional Newfie songs but some great covers of songs from the 60s and lots of Bob Marley, covered by young local musicians with lots of talent!  Chatting with fellow travellers gave us more ideas for the rest of the province.
There are up to 5000 moose in Gros Morne Park and we still haven't seen a moose on this cross Canada trip!!!!  Did see one small bear along the road today.
  Today was not a banner day - strange noises from our truck convinced us to skip our last planned stop in Gros Morne in favour of driving straight to Deer Lake, the closest town.  A mechanic was able to do a computer diagnostic test and tell us what was wrong but would have had to order the part.  Being Friday, that would have put us into next week.  We phoned back to Cornerbrook, 50 km out of our way, but they also did not have the part.  We phoned ahead to Grand Falls, 180 km east but on our planned route. The Dodge dealership had the part but said they had no time to install it until the second week of Sept!!!!!  We drove there anyway, through torrential rain but with a cooperative truck, and convinced them to squeeze us in today - one  hour and a few dollars later and we were on our way again.  Now we are in Twillingate and will explore this peninsula, or group of causeway and bridge connected islands, tomorrow - forecast is for sun (-:

Our night at the lighthouse

Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

For the second day in a row, photos are refusing to upload so this episode will be text only - too bad cuz we have some great photos to accompany this.  C'est la vie!

66 days into our trip and we are still having fun!  We pulled into Lower Bras D’Or tonight, will have an prep day tomorrow then catch the ferry to Newfoundland early on Tues.  Due to ferry mechanical problems, our reservation has been changed from 11:30 am to 7:30 so we have to be at the ferry docks by 5 am!!!

I see that we have been ‘out of touch’ since Aug 14^th.  Since then, we have explored part of Nova Scotia, mainly Cape Breton Island – great scenery of mountains and seascapes and lighthouses!  The highlight was a night of ‘free camping’ beside a lighthouse at Cape George.   Another family had the same idea so we weren’t all along up there above the sea with the wind howling but almost.  Lovely to wake up in the morning and look out at the sea – we both did some yoga before breakfast.  I could get used to that life – in the summertime! 

  Watching the light play on the ocean was delightful!    Before reaching the lighthouse, we had puttered around the old town of Pictou, established in the 1770s, then endured an incredibly heavy rainstorm – had to pull over and wait it out as we couldn’t see!  Had dinner beside our trailer on the wharf at Arisaig, a tiny town on the coast, then had an ice cream cone at the little concession in the lighthouse there before driving to Cape George.   The rain stopped and the sun fought through the clouds for some awesome scenes there.

Note to everyone – don’t dispose of plastics that can end up in the ocean!  At the Bluefin Tuna Interpretive Centre in Ballantyne’s Cove, we saw a large piece of plastic that had been found in the stomach of a 700 pound tuna. It would have killed him if he had not been caught by a fisherman first – either way, it was ‘death by human’.

We then spent some wonderful, and not so wonderful, time in Cape Breton Highlands National Park and drove the world renowned Cabot Trail.  Hard to believe it is rated as one of the top ten cycling trips in the world when you see how steep and narrow some parts of the road are through the park but it is a spectacular place!!   The first night howling wind and torrential rain kept us awake wondering if the trailer would be blown apart – we survived totally intact – and the sun came out the next day so we could enjoy the scenery on the drive.  In 2004, rain and fog obscured the views so we were happy to see them this time!  We hiked a few of the shorter trails in the park and stopped at some of the ‘lookover’ to enjoy the views.  On a bog walk, we saw pitcher plants for the first time – carnivorous plants that ‘eat’ insects.  Walked into MacIntosh Falls along MacIntosh brook, named after an early settler in the area – sunlight playing on a babbling brook was a highlight of that walk. 

We were met at our campsite that night by a curious chipmunk and half a dozen vocal blue jays (not our Stellar jays from BC).    The next day, we walked more trails, stopped at more lookovers and enjoyed meeting the locals at Neil’s Harbour, a small community of maybe 500 whose festival had called everyone ‘home’.  It was like being at 10 or 12 family reunions at once – everyone greeting everyone with hugs and tears and ‘my, how you have grown’ comments.  Fun!  We had a drink, enjoyed people watching, chatted with a few ‘naitives’  and listened to the homegrown Celtic music talent.    That night, after dinner at the campground, we drove to the Keltic Lodge, a beautiful old place on the water, and listened to more local talent over a drink in their lounge – a place where the wealthy stay and play! 

We are excited about heading to Newfoundland and hope that it is as good as everyone says it is- the absolute best place to visit.  More next time!

Prince Edward Island

We love this province!!!!  Everyone should visit here at least once in their life!  We would love to return and do a cycling holiday here - who wants to join us??  There are under 150,000 people in the whole province so it never seems crowded.

Our top ten of PEI in no particular order of preference:
1. The coastal scenery - lighthouses and red soil cliffs and sand dunes and long sandy beaches.  Each coastal community has its lovely little marina filled with fishing boats and stacks of lobster traps.

PEI National Park

North Rustico, PEI

2. Inland scenery - rolling hills with green forests and fields of corn, wheat, potatoes (PEI 'd claim to fame) and hay (with large round bales dotting the fields), host to neatly painted houses and old barns.  Each community has its lovely picturesque church, usually white with black trim.

potato barn - low and some are partly underground for cold storage in summer and protection in winter.

Cynthia and Lester Stubbert - lots of toe tapping!

3. Ceilidhs - Celtic music concerts, often held in small community halls or churches, with great fiddle music, singing and step dancing.  We went to one in Brackley Beach community hall (thanks, June and Brian), featuring a dynamo named Cynthia MacLeod who literally bounced in her chair as she played the fiddle. 
4. Lobster - tried a lobster roll for the first time. What a taste treat - a bun filled with lobster, a little mayo and chopped spinach.  Yum!  Tonight a 'lobster dinner', a Maritime Canadian tradition with lobster plus all you can eat seafood chowder, salad, mussels and desssert.  Double yum!

lobster

roll and PEI potato salad - a taste treat!

5. Friendly people - both Islanders and those 'from away'.  Tonight, we met a couple in line for the lobster dinner and they invited us to join them at dinner.  Lovely retired principal and special education teacher from just outside Toronto.  Also, the campground owners are wonderfully friendly ad helpful as well as people we have met on fishing docks, in restaurants and

6. A special mention to an extra friendly islander who is from away - we stopped to buy veggies from a farmhouse and ended up chatting with the lady for a long time about PEI, what is great about it and how it could be better.  She and her husband moved from Ontario to PEI a few years ago to escape stress and grow veggies plus sunflowers for seed sales.  Could have chatted all day!

7. A swim in the Gulf of St. Lawrence st Brackley Beach, part of PEI National Park - warm water, a long sandy beach backed by sand dunes.  Busy beach!
8. North Cape - the north western tip of PEI with its lighthouse, red cliffs and rocks plus a wind farm with different types of windmills for research.  Waves from Northumberland Strait meet waves from Gulf of St. Lawrence.

9. Chatting with lobster fishermen on the opening day of the season as they loaded up their traps to put them out at sea. Shon chatted with the fisheries officer then the brother of one of the boat owners and learned lots about lobster fishing - how to bait a trap, how many traps are allowed, how the traps work, etc.
10. Antique and artisan shops that dot the highways and byways of the island.  Fun to browse but we can't buy everything!!!
If there is a God of cyberspace, thanks for saving this entry when I thought it was lost!!!  Last photo is in another entry because this disappeared from my screen!

don't know where the rest of my 45 minutes of text and photos have gone but hope they are in cyber space somewhere and will load onto the blog!  ARGHHHH!  This is the scene loading lobster traps for the first day of the lobster season on the Northumberland Strait between PEI and New Brunswick.

Kouchibouguac National Park

I love being in national parks away from the roads and the cities!   When we were here in 2005, it rained.  The forecast was for rain all weekend now, too, but so far it has held off.  We went for a 20 km bike ride on the park's trails this morning, had showers and lunch then rode our bikes to Kelly's beach where there is a long boardwalk through the wetlands to the ocean beach.  Just lovely!!  Not warm enough to put on our suits and go for a swim; only kids in the water today. We picked some wild blueberries for our cereal tomorrow morning - wonderful little bursts of flavour.  Also caught a little talk by a naturalist about moon snails - interesting little creatures!   It is now very humid but a soft breeze is easing the effects of the humidity. 

Good news - ten days after losing the binoculars and shopping unsuccessfully for new ones, Shon remembered that his old binocs were under the seat in the truck.  Silly that neither of us thought of that earlier but it solves the problem of trying to share when we are birdwatching.
Trying to reach Kouchibouguac from Miramichi posed another problem yesterday as there had been a fatal car crash on the highway between the two locations.  We were re-routed 30 km south then north again to get around the accident scene, which was going to be closed for several hours. Unfortunately, the secondary road was very bumpy so the 60 km took us well over an hour to traverse.  Oh, well, the late dinner tasted extra good when we finally got set up and cooked it.
I think we will spend one more day in New Brunswick then cross over to PEI for two or three days before heading to Cape Breton Island in NS.  We will travel the Cabot Trail there before catching the ferry to Newfoundland on the 21st.

rain!

We were getting a little too cocky about our good weather but have been brought down to earth now.  We just spent a very wet hour birdwatching in a wetland just north of Miramichi, NB.  Enjoyed the herons, plovers, yellowlegs and sandpipers through the raindrops and wind, then made grilled cheese sandwiches in the trailer. Now we are trying to decide where to head next.  Had hoped for a couple of sunny camping days in Kouchibouguac National Park but, just like in 2005 when we were last in this area, the weather is putting a damper on plans to cycle and canoe in the beautiful park.
Spent most of yesterday at the Acadian Village near Caraquet.  The Acadian, proud descendents of the French who refused to swear allegiance to the British flag, celebrate their 'national' day on Aug 15th so many  houses around here are decorated for the occasion with their own form of blue, red and white flag with yellow star.

One of the more decorated Acadian yards

 The historic village was very interesting and covered the style of houses and ways of making a living from 1750 to 1950.

spinning flax into linen. Each house or business featured a skill used in days of yore so we learned about both wooland flax; carding, spinning and weaving on a loom; tinsmithing, salting cod; cooking over a fire; using a printing press; cobbling shoes; etc

This morning we went to a local museum in Tracadie-Sheila to watch a film and see displays on a part of Canadian history about which we had not heard.  The town was the site of the only place for lepers in Canada - at first a colony secluded from all of society with no treatment then, slowly over the year, a hospital facility run by nuns where many lepers from across Canada lived out their lives.  Some lived with the disease for more than 30 years.  The facility closed when the last of them died in 1965.  Leprosy appeared in this area due to the community accepting and helping two sick Norwegian sailors in the mid 1700s, only to contract and spread the disease among the Acadians here. Only now are residents finally disclosing that they had relatives with leprosy.  A very interesting, and sad, part of our history. 

Some days, this trip is all about the scenery, some days about the culture.  Who knows what we will find around the next corner!!

We have now crossed into New Brunswick and a new time zone.  Passed many cyclists today along Hwy 132 on the south coast of Gaspe - part of an annual Velo Quebec company's guided week long tour of, get this, 1600 cyclists!!!!  They ride anywhere from 600-900 km in the week according to one Vancouver participant who spoke to us at a rest stop.  Shon was envious of their holiday!

And now I shall try for the third time to add some recent photos.  I loved Quebec, particularly the Gaspe peninsula so hope we can share it with you visually.

At the top of the Mt. St. Albans lookout in Forillon National Park after an hour of uphill trails.  The banks of marine fog swirled below so sometimes we had a 360 degree view and minutes later we only had a 180 view.  Spectacular nonetheless!  This view is northeast to Cap Gaspe

manmade (beside) and natural (rock below) sculptures during evening walk on beach at Forillon along Gulf of St. Lawrence.

(photo of beach above)Looking northwest back to the lighthouse on Cap des Rosiers.  Our campground in forillon was on the green flats in the foreground. Taken with telephoto from the observation tower.

 (oops, missed the photo of the campground)

Our first glimpse of Perce Rock, the village of Perce and Ile Bonaventure in the background.

Perce Rock from our tour boat

Being up close and personal with this Northern Gannet colony on Ile Bonaventure is definitely a highlight of our trip so far.  It was amazing to watch life (and death) in the colony.  Only 40% of the young survive their first year of life.

And here is one young one who looks like he has a good chance at life.

Loved the blue eyes, creamy head, white body and black pin striping - quite a striking bird!

Tomorrow we shall head to Caraquet and the Acadian Village there for a look at life for the French speaking Acadians a couple of hundred years ago.  New Brunswick is our only truly bilingual province as most people switch easily from French to English on a daily basis. 

photos for Gaspe post

the ramp was originally for cows.  We were surprised to find an old airplane hanging from the ceiling - didn't ask if it was for sale; too big for the trailer.

Parc du Bic - one pair of binoculars lost here!

Pointe au Pere sunset

Pointe au Pere lighthouse, one of many we have seen and we will see many more in the Maritimes. This one has the distinction of being one of the tallest.

One of many dinner (and lunch) stops on this trip.  In Quebec, each little town has a village relais, a rest area with picnic tables and (usually) bathrooms. This one, in Cap Chat, also had an ice cream stand and a petanque court (like bocce only uses metal balls)

the computer won't let me load more so will try again later - the best is yet to come!

Gaspe Peninsula

As I sit at a picnic table to write this, I can see Perce Rock in the evening light.  More on it later.  First, I will say we have put on more than 8000 km so far this trip - obviously not in a straight line or we would be further east than we now are!  The truck has been very comfortable for driving, although most days we do not cover very many kilometres.  It has held up well - a new battery in Toronto.  The trailer has felt a few bumps - shelf holders have broken so Shon has rigged them to hold the shelves again, a valance ripped out of the wall - not needed.  Overall, we are pleased with both the truck and trailer - oops, I probably just jinxed our trip so will retract that statement!

The weather gods have been good to us, too.  Most days have been sunny. Lots of humidity lately and the Gaspe Peninsula has been very windy.  A couple of nights the wind has howled loudly and the trailer has rocked and groaned against its force.  No damage except for lack of sleep.

We have been eating well - many bbqs and Shon does a great job of barbecuing!  Many salads and fresh veggies, especially earlier in QB where we saw lots of fruit and veggie stands.  Now we are in seafood country so had cod last night and shrimp tonight.  Yesterday, we went out for lunch in the town of Gaspe and had wraps with shrimp, mango, avocado, onion and tomato - superb!!

We are still surrounded by Francophones but are noticing more bilingual people here than on the  north shore of the Gaspe Peninsula.  I will miss hearing French when we return to English Canada!

Many (most) of the farms along the St. Lawrence are linear with small river frontages. This is a result of the original seigneurial system where the seigneur gave his tenant farmers linear farms with access to the water (when it was the sole transportation method) then collected tithes (taxes) in the form of grains or cereals or other crops.  The agricultural landscape here looks much different than the square sections in the prairie provinces.  Another observation from rural Quebec is the many tidy, massive stacks of firewood beside many of the houses - must be chilly here in the winter!

Now to recount what we have done and what we have seen lately.  After leaving Tadoussac area, we took the ferry from St. Simeon to Riviere du Loup (the south shore of St. Lawrence).  We stopped at a huge antiques barn in Cacouna and, like in Battleford, Sask, Shon was surprised to see an apple box from a Vernon/Kelowna packing house.  The barn itself held my interest as we had seen many of these old barns along the way, most still in operation with a grassy ramp for the cows to walk up into the barn.

Our first scenic park stop in the  Lower St. Lawrence area was in Park du Bic, a beautiful provincial park .  We stopped there for dinner by our trailer and a short walk along the shore of a bay.  We then decided to drive until we got tired and ended up driving in to see the Pointe au Pere lighthouse - and lucked into an empty grass parking lot with many other RVs set up for a night of free camping. Second bit of luck was a stunning sunset - talking to a pro photographer capturing it, he said that National Geographic had named the spot as one of the best in the world for sunsets. Our photos probably don't rival his but you can get the idea.  Our luck then ran out as we realized Shon had left his binoculars in the men's room at Park du Bic.  We phoned, with the photographer's help to decipher the phone choices, but they had not been turned in - now we are sharing binocs!

The next  morning, upon someone's recommendation, we stopped in the tiny seaside town of Sainte-Luce - a lovely 1800s church, a seaside graveyard and a seaside promenade lined with sculptures all added to its charm.  That night we were at St. Pierre on the north coast of Gaspe Penin. and enjoyed another wonderful sunset as well as the town's fireworks display for whatever the Quebecois celebrate when we have BC Day. Whatever it was, we loved the fireworks across a small bay.   I also chatted with a Nanaimo couple doing the same trip as we are - left home 3 days before we did, following the same route.

I fell in love with Forillon National Park at the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula - a 'real' campground (wooded, private spots), incredible seascape views, history and all!  It was first settled by cod fishermen, many from Jersey.  The salted, dried cod from there was prized in Europe, especially Italy and Spain. The lower quality stuff was shipped to the West Indies as food for the slaves there.  The restored 1880s homestead in Forillon taught me a lot about how the fishing/farming families lived - and how the storekeeper kept them in debt to him by extending credit that they couldn't repay unless they had an exceptional year!  We enjoyed a windy, chilly evening walk on the rocky beach near our campsite - intriguing natural sculptures in the rock formations, some sticking up through the sand, were mixed in with creative human sculptures of driftwood, seaweed, shells and stones.  The next morning, starting in the rain and ending in the steaming sunshine, we hiked 1.8 km up, up, up to an observation tower for 360 degree views of the park and surrounding area.  Amazing!!!  Back down at Cap Bon Ami (actually from an English fisherman named Bonamy, not 'good friend' in French!), we spotted a cormorant nesting colony on the cliffs and seals in the ocean (I know it is the Gulf of St. Lawrence but it is so mcuh like an ocean here).  A warm, sticky day - I had a shower before and after the hike!!!

And now we are in Perce, the small tourist town which is famous for Perce Rock, a gigantic rock just offshore.  A little further out, Ile Bonaventure (an island for all anglophones) is home to the largest Northern Gannet colony in North America. Over 100,000 of the birds nest on the island as well as two types of gulls, kittiwakes, black guillemots (with delightful red legs and feet), a few puffins, razorbills, common murres and two types of cormorant.  We took a boat cruise today which toured us around Perce Rock then around the island so we could see the colonies (and some seals) from the sea before disembarking on the island. About 35 cod fishing families colonized the island originally but it is now a provincial park.  We hiked across the island (more up and down) to see the gannet colony - the viewing area is just a couple of metres from the birds so we got to smell, hear and see them (and millions of pesky flies) close up. They are beautiful with their piercing blue eyes, creamy yellow head, long necks and white bodies with black wing tips.  They dance their 'couple dance' every time one adult returns from fishing - a delight of nature for sure!  We also saw their fluffy white chicks who have ugly black beaks which they stick right down their parent's throat to eat the fish slush that the parent regurgitates for them.  Sadly, we also saw many dead chicks - only 40 % survive the first year and many don't even make it to the point where they are ready to migrate when the colony leaves. 

After our boat tour, we browsed the town and ended up for happy hour on the outside deck of a bar.  Both yesterday and today, they had live entertainment - toe-tapping French Canadian folk music.  A nice way to end the afternoon before coming back here for laundry, dinner and the evening.

Now, how about emails from all of you reading this so we can catch up on your summers!

Whale watching

The small town of Tadoussac at the mouth of the Saguenay River, where it empties into the St. Lawrence river, is known for whale watching because the water is stirred up and an excellent source of krill, the tiny shrimp which baleen whales love to eat.  Therefore, there are 4 or 5 companies offering whale watching tours. We took a 3 hour Zodiac tour as opposed to a large boat tour - it was a cold, foggy morning and very chilly on the St. Lawrence in spite of long pants and hoodies under the long rain pants and survival coats that they supplied. 

Still, once the fog cleared a little and we saw the whales, all discomfort was forgotten!  We spotted a beluga at some distance then a group of 3 humpback whales which we saw numerous times as they dove then surfaced.  The humpback shows its tail flukes as it dives - hard to capture on camera but Shon got one or two. 
The third hour, our guide took us up the Saguenay a short ways, not as far as the towering walls of the fjord but far enough to watch some gray seals sunning themselves on rocks and a minke whale feeding in the deep waters. 
After lunch and a thunderstorm, we drove to a couple of lookouts where whale watching is also possible.  At the first, we saw a mama and baby beluga and at the second, we spotted porpoises and a fin whale.  The interpretation centres at both places (in old lighthouses) had panels showing what each type of whale looks like as it rises from the deep.  Although blue whales do live in this area, we did not see one - they are not as commonly spotted.
Beyond the whales, this area is beautiful for its scenery - Canadian Shield forests and blue lakes in the interior between towns plus gorgeous coastal scenes along the way and in the towns, even an area with sand dunes left by glaciation. 
Another observation yesterday was the wide variation in temperatures in the area - 29 C and hot away from the water and about 18 near the water with a cool breeze and moving banks of marine fog all day.  It is necessary to take a short, free ferry across the Saguenay from Baie Ste. Catherine (where we camped) to Tadoussac - in the shade on the ferry it was cool, in the sun it was HOT,  unless you got in a breezy spot then it was cool and hot at the same time!
Today we will take a ferry across the St. Lawrence and head east on the south shore, towards Gaspe.

 It looks like photos will load from this campground. We are now across the Saguenay River from Tadoussac, the whale watching mecca along the St. Lawrence.  What will we do tomorrow?  Take a zodiac whale watching cruise and hope to see beluga, blue, fin or minke whales or perhaps dolphins and seals. 
This first photo is of the interior of the Notre Dame du Cap cathedral (or is it a basilica)near Trois Rivieres. As I understand it, the difference between a cathedral and a basilica is a Pope has visited a basilica.  Today we visited Ste Anne de Beaupre basilica just east of Quebec City - no photos downloaded yet but it was a beautiful building.  A mass was just starting while we were there and the soloist filled the building with sound - great acoustics!

view from our campsite just west of Quebec city.  The old barns in Quebec are beautiful - think of you often, June, and your love of old barns!  There are so many styles and colours and materials!!

Shon by the Chutes Montmorency.  The spray from the falls was very welcome before climbing the stairs back up to the walkway at the top of the photo!!!

A minor gate in the fortification walls of Quebec City.  The major gates which everyone sees allow anyone to go through.  When they were closed, these minor gates, called posterns, were used. Their curved paths did not allow anyone to shoot through the gates.

Looking down on la Basse-Ville, the older lower part of Vieux Quebec, the part first settled by Samuel de Champlain in 1608. 

St. Alexander's Pub on rue St. Jean in Vieux Quebec (the walled part of the city) has over 200 beer from which to choose.  Quite the dilemna!  Shon chose a local beer.

Full moon (?) over Vieux Queb

ec last night as we watched The Image Mill, a sound and light show projected onto about 65 grain elevators in the old port.  We were shocked earlier in the trip to learn that many of the grain elevators in Thunder Bay are no longer operational as trains now transport much of the grain directly to ships on the St. Lawrence River, by-passing the shipping routes through the Great Lakes.

 

A wine-tasting stop during our cycling tour of Ile D'Orleans. Note the Chutes Montmorency in the background, across the St. Lawrence River.

from Ile d'Orleans, Mont Ste. Anne ski hill runs, taken from the truck as we drove the rest of the island after our bike ride.

Wish us luck on our whale watching tour - hope to have some whale photos in the next post - but don't hold your breath as there are no guarantees with wildlife (-:

Loving Quebec!

It is hard to find time to write on this blog - too much to see and do or we are not near wifi.  We are leaving Quebec City this morning so I vowed last night to use the wifi here at the campsite before we hit the road.  We plan to travel on the north shore of the St. Lawrence as far as Tadoussac then think about crossing to the south shore to tour around the Gaspe Peninsula. 

Shon has commented that we are doing this trip backwards as we started in BC with the most recent history of the country and are working our way backwards.  Settlement started over 400 years ago here in Quebec - much older than BC's oldest white settlement!  The second reason he made that comment is that more than once we have viewed museum exhibits or information plaques back to front, starting at the most recent history(-:

In Trois Rivieres, we followed a walking tour of their historic buildings, a fairly concentrated section of town as most of the town burned down in 1908.  From there, we drove east to Quebec along the Chemin du Roy, the first road in the country.  It is now a scenic minor highway along the St. Lawrence and probably my favourite drive so far on our trip.  There were so many quaint older villages interspersed among farmland and many fruit and veggie stands - we are enjoying the fresh berries, corn, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, etc.  The houses and yards along the route (and everywhere so far in Quebec) are carefully tended with colourful trim on the houses.  Many are old, steep roofed houses made of stone - just lovely with gorgeous flowers in the yard.  One delightful find was an art show in the church yard in the little town of Champlain - many tents with artists painting or sculpting or wood carving as well as displaying their creative works.  Across the street was a tent of artisans with food and crafts for sale - we sampled wine, beer, maple products and bought some wine and maple syrup.  All of this was enjoyed with the backdrop of the historic buildings and the river.

Due to our meanderings along the Chemin du Roy and frequent stops, it took us two days to reach Quebec City.  We have now been here 2 1/2 days - one full day in Vieux Quebec, the walled, historic part of the city where we explored historic churches and buildings, climbed stairs and steep streets, had a drink at the Chateau Frontenac, ate poutine and crepes, and 'people watched' when our feet needed a rest.  The first day we went to the Chutes Montmorency (a large waterfall) where we walked across the top of the falls on a walkway then climbed down 472 steps to feel the spray at the bottom of the falls - what goes down must come up so we then hiked back up in the midday, humid sun!!  Worth it though (I think?).

What goes down must come up became a theme of our time yesterday on Ile d'Orleans, a beautiful, pastoral island near Quebec City with many artisans, wineries, roadside fruit stands, etc.  We cycled around part of the island, supposedly a 20 km route with a few short climbs and some lovely downhill stretches but, ooops, we missed the turn to cross the island back to our starting point and coasted down a fairly long hill with an 8% grade - we were not amused when we realized we had to bike back up the hill to find our proper route - also on a hot, humid day!!!  We enjoyed the rest of the island from the air conditioned comfort of our truck and the pool here at the campground felt heavenly upon our return!  After a swim and showers, we drove into town last night for a lovely dinner (mostly we eat at 'home') then watched The Image Mill, an after-dark light and sound show projected onto the side of about 65 grain elevators in the old port area - very cleverly done.

We are still enjoying our exploration of Canada and trailer life is working out well.  Maybe I shouldn't ask Shon that right now as he is hooking up the trailer and doing all the work while I update this blog (-:
I am having trouble adding photos with the weak connection here so will publish this now and add some when we are in a more favourable location.