Tim and Anita's Adventures
803 August 14, 2022 Tracadie
It began to rain during the night and it rained all day. We drove the short distance to the town of Tracadie. It was too wet to do anything outside. We got a few groceries and I took clothes to the laundromat. It was the first washout day of our summer trip.
Finally, after dinner, the rain stopped. We took the Jeep to Tracadie Beach. We walked a couple of miles as the sky grew increasingly ominous. Just as we got back to the RV, the rain began again.
802 August 13, 2022 Miscou Island
I took a walk this morning in Grande-Anse but the highlights of my walk were a phone conversation with mom and a FaceTime call with David and his boys.
Just a couple of pictures this morning.
The visitor center has a picnic area deisigned as a lobster trap. Lobster is really a big deal here!
We traveled today another 60 miles east to Miscou Island. It was a pretty drive through forest, along the coast, and through small villages. We stopped to walk at a park in Shappagan.
These boats are in drydock. The lobster and crab seasons are finished for this year.
Once we had set up camp, we took the Jeep and went for a ride to see Miscou Island. We walked the boardwalk through the peat bog. This was really interesting to me. I first of all did not know that peat is harvested. It is used primarily for potting soils but also as a fuel for cooking and heating. This bog is protected. Bogs occur in depressions in the surface of the earth. They fill with rainwater. They are particularly acidic and only certain plants will thrive here.
Because carnivorous plants get most of their nutrition from insects, they have adapted to live in bogs where the nutrients are otherwise very poor. These pitcher plants are currently in bloom…so very cool!
We drove further to the end of pavement. Here we saw the lighthouse.
We walked a mile on the beach and then sat for a while on a log before heading back. There were very few other people and most of the time, we had the beach to ourselves.
This evening, we went to dinner at Resto la Terrasse a Steve. We shared stuffed oysters and steamed mussels and lobster casserole.
I walked to the beach. I had read that the Acadian Isles have the warmest salt water north of Virginia…I had to try…the water was COLD!!
Another good day of exploring and learning and seeing new things!
Where in the world are we?!?
801 August 12, 2022 Grande-Anse
Another glorious morning for a walk along the Esplanade.
We traveled about 100 miles east along the Restigouche River all the way to the Chaleur Bay. Grande-Anse is the gateway to the Acadian Coast. This area is rich with Acadian history. In the 1600’s, peasants were recruited from the west central part of France to colonize Canada. The people settled in the Canadian Maritime provinces. In 1745, the British threatened to expel the Acadians unless they swore allegiance to England. The Acadians fought to keep their land and their ancestors live here in this region today. These people are related to the Cajun people in Louisiana. This culture has a distinct dialect and Acadians are very proud of their heritage. August 15th is National Acadian Day. Houses are decorated with red, white, and blue flags with yellow stars. Some houses have lots and lots of decorations!!
Our campsite is right on the bay.
We rode our bikes into the small town this afternoon; past the church and to the harbor.
Lots of local art!
The visitor center had maps and other information about activities along the coast.
This evening we went back to the harbor and tried the local flavors. We ate lobster rolls at the Cantine dus Quai. Several local people were playing guitars and singing by the restaurant. Everyone was happy and having fun.
This little boy found a mud puddle.
We drove aimlessly for awhile after dinner. We found a nice park and got out to walk.
800 August 11, 2022 Campbellton
What a lovely walk along the Esplanade this morning!
The skies were grey and the forecast was for rain all day. We did some errands and chores…waiting for the rain. We went to the first Walmart we have seen in a couple of weeks and stocked up on all the important stuff.
Tim did some cycling this afternoon while I cleaned.
At dinnertime, it still had not rained. We decided to take our meal and find a spot by the water to eat. With the first bite of food came the thunder. We could see lightning over the Appalachian Mountains. We ate quickly and packed up. Just as we arrived back at the RV, big splats began to fall!
The skies cleared and this was as much sunshine as we saw all day!
799 August 10, 2022 Goodbye Gaspe
A short and easy walk around the campground to begin the day and then we traveled along the coast. As we finish our tour of the Gaspesie, we marvel at all we have seen and learned.
As we cross the bridge over the Chaleur Bay, we don’t yet know which way to go…east or west or south…so many choices and opportunities to visit places that we have never been before. So very fortunate and grateful for the freedom to choose.
We are staying at the loveliest campground of our trip. We settled and then took our bikes on the Esplanade from the park into the town of Campbellton.
Very cool educational and historical exhibits in the community building at the campground.
This evening we returned to town and went to the Night Market. There were all kinds of vendors. There was one stand cooking chicken and burgers. They were asking for donations to feed the hungry.
Balloon rides…2 feet off the ground and back down again!
We went then to the restaurant at the campground, Krave Kitchen. We had burgers and salads that were surprisingly delicious!
798 August 9, 2022 Hopetown
The morning was overcast, cold, and rainy. It cleared enough that I took a short walk. I walked the path from the RV to the lighthouse.
I walked to the overlook and took one last picture of the rock.
I knew there was a 100% chance of rain and so I did a couple of loops around the campground and then quit. After walking more than 25,000 steps yesterday…my legs were tired!
We drove today to Hopetown. This is the Chaleur Bay Region. Although we passed a few fishing villages and lots of farms, it was my observation that this part of the coast was newer and had more modern stores and homes.
We had a quiet day. We did go into town, searching for a few things we have been unable to find.
We stopped at a seafood market. Most of the lobsters in the tank were normal sized but these two were ginormous. The one had a claw the size of Tim’s hand.
This evening, we walked down to the water.
Tomorrow we will complete our journey around the Gaspe Peninsula.
797 August 8, 2022 Bonaventure Island
I began the day with an easy walk through the town.
While I was out, I purchased tickets for the ferry. When we hiked the other day to Land’s End, we met a gentleman from Nova Scotia. He had just been through Perce and he told us that we had to take the ferry ride to the island to see the birds.
We got to the wharf and stood in line with hundreds of others also waiting to board. We departed and the boat took us around Perce Rock. It really is impressive to see it close-up!
Three Sisters.
The captain then steered us around Bonaventure Island. This bird sanctuary is the summer nesting place for northern gannets. These are the diving birds I have been watching. There are an estimated 150,000 gannets here right now. They arrived in April, returning to the exact place where they nested last year. Each pair hatches one egg. The chicks are white fluffy things! Each bird eats 1 pound of fish each day. The chicks get so fat that they cannot fly and do not take to the skies until September.
We saw the birds soaring overhead, catching wind currents and sitting on the ledges and depressions in the cliffs. They looked like frosting drizzled on a cake.
We could see seals bobbing in the water.
Once we arrived on the island, we hiked across on the Colonies Trail. Each morning, when Tim and I walk out into the world, we have no idea what we will see.Â
I was totally unprepared for what greeted us. First there was the smell…it smelled like birds that eat fish. Then, there was the noise; a loud, raucous chorus of squawking. Then, there were the birds…thousands of birds. There were many coming in to land, flying low and carrying what looked like bunches of seaweed. They whizzed overhead. They have a wingspan of 3-4 feet and they are incredible to see.
This reminded me of college kids on spring break…the chaos, the multitude of them, on the beach!
I could have stood there all day…it was amazing and an experience I will never forget.
We decided to take the longer hike back to the ferry. This trail skirted the edge of the island giving us lots of opportunity to see other bunches of gannets and more seals and the beautiful coastline.
A guy hiking in front of us spotted this fox in the weeds.
There was a bunch of feathers on the path not far from that fox…
The last part of the hike was past houses…years ago, people lived on this island and subsisted on cod fishing and had small farms and grew vegetables here. In 1971 when this became a national park, the Canadian government evicted the 35 families living here.
We stopped for a snack…I had packed boiled eggs…which might have been in poor taste!
We had hiked about 5 miles and we were happy to arrive at the snack bar where we snagged a powerade and a date bar.
We met another couple as we were hiking and then met them again while we waited for the boat. They were from Montreal. They wanted to know if we were lucky enough to get reservations at La Maison Du Pecheur and we had. Apparently, it is a world class restaurant and they had really wanted to go. There are no more reservations available until late August and so they were going to miss going. Tim and I had talked about canceling our reservation but instead, we gave it to Sean and Kim…we hope that they are enjoying a spectacular dinner! We were tired and we went to a pub and ordered drinks. They brought us our order and told us that they were closed until 5 when they would reopen for dinner…darn! We went instead to the food truck and Tim got fish tacos and I got a quesadilla; both delicious and enough.
We got back to the RV at around 5 and I put some laundry into our washer. The washer broke and so we had sopping clothes and wet carpet and wet basement compartments. I am at the laundromat now waiting for clean clothes…it’s all part of the adventure!!!
We still had a wonderful day 😊
796 August 7, 2022 Ville de Perce
One last walk along the Gaspe Bay.
We traveled today about 1 hour further east; as far east as we can go in Quebec.
On our way, we stopped at an overlook for breakfast.
The first glimpse of the town of Perce.
We checked in and settled and waited for a rain shower to pass and then we went to explore.
We walked to the harbor. The main attraction in this town is Perce Rock. This is a 50 million ton monolith.
The town is filled with vacationing families. This is a more touristy place, with lots of shops and restaurants.
We went out for dinner at Fluer de Lys and had a nice view of the water and the rock.
There is a boardwalk along the gulf where we strolled after dinner. We sat on a bench watching the changing light and the clouds and the diving birds.
795 August 5-6, 2022 Hiking In Forillon
We packed the Jeep for an overnight camping trip in the national park. We had planned first to hike the Sentier Les Graves. This 6.4km hike was a gradual uphill climb to the lighthouse.
If you wanted to see Land’s End, it was another 375 meters. There was no way that we were going to hike that far and not finish! The trail took us to the overlook…totally worth the effort to get there!
For many days, we have enjoyed watching these northern Gannets. They soar above the sea and plunge into the water from heights up to 100 feet. They hit the surface at 60mph. Other birds would be killed on impact but these birds have evolved and adapted and their skulls are specially reinforced to withstand the pressure. They are very quick and it is hard to get good pictures!
We hiked back to the Jeep.
We stopped at this beach area. We could see seals in the shallow water.
We headed to the campground and had a late lunch. We were both so tired, we took naps! We passed the rest of the pleasant evening with a fire and music and dinner.
The stars were stunning.
This morning, I walked about 3 miles in the park. We packed our gear and headed back to Gaspe. We stopped at this overlook for breakfast. We watched kayakkers and seals.
The water was so clear that we could watch this guy dive down and hunt among the vegetation on the sea bottom.
We stopped again at Penouille. This is a long finger of land that juts into the Gaspe Bay. We walked almost 3 miles on the easy boardwalk and paved trail all the way to the beach.
We had the bay on one side…
…and the salt marsh on the other.
We took our dinner to a park near the water. After eating, we drove on roads we hadn’t been on yet, looking at the views of the bay.
794 August 4, 2022 Parc National Forillon
I drove to a scenic overlook by the bay and began my morning walk, taking the same path we had cycled on yesterday. I felt strong and got in my groove and easily walked more than 3 miles.
We packed our lunch and drove to the information center in Riviere-de-Renard to get maps for the national park. The girl there was well informed and spoke excellent English. She told us where we should stop and she recommended some hiking trails. From there, we went to see the tallest lighthouse in Canada. We walked a short distance on the pebble strewn beach.
We proceeded to Parc National Forillon. In the US, national parks are for the preservation of very special places. We were excited to go and see the best of Canada. We were not disappointed. We entered at the Nord Gate. The view was spectacular.
We hiked a very steep trail, only .6km, but that was enough. We elected not to continue to the observation tower which was another 1.6km straight up!
We drove to the waterfall trail and hiked down lots of steps. It was a pretty little fall with water splashing over the moss covered rocks.
The red chairs sit in Canadian National Parks in places with particularly pretty views. I had to sit in this one!
We drove through dense forest to the south entrance. We parked at the end of pavement and sat watching the water, looking for seals and whales.
These little beetles or green immigrant leaf weevils are everywhere!
It was really a lovely day. We are looking forward to going back to the park tomorrow. We have a campsite reserved for the Jeep and the roof top tent. We also have a hike planned to the end of the point at land’s end “where the Appalachian Mountains plunge into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.”
We went into town this eveing and had a simple dinner at Cafe des Artistes.
