Day 4, June 4th Harrington Harbour, Tete a la Baleine, La Tabatiere.
The fog rolled in very quickly when we were docked in Romaine, upon arriving in Harrington at 1:00am it was so thick I felt as if we were moving through icy molasses. When the boat was going through the passage into Harrington they had their huge fog lights shining on a cliff which was about a stone’s throw away. The lights were barely cutting through the fog and they kept sounding the horn which made me jump about three feet in the air. The whole scene was really eerie, like some horror flick.
I decided to go visit my Grammy; there are two ways to get to her house. The quickest route is to cut across the cove; the other is to go around. Ordinarily I go across the cove but with the fog, darkness and the two abandoned houses at the end of the boardwalk I chose to go around, it was just too ghostly. One of those abandoned houses happens to be my old house which my Dad has started to renovate but it still looks scary. The other house is the home of Grandmother Brass Eyes who I am still to this day afraid of, apparently my Uncle is too. Grandmother Brass Eyes is a tale they tell kids so they’ll stay out of the old house.
I spent about an hour with my Grammy and then had to get back on the boat, it will be nice to spend a few days here; I’m excited for breakfast with my Grandma; homemade bread and bakeapple (cloudberry) jam, yum! My Grandma owns a bed and breakfast and that night she had three boarders who came in on helicopter for the night and one long term boarder who works as a game warden with my Uncle Wilson. They found a fox hole on St Mary’s Bird Sanctuary. The fox had been killing puffins and storing them in little holes around his burrow. Apparently foxes don’t just kill what they need, they just keep hunting and hording so the game wardens have to trap and relocate the fox. My uncle often has to go relocate a fox or a wolf that somehow makes its way to the island. How do they get there, do they swim, float over on a log or iceberg, do they hijack boats or stow away; I don’t know it is beyond me, (turns out they cross the ice in winter). Anyway these predators have to be relocated so that they don’t kill off the bird population. I spent 4 days in Harrington so I will post more another time about this village.
We stopped in Tete a la Baleine at about 5 am but I was feeling sick again and very tired so I didn’t get off. Because the town is about 8km’s from the wharf I wouldn’t have seen much anyway but I will have to commandeer a boat to go there next time and have a car waiting for me. I must also visit Providence Island which has an interpretation center and a beautifully restored church. The church was built in 1895 and is the oldest on the coast. The island is still used by lobster fishermen and their families during the summer, following in the tradition of moving inside for winter and outside for summer.
Whale’s Head (Tete a la Baleine) is home to a predominately French speaking population of 250. There are many attractions in and around the village like: Providence Island and the Interpretation Center as well as the Jos Hebert Museum. Jos Hebert was the first mail carrier to travel along the coast by dog sled. The name of the village comes from a whale shaped island in the Toutes-Iles archipelago.
I finally arrived in La Tabatiere at around 9:30 am and relished in the fact that I was on solid ground for a few days instead of a couple of hours. I went to my Dad’s house; he had to go back to work so I collapsed on the couch and tried to take a nap. If you have ever spent some time on a continually rocking boat when you get off, even hours later, especially when you’re lying down, you still feel like you’re rocking back and forth; it is a very disorienting sensation. I spent 5 days in La Tabatiere and visited Mutton Bay as well, so I have a lot to say and many, many pictures. For now I will leave you with a general overview of these two towns.
La Tabatiere is comprised of three villages known as Red Bay, Old Post, and La Tabatiere and has a population of 499. It is located near the Mecatina River where some of the oldest artifacts are being found from the Basque fisherman of the 15th century. This village is home to a large Hydro Québec dam but many of the jobs were given to people from outside. Instead fishing as in the other villages is the mainstay but only till the quotas are full. La Tabatiere used to be home to the best seal foundry on the LNS. In Tete a la Baleine they still use seal skin to produce crafts and all along the coast people use the seal skin for the warmest mittens you’re likely to ever put on your hands. Tabatiere comes from the Innu word tabaquen which means sorcerer. According to the LNS website “Innu who traded with settlers in La Tabatiere usually consulted a sorcerer-soothsayer before heading on a hunting trip.”
Mutton Bay is a small village of 192 people located about 20 minutes by car from La Tabatiere. It is a very scenic town. The outpost was originally named Baie du Portage but was changed because fishing fleets used to bring sheep there for meat and also to graze. The inhabitants are descended from English and Newfoundlanders who came over during the 19th C.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Entering “Never, Never Country”
Day 3 June 3rd, Natashquan, Kegaska, La Romaine/Unamen Shipu
I woke up in Natashquan and the boat was filling up, a lot of people drive straight through to Natashquan to avoid a day on the boat. This is the end of route 138; the end of the road. I almost missed the stop so I wasn’t able to spend much time there but here are some photo’s I took from the wharf and the boat.
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Route 138 was extended to this village in 1996 so it is an easy destination to visit. Natashquan has a rich history of poetry and music and is bordered by sandy beaches and amazing natural beauty. You can visit the Centre d’interpretation Le Bord du Cap which is in a replica of an old general store, you can also see the old school house and walk through the boreal forest.
The first day on the Nordik was a blur and wasn’t all that nice because of the rough conditions. Day 2 was entirely different. I sat starboard on the top deck in a t- shirt enjoying the sun and the endless stretch of ocean. Walking around the boat I had to keep one hand on the wall or railing so I wouldn’t fall over or stumble around like a drunkard, I definitely didn’t have my sea legs back yet.
We only had an hour in Kegaska because the boat was behind schedule. I went to the Le Brion shipwreck site. Le Brion was a cargo ship from Iles-de-la-Madeleine which crashed into the rocks off the coast in 1976. My Grandfather was still alive when the ship crashed; he had gone to salvage stuff from the boat when it was still out in the water. Here's an interesting tidbit; Brion Island in the Magdalen's is notorious for wrecking ships.
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It was amazing to be out on the rocks listening to the surf. I wish I could transmit the aromas to you; they are smells I’ve known my entire life but can’t get anywhere else. If you could bottle the air quality I think you could cure asthma.
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Kegaska has a population of 130 and is the southern most village of the Lower North Shore. It is a small community 60 kilometers past the end of the road in Natashquan and was settled in 1855 by Samuel Foreman from Nova Scotia. Today many of the descendents still living in this village are English speaking and came from Anticosti Island. Kegaska comes from the Innu word quegasca meaning "the shortcut and easy passage at high tide between the mainland and the islands"(www.tourismlowernorthshore.com). At this point it was time for another grill cheese.
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Oh Seasick! I lost my lunch that afternoon, and spent most of it in my bunk watching movies. I woke up in La Romaine/Unamen Shipu. Since the boat was off schedule I didn’t have enough time to walk into town. There are a few ports where the wharf is far from town like La Romaine, Anticosti, and Tete a la Baleine. In Anticosti they have a little school bus that takes you on a tour around the island. They should have something like that in La Romaine. This community is actually comprised of two villages, La Romaine which is made up of mostly Francophones and Unamen Shipu which is an Innu Reserve. These communities live harmoniously and are the next stop up the coast. Collectively it is the largest village on the coast with a population of 1,050. Although that number may have grown recently as they government has been moving people from the reserve in Goose Bay, Labrador to Unamen Shipu. This relocating of people has been causing some problems with fishing boundaries along the coast; in the past there was a sort of agreement between villages that you didn’t fish too close to other villages but the new arrivals have not been respecting this unspoken rule.
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The name La Romaine comes from “olomane” which means red ochre because in the spring the river runs red. The French had a trading and fishing post on the Olomane River during the 18th C. The main industry is lobster and sport fishing. Unamen Shipu was settled in the 1950’s and they were one of the last North American nomadic tribes.
The Nordik at this point was 2 ½ hours behind, apparently they were training a new crane operator so it was taking longer then usual to unload and load the containers. Consequently, we would not reach Harrington in time to do the usual walk about.
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I woke up in Natashquan and the boat was filling up, a lot of people drive straight through to Natashquan to avoid a day on the boat. This is the end of route 138; the end of the road. I almost missed the stop so I wasn’t able to spend much time there but here are some photo’s I took from the wharf and the boat.
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Route 138 was extended to this village in 1996 so it is an easy destination to visit. Natashquan has a rich history of poetry and music and is bordered by sandy beaches and amazing natural beauty. You can visit the Centre d’interpretation Le Bord du Cap which is in a replica of an old general store, you can also see the old school house and walk through the boreal forest.
The first day on the Nordik was a blur and wasn’t all that nice because of the rough conditions. Day 2 was entirely different. I sat starboard on the top deck in a t- shirt enjoying the sun and the endless stretch of ocean. Walking around the boat I had to keep one hand on the wall or railing so I wouldn’t fall over or stumble around like a drunkard, I definitely didn’t have my sea legs back yet.
We only had an hour in Kegaska because the boat was behind schedule. I went to the Le Brion shipwreck site. Le Brion was a cargo ship from Iles-de-la-Madeleine which crashed into the rocks off the coast in 1976. My Grandfather was still alive when the ship crashed; he had gone to salvage stuff from the boat when it was still out in the water. Here's an interesting tidbit; Brion Island in the Magdalen's is notorious for wrecking ships.
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It was amazing to be out on the rocks listening to the surf. I wish I could transmit the aromas to you; they are smells I’ve known my entire life but can’t get anywhere else. If you could bottle the air quality I think you could cure asthma.
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Kegaska has a population of 130 and is the southern most village of the Lower North Shore. It is a small community 60 kilometers past the end of the road in Natashquan and was settled in 1855 by Samuel Foreman from Nova Scotia. Today many of the descendents still living in this village are English speaking and came from Anticosti Island. Kegaska comes from the Innu word quegasca meaning "the shortcut and easy passage at high tide between the mainland and the islands"(www.tourismlowernorthshore.com). At this point it was time for another grill cheese.
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Oh Seasick! I lost my lunch that afternoon, and spent most of it in my bunk watching movies. I woke up in La Romaine/Unamen Shipu. Since the boat was off schedule I didn’t have enough time to walk into town. There are a few ports where the wharf is far from town like La Romaine, Anticosti, and Tete a la Baleine. In Anticosti they have a little school bus that takes you on a tour around the island. They should have something like that in La Romaine. This community is actually comprised of two villages, La Romaine which is made up of mostly Francophones and Unamen Shipu which is an Innu Reserve. These communities live harmoniously and are the next stop up the coast. Collectively it is the largest village on the coast with a population of 1,050. Although that number may have grown recently as they government has been moving people from the reserve in Goose Bay, Labrador to Unamen Shipu. This relocating of people has been causing some problems with fishing boundaries along the coast; in the past there was a sort of agreement between villages that you didn’t fish too close to other villages but the new arrivals have not been respecting this unspoken rule.
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The name La Romaine comes from “olomane” which means red ochre because in the spring the river runs red. The French had a trading and fishing post on the Olomane River during the 18th C. The main industry is lobster and sport fishing. Unamen Shipu was settled in the 1950’s and they were one of the last North American nomadic tribes.
The Nordik at this point was 2 ½ hours behind, apparently they were training a new crane operator so it was taking longer then usual to unload and load the containers. Consequently, we would not reach Harrington in time to do the usual walk about.
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Thursday, June 17, 2010
Aboard the Nordik Express
Day 2, June 2nd Sept Iles, Anticosti Island, Havre St Pierre
The boat departed Sept Iles at 6:30 in the morning, I was told I could not have my room until 2 but I could put my stuff in it. I went up to the top of the boat and tried to sleep across a few seats but it was uncomfortably cold so I decided to ignore the guy and sleep in my cabin anyway. I’m glad I did because every time I went up on deck or just sat inside I felt seasick so I would go back to my room and lie down for a bit, its pitch black when I turn off the lights which is great because you can’t see the boat rocking.
My bunk
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We docked on Anticosti Island and I went for a walk into Port Menier. Port Menier is the only village on this island; there are about 200 people who live here year round but in the summer the population spikes. Most of the island is actually a National Park covering 572 square km’s and there is a lot of wildlife there. The island attracts all kinds of people; vacationers, hunters, fishers, hikers, flora and fauna lovers and bird watchers. Anticostiens came from France, St Pierre et Miquelon, Gaspe, and New Brunswick and today they are a French speaking population. On the way into town I thought I was going to get blown off the road. You know when you’re biking and it’s really windy, you’re ears start to hurt, well that’s what I felt today.
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I went to an artisan shop and bought myself a pretty pair of Anticostien earrings. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any information booklets about the island so I’ll tell you what I know about their history. Henri Menier, a wealthy chocolatier, bought the island for 125,000$ in 1895; he had a dream to make it a hunting and fishing paradise. He introduced various types of wildlife to the region; foxes, moose, beavers, and white tailed deer. In 1926 the Menier’s left the island and lumber company’s moved in. Today people mostly fish, hunt, and rely heavily on tourism. Anticosti used to be known as the graveyard of the Gulf because many ships wrecked on their riffs (the coast). After my walk on the island it was time for a grill cheese.
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At night I was completely enveloped in darkness, the wind was whipping around my head and I was no longer sea sick. We left Havre St Pierre at about 00:30 and as much as I would have liked to explore and take photos it was dark and rainy so instead I joined a fellow boat mate at a bar just off the wharf. The man I met on the boat is from St Augustine; he had spent most of his life working away from the coast. He recently got laid off and decided it was time to spend a summer home. I don’t think I’ve met a single coaster who doesn’t refer to the region as home even if they’ve spent most of their life away.
The barmaid told me that Havre St Pierre’s main industry is Hydro and mining but it is also an educational town for the hospital and has a population of about 3500 people; mostly French speaking. The area was settled in 1857 by 6 Acadian families across the Mingan archipelago. Because of the Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, Havre St Pierre is now a popular tourist destination. The town is about a 2 hour drive (221 km’s) from Sept Iles but it’s a day on the boat. I found out too late that there is a bus that goes there but then I wouldn’t have been able to see Anticosti Island.
The boat was rocking so badly before we got to Havre St Pierre, I couldn’t get off my bunk; my body would go straight down headfirst and then back the other way; I had a death grip on my pillow. I wanted to get up and take photos of the swells but I knew I’d end up puking over the side. When I got up later the decks were flooded with water. It was June 2nd and I was wearing what passes for a winter jacket in Montreal. After we left the port I sat at the stern of the boat on the top deck watching the boat cut through darkness. There’s nothing like it, it was about 2am, no one around, completely dark; the only sound was the roar of the engines and the boat crashing through the swell. The next morning I arrived in Natashquan: the end of Route 138. I’ll tell you all about it next time.
The boat departed Sept Iles at 6:30 in the morning, I was told I could not have my room until 2 but I could put my stuff in it. I went up to the top of the boat and tried to sleep across a few seats but it was uncomfortably cold so I decided to ignore the guy and sleep in my cabin anyway. I’m glad I did because every time I went up on deck or just sat inside I felt seasick so I would go back to my room and lie down for a bit, its pitch black when I turn off the lights which is great because you can’t see the boat rocking.
My bunk
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We docked on Anticosti Island and I went for a walk into Port Menier. Port Menier is the only village on this island; there are about 200 people who live here year round but in the summer the population spikes. Most of the island is actually a National Park covering 572 square km’s and there is a lot of wildlife there. The island attracts all kinds of people; vacationers, hunters, fishers, hikers, flora and fauna lovers and bird watchers. Anticostiens came from France, St Pierre et Miquelon, Gaspe, and New Brunswick and today they are a French speaking population. On the way into town I thought I was going to get blown off the road. You know when you’re biking and it’s really windy, you’re ears start to hurt, well that’s what I felt today.
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I went to an artisan shop and bought myself a pretty pair of Anticostien earrings. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any information booklets about the island so I’ll tell you what I know about their history. Henri Menier, a wealthy chocolatier, bought the island for 125,000$ in 1895; he had a dream to make it a hunting and fishing paradise. He introduced various types of wildlife to the region; foxes, moose, beavers, and white tailed deer. In 1926 the Menier’s left the island and lumber company’s moved in. Today people mostly fish, hunt, and rely heavily on tourism. Anticosti used to be known as the graveyard of the Gulf because many ships wrecked on their riffs (the coast). After my walk on the island it was time for a grill cheese.
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At night I was completely enveloped in darkness, the wind was whipping around my head and I was no longer sea sick. We left Havre St Pierre at about 00:30 and as much as I would have liked to explore and take photos it was dark and rainy so instead I joined a fellow boat mate at a bar just off the wharf. The man I met on the boat is from St Augustine; he had spent most of his life working away from the coast. He recently got laid off and decided it was time to spend a summer home. I don’t think I’ve met a single coaster who doesn’t refer to the region as home even if they’ve spent most of their life away.
The barmaid told me that Havre St Pierre’s main industry is Hydro and mining but it is also an educational town for the hospital and has a population of about 3500 people; mostly French speaking. The area was settled in 1857 by 6 Acadian families across the Mingan archipelago. Because of the Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, Havre St Pierre is now a popular tourist destination. The town is about a 2 hour drive (221 km’s) from Sept Iles but it’s a day on the boat. I found out too late that there is a bus that goes there but then I wouldn’t have been able to see Anticosti Island.
The boat was rocking so badly before we got to Havre St Pierre, I couldn’t get off my bunk; my body would go straight down headfirst and then back the other way; I had a death grip on my pillow. I wanted to get up and take photos of the swells but I knew I’d end up puking over the side. When I got up later the decks were flooded with water. It was June 2nd and I was wearing what passes for a winter jacket in Montreal. After we left the port I sat at the stern of the boat on the top deck watching the boat cut through darkness. There’s nothing like it, it was about 2am, no one around, completely dark; the only sound was the roar of the engines and the boat crashing through the swell. The next morning I arrived in Natashquan: the end of Route 138. I’ll tell you all about it next time.
La Route des Baleines
Day 1, June 1st Montreal, St Simeon, Tadoussac, Baie Comeau, Godbout, Port Cartier, Sept Iles
I realized in Quebec City, I packed waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy toooooooooooo much for this trip seeing as how I have to truck it around with me while I transfer from place to place. It’s hard to plan ahead because of the unpredictable weather; I need a warm jacket, and all manners of clothing and footwear. I thoroughly recommend, if you’ve got the cash to take the plane however if you are interested in the sights then get a car and drive. It’s really beautiful and you can stop in Tadoussac for a little whale watching and camping.
About an hour after Quebec on the north side of the St Lawrence River, it’s gorgeous. One of those parts of the province that looks as if you won’t see a human for miles. It made me think about urbanization and urban sprawl and what this place might look like in 100 years. In the spring this landscape is a million shades and tints of green. The trees really stand out against the grey sky, there’s fog rolling off the mountain tops and the only sign of human life were the power lines and a seriously lonely motel. At this point I really had to pee but a man just spent the better part of fifteen minutes in the toilet closet so I question the air quality in there.
We stopped for lunch in Saint Simeon. I tried to find a depanneur that was not far from the restaurant the last time I took the bus through about 9 years ago but it wasn’t there anymore so I went to the restaurant and had a delightful grill cheese. I guess it was silly to think that it would still be there; like nothing ever changes in these small towns. I felt like it was a prelude to what would await me on the LNS.
St Simeon
In Tadoussac you catch the ferry across the river. They have two ferry boats that cross in opposite directions. A few years back they proposed to build a bridge to connect the two sides but due to the high density of whales in the area the project was shot down. The plan was deemed too ecologically risky as it would disturb the whale population. Tadoussac is known for whale watching tourism so they developed a new way to see the whales that is the least disruptive to the majestic mammals. They initiated a stringent set of regulations concerning the amount of time a boat is permitted in a whale zone, the permissible proximity to a whale pod and the maximum amount of boats allowed in the same area. The reason for this is because the boats sonar and radar equipment creates underwater disturbances that have a very detrimental affect on the whale’s behavior. For more information please visit:http://www.quebecbleu.com/en/baleines_baleines.asp
From the Ferry in Tadoussac
When I was younger; I don’t remember exactly how old but somewhere in the vicinity of 12 I drove from Sherbrooke to Rimouski with a family from Harrington. They had docked their longliner (fishing boat) there. We took their boat from Rimouski to Harrington. The entire trip should have taken a couple of days but unfortunately the weather was terrible. If I remember correctly we got stuck in Riviere du Loup which is a beautiful town; after a very rainy and fog filled day the sun came out their daughter and I went to dig in the sand for treasures. We bought some fresh shrimp and had a meal aboard the boat. We also got stuck on Anticosti Island (the Nordik docks there for a couple hours in Port Menier). After Anticosti Island the weather was in our favor and we sailed through smoothly. On the last night we stopped in a harbor, tied up beside a lobster boat and bought some VERY fresh lobster for the evening’s meal.
So, to continue the story of Day 1, I get to a hostel in Sept Iles, it seemed okay, I wasn’t too picky at the time and I will tell you why. I get off the bus and find out I don’t have a cell signal. I can’t get a hold of my friend so I ask the women at the bus station where I can find a cheap hotel. She replies in that annoyingly whiny/condescending voice “Mais les hotels sont cher ici madame.” I tell her I simply need a bed for the night, is there a hostel/YMCA around? She says in the same voice “Oui, Auberge Le Tangon.” I ask her where and she begrudgingly circles it on a map and then tells me she’s closing the station, its like 8:15, she was so unbelievably rude and bitchy I was afraid to ask for a cab number, she unwillingly gave me the number for the hostel and lets me call for a room. I think I may have encountered the pinnacle of the Quebec inhospitality. Anyway, I leave the bus station with about 80 pounds of luggage; seriously I had back spasms afterwards. I’m thinking, optimistically; I have a couple of options: I can call Dad and get him to call a friend to pick me up and crash at their place; or I can phone a cab and go to the hostel. Simple options if you ask me, well that’s if you’re cell phone works or you can find a pay phone anywhere. So I am in this predicament because stupidly I didn’t plan ahead. I was planning on going to a café or something until it closed and then going to the wharf to wait for the boat but damn it was cold there and really wasn’t the greatest or safest plan to begin with. There are so many crime drama episodes about grungy sexually predatory dock workers or unsavory types who hang around, damn sailors, it made me all paranoid. Anyway I start walking thinking I am bound to find a phone or a taxi to hail. An hour later; no luck, I finally arrive at the hostel trembling from the weight of my luggage and sweating from the effort. I’ve decided this was an important enough incident to lodge a complaint with the Tourism Bureau of Sept Iles. They can’t have people like that being the first point of contact for tourists, especially since their tourism booklet’s boast great hospitality.
The rest of my bus ride was pretty uneventful; the scenery was gorgeous as for told. The only glitch was that the bathroom door got locked somehow with no one inside, unless of course someone passed out/died in there. This should not be the end of my blog post, this should not be the end of my blog post, this should not be the end of my blog post ;iyhaug;idufbvchbfdagl;uireahbgkjrebvakinfdngvdsjfhgjlhlojhlkshlkdhglkjhakjdkjf!!!!
AHHA
(www.bonjourquebec.com)
Okay so the whole trip I took is called “La Route Bleue" from Montreal to Blanc Sablon but from Tadoussac to Blanc Sablon they call it La Route des Baleines; It is 903 km’s and 14 hours from Montreal to Sept Iles. I’d like to take a minute to give you some information about the interesting places I passed through on the bus. I already told you about Tadoussac’s whale watching attractions, which is about all I know about that place. So I’ll move 199 km’s up river to Baie Comeau, which is 674km’s from Montreal. Baie Comeau began as an industry town for the pulp and paper company Abitibi Consolidated. The town was set up over night, and families moved in for the jobs. It is mostly French and has a population of 22,000. Despite being an industry town, it is beautiful.
728 km’s from Montreal we find the town of Godbout which is named after Joseph Adelarde Godbout who was an agronomist in the early 20th C and became a prominent politician around the 1930s. After Godbout the bus goes through Port Cartier which is one of two major municipalities in the Duplessis region. Port Cartier started as a mining and forestry town but is also a shipping port for the iron ore industry. Port Cartier was an industrial center during the 19th century. 50km’s from Port Cartier is Sept Iles, the largest city in the region and like Port Cartier started as a mining and forestry town. It is the biggest deep water port in the Gulf which means that it is an invaluable city for the iron ore industry. As a side note; Sept Iles is Guy Carbonneau’s home town. Sept Iles is a great town for hikers, hunters, fisher’s and nature enthusiasts. There is a National Wildlife reserve between Sept Iles and Port Cartier. Unfortunately I have never had the chance to explore this city myself. Every time I go there it is late and I leave early, the city has always been a stop over or an airport to me but as I have been reading up on it I wish that I could have spent a day or two there, next time I will. The Mingan Island Cetecean Study Research Center sounds awesome; you can play biologist out on the water helping collect data and studying humpback and minke whales, as well as porpoises, dolphins, and killer whales; you also get to study the endangered blue whale and I bet you would see a few beluga’s along the way. If this is something that would interest you check out their website: www.rorqual.com. The center is not right in Sept Iles but is just north in Longue-Pointe de Mingan.
A monolith in the Mingan Archipelago (tourismduplessis.com)
As for accommodations, I stayed at Auberge Le Tangon which is a really nice 4 star hostel. They have wireless internet, a huge kitchen/dining/living room area and a great backyard with a fire pit, swings, etc. The dorm room had 8 beds and was 22$/night for non hostel members, 18$ for members. They also have single rooms and families are welcome.
That concludes my recap of Day 1 on the bus; I boarded the Nordik Express supply and passenger ship at 5 am the following morning, stay tuned for the boat trip and some more pic’s, they get a lot better from here.
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From the boat in Sept Iles
I realized in Quebec City, I packed waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy toooooooooooo much for this trip seeing as how I have to truck it around with me while I transfer from place to place. It’s hard to plan ahead because of the unpredictable weather; I need a warm jacket, and all manners of clothing and footwear. I thoroughly recommend, if you’ve got the cash to take the plane however if you are interested in the sights then get a car and drive. It’s really beautiful and you can stop in Tadoussac for a little whale watching and camping.
About an hour after Quebec on the north side of the St Lawrence River, it’s gorgeous. One of those parts of the province that looks as if you won’t see a human for miles. It made me think about urbanization and urban sprawl and what this place might look like in 100 years. In the spring this landscape is a million shades and tints of green. The trees really stand out against the grey sky, there’s fog rolling off the mountain tops and the only sign of human life were the power lines and a seriously lonely motel. At this point I really had to pee but a man just spent the better part of fifteen minutes in the toilet closet so I question the air quality in there.
We stopped for lunch in Saint Simeon. I tried to find a depanneur that was not far from the restaurant the last time I took the bus through about 9 years ago but it wasn’t there anymore so I went to the restaurant and had a delightful grill cheese. I guess it was silly to think that it would still be there; like nothing ever changes in these small towns. I felt like it was a prelude to what would await me on the LNS.
St Simeon
In Tadoussac you catch the ferry across the river. They have two ferry boats that cross in opposite directions. A few years back they proposed to build a bridge to connect the two sides but due to the high density of whales in the area the project was shot down. The plan was deemed too ecologically risky as it would disturb the whale population. Tadoussac is known for whale watching tourism so they developed a new way to see the whales that is the least disruptive to the majestic mammals. They initiated a stringent set of regulations concerning the amount of time a boat is permitted in a whale zone, the permissible proximity to a whale pod and the maximum amount of boats allowed in the same area. The reason for this is because the boats sonar and radar equipment creates underwater disturbances that have a very detrimental affect on the whale’s behavior. For more information please visit:http://www.quebecbleu.com/en/baleines_baleines.asp
From the Ferry in Tadoussac
When I was younger; I don’t remember exactly how old but somewhere in the vicinity of 12 I drove from Sherbrooke to Rimouski with a family from Harrington. They had docked their longliner (fishing boat) there. We took their boat from Rimouski to Harrington. The entire trip should have taken a couple of days but unfortunately the weather was terrible. If I remember correctly we got stuck in Riviere du Loup which is a beautiful town; after a very rainy and fog filled day the sun came out their daughter and I went to dig in the sand for treasures. We bought some fresh shrimp and had a meal aboard the boat. We also got stuck on Anticosti Island (the Nordik docks there for a couple hours in Port Menier). After Anticosti Island the weather was in our favor and we sailed through smoothly. On the last night we stopped in a harbor, tied up beside a lobster boat and bought some VERY fresh lobster for the evening’s meal.
So, to continue the story of Day 1, I get to a hostel in Sept Iles, it seemed okay, I wasn’t too picky at the time and I will tell you why. I get off the bus and find out I don’t have a cell signal. I can’t get a hold of my friend so I ask the women at the bus station where I can find a cheap hotel. She replies in that annoyingly whiny/condescending voice “Mais les hotels sont cher ici madame.” I tell her I simply need a bed for the night, is there a hostel/YMCA around? She says in the same voice “Oui, Auberge Le Tangon.” I ask her where and she begrudgingly circles it on a map and then tells me she’s closing the station, its like 8:15, she was so unbelievably rude and bitchy I was afraid to ask for a cab number, she unwillingly gave me the number for the hostel and lets me call for a room. I think I may have encountered the pinnacle of the Quebec inhospitality. Anyway, I leave the bus station with about 80 pounds of luggage; seriously I had back spasms afterwards. I’m thinking, optimistically; I have a couple of options: I can call Dad and get him to call a friend to pick me up and crash at their place; or I can phone a cab and go to the hostel. Simple options if you ask me, well that’s if you’re cell phone works or you can find a pay phone anywhere. So I am in this predicament because stupidly I didn’t plan ahead. I was planning on going to a café or something until it closed and then going to the wharf to wait for the boat but damn it was cold there and really wasn’t the greatest or safest plan to begin with. There are so many crime drama episodes about grungy sexually predatory dock workers or unsavory types who hang around, damn sailors, it made me all paranoid. Anyway I start walking thinking I am bound to find a phone or a taxi to hail. An hour later; no luck, I finally arrive at the hostel trembling from the weight of my luggage and sweating from the effort. I’ve decided this was an important enough incident to lodge a complaint with the Tourism Bureau of Sept Iles. They can’t have people like that being the first point of contact for tourists, especially since their tourism booklet’s boast great hospitality.
The rest of my bus ride was pretty uneventful; the scenery was gorgeous as for told. The only glitch was that the bathroom door got locked somehow with no one inside, unless of course someone passed out/died in there. This should not be the end of my blog post, this should not be the end of my blog post, this should not be the end of my blog post ;iyhaug;idufbvchbfdagl;uireahbgkjrebvakinfdngvdsjfhgjlhlojhlkshlkdhglkjhakjdkjf!!!!
AHHA
(www.bonjourquebec.com)
Okay so the whole trip I took is called “La Route Bleue" from Montreal to Blanc Sablon but from Tadoussac to Blanc Sablon they call it La Route des Baleines; It is 903 km’s and 14 hours from Montreal to Sept Iles. I’d like to take a minute to give you some information about the interesting places I passed through on the bus. I already told you about Tadoussac’s whale watching attractions, which is about all I know about that place. So I’ll move 199 km’s up river to Baie Comeau, which is 674km’s from Montreal. Baie Comeau began as an industry town for the pulp and paper company Abitibi Consolidated. The town was set up over night, and families moved in for the jobs. It is mostly French and has a population of 22,000. Despite being an industry town, it is beautiful.
728 km’s from Montreal we find the town of Godbout which is named after Joseph Adelarde Godbout who was an agronomist in the early 20th C and became a prominent politician around the 1930s. After Godbout the bus goes through Port Cartier which is one of two major municipalities in the Duplessis region. Port Cartier started as a mining and forestry town but is also a shipping port for the iron ore industry. Port Cartier was an industrial center during the 19th century. 50km’s from Port Cartier is Sept Iles, the largest city in the region and like Port Cartier started as a mining and forestry town. It is the biggest deep water port in the Gulf which means that it is an invaluable city for the iron ore industry. As a side note; Sept Iles is Guy Carbonneau’s home town. Sept Iles is a great town for hikers, hunters, fisher’s and nature enthusiasts. There is a National Wildlife reserve between Sept Iles and Port Cartier. Unfortunately I have never had the chance to explore this city myself. Every time I go there it is late and I leave early, the city has always been a stop over or an airport to me but as I have been reading up on it I wish that I could have spent a day or two there, next time I will. The Mingan Island Cetecean Study Research Center sounds awesome; you can play biologist out on the water helping collect data and studying humpback and minke whales, as well as porpoises, dolphins, and killer whales; you also get to study the endangered blue whale and I bet you would see a few beluga’s along the way. If this is something that would interest you check out their website: www.rorqual.com. The center is not right in Sept Iles but is just north in Longue-Pointe de Mingan.
A monolith in the Mingan Archipelago (tourismduplessis.com)
As for accommodations, I stayed at Auberge Le Tangon which is a really nice 4 star hostel. They have wireless internet, a huge kitchen/dining/living room area and a great backyard with a fire pit, swings, etc. The dorm room had 8 beds and was 22$/night for non hostel members, 18$ for members. They also have single rooms and families are welcome.
That concludes my recap of Day 1 on the bus; I boarded the Nordik Express supply and passenger ship at 5 am the following morning, stay tuned for the boat trip and some more pic’s, they get a lot better from here.
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From the boat in Sept Iles
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