Excursion du Mer

     The ferry to PEI didn't leave until 8pm, and at the last minute we decided to go on a sight seeing tour of the cliffs and caves. I had never been in a zodiac, and was perhaps just a bit nervous, but once on our way, I was fine. Our tour guide, Kevin, was bilingual, and was able to keep his french and english passengers well informed.

This adventure is best told in pictures.....

And we are off....

It was eerie but beautiful in the caves

Not the greatest shot, but this rock was alive

with Cormorants.  Their feathers are not waterproof,

and they perch on the rocks holding their wings out to the side to dry.

 

Wave and tide action are eroding the cliffs all around the island

We entered here and went right through to the other side.

The whole excursion took about an hour.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am always interest in the rock formations

anywhere I travel.

 

In another life I would like to have been

a geologist, or an oceanographer, or a hermit on a beautiful island

where I could live in peace, and have the time to paint,

walk the sandy beaches looking for beach glass and special stones.

I could walk the beaches all day

because fibro would not get in my way.

I would kayak along the shoreline

and perhaps catch a glimpse of a whale

or not.

My fingers could drag in the water, and feel it's coolness,

and I would wipe my brow

and be thankful.

 

WAKE UP BONNIE and publish this blog..........

OK.......

......but it was a nice little daydream.

 

Till next time......

Le Site D'Autre Fois

This Site, in Havre-Aubert, is listed as a tourist attraction, but it is much more than that. It is a history lesson, and takes the visitor back in time to the early settlers, the Acadians, and gives snippets of their life through a miniature village, and full scale buildings. It is a place of culture, begun by Claude F Bourgeois .

As we entered, it was apparent that knowing the french language would have been a big plus, as there was an activity/film that took place in the theatre where one would be introduced to the site, and the history involved. Understanding very little french, we were encouraged to walk about the site and enjoy. There were various signs of explanation in both french and english.

I took a lot of pictures, too many to share here. I was intrigued by the miniature village. Such detail.  Beside and in the full size buildings, were animals and people. (I believe these were made of fibreglass. At the end of our walk, while sitting at a picnic table resting my poor old legs, Captain Claude invited us into the theatre to share some things with us. He took the time to show us various things, that we would have missed because of our not understanding the language. All the while, he was speaking in french, and yet doing his best to give us understanding. He was amazing. This man is a story-teller, a writer of books and songs, and very, very charming. I bought his book, and in it is a CD of his songs, which I enjoy even though I do not understand it all.

Here then, are a sample collection of the pictures........

The Captain himself and the piece of netting he made and gave to me.

 

Miniature church

Grave 'stones'

Miniature home and outbuilding

 

Inside the home (full size)

The farmer and his horse & wagon

A look at the area covered (this is just a portion)

Another scene - a fisherman

 

An absolutely beautiful place to visit.

More to come......

A zodiac ride....cliffs and caves

 

 

L'Ile-du-Havre-Aubert

     There were lots of great things to see and do on this island, but my favourite spot is a historic site, La Grave, meaning pebbly, sandy terrain, not the grave as I first thought. Here, there are lots of craft shops, cafes and restaurants and crowds of people are walking all over the place, including on the road. We soon found that the pedestrian has the right of way. It would have been nice to join the crowd and wander in and out of the shops, but that didn't happen.

We went to the Sea Museum and the Aquarium, and an absolutely fantastic restaurant with the name of Vent du Large, with an adjoining boutique Bleu Mer. This was the first time we visited, but the next day we returned for another meal and gift buying.

The first Acadians settled here in Havre-Aubert, and this island is the most forested of the archipelago. The day we returned, there was an Acadian celebration happening. Someone told us what was going on, and we could hear the "boat-builders" hammering and sawing away, down the beach. Teams would build a 'boat' and later in the day, race that boat. Some teams were in costume. We didn't see the boats, (darn), but certainly heard the happy voices. Again, I would have liked to spend more time here, but.......

Both of these pictures are of a part of a ship

that had been wrecked long ago.

A fisherman had dragged it up.

The wood was joined together with wooden pegs.

This was outside the museum.

 

You will see these barrels, pictures of them and souvenir

barrels all over the islands. In 1910, a barrel such as this carried mail

from the Islands to Nova Scotia, when the islands lost contact with the

mainland because of a break in the underwater telegraph cable.

 

This would be the beach area where later on

the boat building would take place. (I think)

 

 

Next we went to the Aquarium, where there was a really nice young interpreter who guided me around the touch tank, giving lots of information and showing the creatures, while I took pictures.

 

love the little face on this ray

hermit crab

 

Vent du Large

 

A very interesting place, with a very nice waiter,

who took our picture.

 

Random shots.....

 

 

Seeing these pictures again, makes me wish I was back there.

 

Until next time....

 

 

 

 



More of Les Iles de la Madeleine

      It has been a while since my visit to the Magdalen Islands, and the notes I made about each place now seem insufficient. This is the problem with going to so many places for short periods of time. I tried to write about each set of pictures I took, as we drove away and on to another stop, therefore, my notes were sketchy, and if the road was the least bit bumpy, unintelligible. I wish I could have stayed weeks here, instead of 3days.

     As I write this, I am checking my guide book for reminders of what I saw, and where it was. It would be easier if I had downloaded my pictures in sets, rather more than 200+ photos at one time. The water and cliff photos are hard to identify, since I didn't always get the information down.

     After our trip to the Islands, we went on another road trip, visiting Grand Manan, an island in the bay of Fundy, Kings Landing, near Fredericton, along with the island of Campobello, all in New Brunswick. It will take me a while to get to this trip.....

     And so I will share some pictures, and mention the things that really stand out in my memory.
There is  the beauty and peacefulness of the island, the long, beautiful sand beaches, the crumbling cliffs, and some scenes that just took my breath away.

 There was the amazing fact that the islands were formed eons ago, by salt deep in the earth bursting up through the surface because of immense pressure bearing down on it from the earth. That is a very simplified explanation, but the result is that there is a salt mine on Grosse Ile which is producing around 1.5 million metric tons of salt per year, which is exported for use on roads for de-icing. (Once again, the information comes from the guide book)

 

This type of salt is extremely rare, but was mined at Mines Seleine

 

These are all salt. I found this fascinating.

 

We went to Sea Cow Path and discovered that in the 1700s, Walrus were very plentiful but they were hunted to extinction.

 

The people on the islands were so friendly. These two gals were at the White Caps Cafe. We had visited the Little Red School House, and the Veterans' Museum, and were delighted to find this little cafe, downstairs at the school house. This was a new venture, and I am hoping that all works out for the owners. Oh, and the coffee was delicious. We chatted with these girls as though we had known them for more than just 5 minutes. It was like that with almost everyone we met. The warmth and friendliness is priceless.

 

 

More to come....when I check my notes and get my pictures in order.