I had a
great night's sleep. Despite going to bed so early last night, and
waking up a couple of times during the night when the wind had
picked up, I slept through to about 6:00am and feel well rested for
the first time in a few days. We had stopped a couple of times
during the night at ports along the way and as we went to say good
morning to Morty we found that he had got neighbours during the
night. No longer does he have a 360 view of the world, he now has
containers next to him and in front of him!
WD40, industrial size
Still having bad memories of yesterday's breakfast I opted for an
alternative and went for French Toast. It tasted like bread which
had been dipped in eggs and cinnamon and then fried. It was pretty
good but even better with a splash of maple syrup across the top!!
Today has turned out clear and bright and the sea is very calm. We
went for a bit of a walk up top and then holed up in the lounge to
catch up on diaries and this really set the scene for the day. We
lunched at 11:30 (an odd time and a bit early) and then spent more
time just watching the world go by. The shore line has changed from
a rocky, barren wilderness and there are now sandy beaches dotted
along the way. During the morning we pulled into Natashquan, the
point where the road to the south of Quebec starts. Even though it
is a large town for this area it is still a tiny little place.
This short two day hop on the ferry has given me a taster of what
cruising is probably like. When I was feeling ill yesterday,
cruising was definitely off my agenda. Now I am still hankering to
maybe try it out. There is not much to do on board here except read,
watch the world go by or watch TV if you want. As we are behind
schedule due to the bad weather each stop is turned around as
quickly as possible so there is not really enough time to go onshore
and look at the local villages. This means that the most popular on
board activity is chatting to other passengers.
It is a real people watchers paradise with a definite split between
those who have opted for the all inclusive package and those that
are sleeping in the seats and eating from the canteen. The former
group, which is then split between French and English speaking
passengers, pass the time of day and chat over meals and in the lounge
whereas the latter tend to keep themselves down in the canteen. Stef
is getting frustrated that his attempts to strike up a conversation
with some of the local indigenous Indians on board is not working.
They seem to be a very private and reserved group of people and
almost wary of making contact. There was not even a smile or a
return of a "good morning". They have the facial features that we
would typically call Eskimo.
As well as Guy and Lise, there is a couple from Ontario, Rose and
Robert, who
were really friendly and we have chatted to them off and on. Over
lunch today we talked for a long time with a man called Larry who is
traveling on his own. He is in his mid-fifties and has been retired
for about five years. He and his wife had no children but have
traveled extensively, something he has continued to do since his
wife passed away (his eyes welled up with tears a little as he told
me that). He has been all over the place and spends between a third
and a half of his time away from home. Much as he loves the travel
he seems sad that he has no-one to share it with.
Aboard the Nordik Express
Most of the other people on board are a little older and very
definitely French Quebecois. There is one lady who looks a bit like
Vanessa Feltz and is immaculately turned out, no mean feat in these
cabins. I think we have one of the biggest and there is not a lot of
room in it. She came down for dinner last night dressed up in an
electric blue dress, the only person who had changed for dinner, and
today is in an all black outfit. Most people seem to have come on
board with just the bare bones basics but I suspect she may have a
whole suitcase with her.
Also on board was a young couple with a large-ish dog. The poor
thing had to be locked up in a kennel on deck while we were sailing
and was only allowed out when we were in a harbour. As he was let
out of the kennel, the couple had difficulty keeping him under
control, so keen was he to get out and about and stretch his legs as
the kennel was pretty small for his size. All morning he was whining
and crying so loudly that you could hear him from a fair distance
away.
We lunched at 11:30 and then spent the rest of the afternoon whiling
away the time. It was a beautifully warm day and most people were
just out on deck enjoying the sun and trying to spot the very
elusive whales that populate this area. At 5:00 we went for our last
meal on board, today's fare being better than yesterday's and we
both had a very tasty meal. As we were eating we came into Havre St
Pierre, our final destination which marked time for us to leave.
Both of us really enjoyed our time on board and in a way I wished we
were carrying on to the final destination at Rimouski.
Knowing that Morty had neighbours we went up on deck to watch the
containers being unloaded to ensure that he was not bashed and
banged along the way. Guy, Lise, Rose, Robert and Larry also came up
on deck to say goodbye which I thought was great bearing in mind we
had only just met them. We were anxious about damage to Morty and we
had been able to see him the whole time. Their cars were buried deep
down on the bottom somewhere and had had at least one, if not two,
full containers on top of them for the whole trip.
Even though we had only been on the ferry for less than two days we
had quickly adapted to a totally different pace of life. It was a
strange feeling being back on land knowing that we were back to a
somewhat nomadic existence not really knowing from day to day where
we would end up. We checked Morty over and confirmed that, apart
from a bit of sea salt, all looked OK and then headed up and out
through Havre St Pierre in search of our campsite for the night.
As its now the end of the season finding open campsites is becoming
harder. Out of a listing of ten, maybe only one or two are open.
Fortunately, there was an open site at Longue Pointe du Mingan about
40km along the coast in the direction we want to go. It was a pitch
black night with not a lot of traffic on the road. From the little
that we could see it looked like we were driving along very flat
countryside but that will have to wait until tomorrow.
When we arrived at the campsite village there were no obvious signs
in sight to tell us where to go. Stef stopped and asked at the local
chip van and was told it was back the way we came and we had to turn
right. Stef asked where we had to turn right and she simply said
"when you come from the other side you turn left", so not really a
lot of help. We backtracked, stopped at a petrol station where we
got better directions and found the site. It was a small campsite
with un-serviced plots on the beach and serviced plots just the
other side of the beach road. As we hooked up for the night I saw
lights out to see. I cannot be certain but as there were no others
it must have been the Relais Nordik steaming ahead on its was to
Rimouski. Having
eaten on the ferry we simply crashed out for an early night.
