Geoff Brock & Bruce Gamble
         
     
   
 
 
 
 
 
 

Day 7: Sailing to Gaspé and a drive to Percé

Beautiful scenery as we sail to Gaspé, then an afternoon drive to Percé for gannet spotting from a boat near Bonaventure Island.

Monday 7th October 2024
Overnight and during this morning, we sailed 171 nautical miles between Baie-Comeau and Gaspé and saw some of the most beautiful scenery of our trip so far. Geographically, we were leaving the St. Lawrence River and entering the Gulf of St Lawrence, but it wasn't clear to us where the exact dividing line between the two was.
 
 
 
 
Scenically, the last couple of hours before arriving at Gaspé Harbour were the best. The autumn colours were at their peak and seemingly a bit further advanced than the colours we had seen in Quebec City or Montreal.
 
 
 
 
 
Trying to get some photos of the gannets was challenging!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gaspé lay directly ahead of us, with the harbour situated on the left bank of the inlet we were in.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We tied up in the harbour at around lunchtime.
 
Anybody wishing to visit the town this afternoon would have had to walk a fair distance, including crossing quite a long bridge. It wasn't really on the itinerary anyway, because most people were taking coaches from here for a scenic drive to Percé.
 
One of the choices at the lunch buffet today was Poutine. We had heard it mentioned a number of times since we arrived in Canada, but this was the first opportunity we had had to actually taste it. Geoff wasn't impressed. Bruce liked it.
 
After lunch, Bruce joined the excursion to Percé. Geoff decided that the 120km round trip was a bit too far, so he relaxed on the ship.
 
Despite the distance, the beautiful scenery made the journey worthwhile.
 
 
 
Driving through Douglastown, close to Gaspé, the beach in the foreground is linked to Haldimand Beach by a railway bridge, at the mouth of the Saint John River.
 
The Church of Saint-Georges, taken whilst driving through Saint-Georges-de-Malbaie.
 
 

A few minutes later, at Pointe-Saint-Pierre, we saw a rock resembling the face of an Indigenous person. We were told of the legend surrounding it, which goes something like this...

Some white men from Europe, sailing on a tall ship dropped anchor nearby. As they were going ashore to stock up on fresh water and wild fruits, they saw a young Native American princess busy in the forest entertaining young children. "Some men" (not clear if it was the sailors), captured her and took her to their distant country. The sad face depicted by the rock, gazes intently towards the cliff. It is reputed to be her lover awaiting her return, resolved in his sorrow to turn his back on the sea until it brings her back to him.

 
 
 
 
 
The Gaspé Peninsula (Gaspésie) is the northernmost tip of the grand Appalachian Mountains, which come to a dramatic end at Percé Rock (Rocher Percé), seen here on the left as we drove down into the town of Percé. Bonaventure Island, where we would be heading towards later, lay directly ahead of us.
 
There would be time later to have a walk around the little town...
 
...but we headed straight for the quay where two little boats were awaiting our group.
 
 
 
 
 
Sailing towards, and then past Percé Rock.
 
 
 
 
 
Somebody else's drone photo of Bonaventure Island.
 
On the eastern tip of the Gaspé Peninsula (Gaspésie), Bonaventure Island is home to North America’s largest gannet colony.
 
 
The sea had been rather lively during the crossing to the island. Several passengers were clearly not enjoying it and Geoff would have hated it! The sight of so many gannets diving made the trip worthwhile for Bruce, although it wasn't easy getting good photos because of the movement of the vessel, accompanied by a lot of sea spray.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We weren't scheduled to go ashore, but it might have been nice to explore the island.
 
 
 
 
The return trip was less choppy, thankfully.
 
 
 
 
 
Once ashore, we were given an hour and a half to explore, shop or go for tea or a drink at the pub. I chose to explore.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It was quite late by the time we journeyed back to the ship in Gaspé Harbour and most of the trip was made in the dark. It was good to get back to the ship, where Geoff was ready for his dinner!
 
While we were eating, our ship sailed. We were leaving Quebec and heading for Prince Edward Island.
 
 
 
©Geoff Brock and Bruce Gamble