18 Forillon

Saturday, September 29, 2007
Forillon, Quebec, Canada
Took the slowest path, I think, to my new home -- I decided to continue following the Acadian Coastal route with a sidetrip to the Acadian islands (an extra 350+km versus going cross-country). Ile Miscou is as close as you can get to being in France -- even I can understand most of their french (like being in St Pierre). I continued to see the devastation caused by the fishing moratorium -- lots of boats in backyards and in spare spaces near harbours. The van is now sporting an Acadian decal - bleu (avec jaune etoile), blanc et rouge. The long-way round was very pleasant and relaxing with a much slower speed limit - the odd rain shower didn't perturb me a bit.

Crossed into Quebec at Pointe-a-la-Croix (across the river from Campbellton NB) and meandered along the coast road toward Gaspe - this was a beautiful drive with the fall colours and hills always on my left . Although I gained an hour, it didn't give me any extra daylight -- I arrived at 20:00 in the dark at Forillon National Park. Being late, I ended up sleeping next to their Information Centre because I went to the campground which happened to be closed for the season and didn't have a map of the park to find the open one. It was a beautiful clear night with zillions of stars and a brilliant full moon -- glad I had my mummy-bag since it dropped below freezing (I knew by seeing ice on a puddle in the morning).

Daylight made it easy to find the open campground and I quickly grabbed a new home for at least three more nights. Baby and I then went exploring. Since it was such a nice sunny day, I did lots of hiking -- about 16km total to Cap-Gaspe and Cap-Bon-Ami; I expect to sleep well tonight. The rocks are all grey on the Gaspe peninsula, which makes the pebble beaches look a little bland. Temperature wise, it's also colder here and it feels (and is) damp. The campground has a nice group chalet with a wood fired cook stove that I used to cook dinner - it sure is nice being able to strip down to a T-shirt and still be hot (looking forward to more gators after New Year) .

It rained all night and the forecast is the same for today -- I'm also really stiff from the ups and especially the downs from yesterday's hikes. Since I visually missed the Perce to Gaspe scenery on my initial foray, I decided to retrace my steps -- it was great to see the red rocks which I have become accustomed. Using my umbrella and poncho, I ventured out on the wharf to shoot some foggy pictures of Perce Rock -- Ile Bonaventure was just a grey mirage in the distance. On the way back I my restocked supplies and refilled the gas guzzler. Did more wood stove cooking to stay out of the rain and I'm looking forward to the forecasted weekend sunshine.

Took a jaunt to the top of the Cap-des-Rosiers ("wild roses" en anglais) lightstation -- not for people with ANY fear of heights. Even I trod carefully up at the light/lens level since it was a long way down through the cracks. This lightstation is the tallest in Canada (7 others of similar design) and is made of marble from Maine with interior sandstone from England (I guess Canada was only good for fish and wood in this time period) for a total thickness of four feet at the base and 220+feet high . The lenses were manufactured in France and are still utilized today to protect the ships from the rocks where there have been more shipwrecks than anywhere else in Canada (caused mainly by the strong undertow).

Still nursing a bad back, but I did finish the remaining small hiking trails. The rain expired last night and has been supplanted by clear skies with strong winds and freezing temperatures at night. Will be moving to the next road accessable Canadian (as opposed to Quebec) national park in Quebec tomorrow.

Tidbits:
- I apologise, in advance, for the lack of accents in this script, especially to the francophones.
- Quebec gas is four cents a litre more expensive than in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; yours truly did not fill up at the border :(.
- I guess only the maritimes give free provincial maps to travelers; Quebec doesn't.
- I meet the majority of moose on the roads while I'm on my bike - coincidence?
- Peter W, your Acadian decal will be in the mail shortly -- I didn't realize how many non-Canadian flags we had in this country :).
- "Ice-rafted boulder" is the geological name for the (erratic) random rock usage in my previous chapters -- I still think random rock has a nicer ring.
- Capstan (la meme mot en francais) is a winch to haul boats from the water above tide level. I had a picture of this device in the St Pierre chapter but never knew the "scientific" term.
- Quebec has taken Harper up on his nation within a nation scheme very quickly -- their premier provincial parks are now called "parc national de..." -- a bit confusing to the general public, especially for the anglais. (PS: one can easily see the difference - their parks are unilingual :)).
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