Monday, July 29th - Part 2 -The Gaspe Experience

For the record, it's currently 15'  at 6:15 am. We may be headed for a high of 23' later but could feel more like 29'. Some showers this morning might appear but from the looks of the sky out here, we may not receive much rain. The sun is rising brightly over the river and quickly burning off the cloud cover.

Day two of our adventure started out fairly early. As we told you before we headed out in sea kayaks to circumnavigate the rock.

Our guide, Matthew, was most helpful. First we needed to get fitted into our wetsuits. I'd never worn one before and they are quite a challenge to put on. It felt somewhat like trying to stuff a sausage and I have to admit that's how I felt after it was on (probably looked like it too!) . After the wet suit came the splash jackets, life jackets and then spray skirts - lots more prep than we usually need for the Morrell River.

Then it was down to the water.  We were given a bit of instruction on how to properly get into the kayak and the proper placement of our hands on the paddles. All very useful stuff.  From there we pushed off and headed for the rock.

I have to admit that I was a little nervous at first.  After my little fiasco in the Hillsborough a couple of years ago I really haven't experienced any faster moving water. What a way to start! The first washes that came towards us from boats made me a little apprehensive but after a few minutes I was okay with it and could finally relax and enjoy the trip.

We paddled all the way out past the rock and around to the back side. It was quite a bit wavier on the back side but I managed okay.

All too soon it was time to head back to shore. We paddled back around the other end of the rock. When the tide is out, you can actually walk out to the rock on the shallow end but it's extremely dangerous. Each year roughly 300 tonnes of mass are lost through wind and water erosion so you just never know when a piece will come crashing down.

After getting safely back to shore,  and everything put away, it was time to hit the road again.  The rest of the day was spent following the coast line from one scenic little town to the next.

Again, a big thanks to Brenda and her exceptional navigational skills. We eventually made it to Sainte Anne. Our first stop proved unsuccessful as the motel was completely full but they were able to direct us to one that wasn't. We arrived and checked in just as another traveller was back at the office complaining because their room was right close to some 'bikers' ! Oh my gosh - the horror!  They were told there were no more rooms so they couldn't move. We checked out the bikers on our way to supper and we can assure you, they were not any kind of threat to anyone. They were just ordinary folks like us out for a tour.  Hopefully these people didn't lose any sleep over their unfounded concerns.
We were told there was a restaurant across the street. There was - in the gas station - but it was within walking distance so we were happy about that. Our meal was actually pretty good and then it was back to fall into our beds once more.

Monday morning dawned bright and sunny once again. We had so far had exceptional weather for our travels.  We spent pretty much all day Monday travelling. We followed the coast for part of the day then headed to the main highway to get us there a little faster.  On the way we stopped for ice cream and found that we were along a section of the Appalation Trail. When the boys decide to do it, it's going to be one heck of a trek - it seems to go on forever!

Onward to Quebec City!