Gaspe, Forillon Park & Perce

Whew we finally have an internet connection again, good old Tim Horton's

We are still laughing about our snap decision to try the ferry and the fact that we actually got on. In Matane we walked along the riverside boardwalk and older downtown area. We found a bakery but were too early for the microbrewery. We continued along to Cap Chat where there is a wind farm. Denis took the tour and got the lowdown on the Darius Rotor and wind power generation. Off again to camp in Ste. Anne des Monts, we walked along the beach and watched the sunset.

Being a prairie girl it took my brain a few seconds to process this sign

It was raining quite hard so we drove around town and out onto the wharf where about a dozen people were fishing. We walked around the grounds of Exploramer, an aquarium. There was an observation tower, so of course we had to climb it. We headed out on the road again drove through several small settlements. The rain continued pretty well all day. We stopped at a poisonnerie in Riviere au Rivard and bought salmon and mussels. Continued on to camp at Forillon National Park.

I'd like one of these in the backyard

We drove to Grand Grave in the south area of the park and hiked 4 km to Cap Gaspe, Land’s End. On the way there we saw quite a bit of whale activity in the bay. We took the bike trail back to the truck and it was harder than the path or maybe we were just more tired. We visited a typical fisherman’s home and farm circa 1900 and then the general store where the fisherman also sold their salt cod. It was very interesting, I always knew it was a hard way of life. We drove to the town of Gaspe, then back to enjoy our salmon. Our second day in the park we started with a hike up to the Mont St Albans look out. Up is the keyword here, it was only 1.8 km but climbing 283 m. It was worth it, the day was clear and beautiful views, we couldn’t quite make out Newfoundland but there was nothing but water between here and there. After lunch we drove to Fort Peninsula, there were military installations during World War II. Denis got to walk in the bunkers and check out the guns.

Hey Wyatt, look at Grandpa pretending to be a soldier

On the way back we stopped at a house built in the 1800’s which more history on the area especially on the creation of the park. 283 families were displaced when their land was expropriated, kind of makes you sad to think where you are camped was someone’s farm 50 years ago. We topped off our afternoon with a short 1 km hike to a waterfall. Oh and a short walk to the shore in the evening.  

That's Cape Gaspe (Land's End) behind us