On leaving the Portage Lake Campground, we headed north to Quebec. Initially, our route was to take us across the border at Fort Kent, ME and then up to Parc du Bic, but we found out that Quebec National (Provincial) parks do not allow dogs at all. Since Harry and Sally travel with their dog, Nina, it meant that Park du Bic and all the other Quebec parks were out, except for Forillon at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, which is a Canadian National Park. They allow dogs.
We changed out route to go directly to the Saint Lawrence River at Rimouski. We went through Fort Kent and then south on US 1 to Madawaska and crossed into New Brunswick at Edmundston. After a stop at a bank for Canadian funds and a good cup of coffee, drove on through a very short section of New Brunswick into Quebec. Once in Quebec it wasn't really straight, but a winding scenic route through the forested countryside over some rather steep roads (it would be a fun motorcycle ride, but I wouldn't want to do it by bicycle).
We came out at Rimouski, stopped briefly at their visitor center and then continued north along the coast road to the lighthouse east of the town. Ellen and I had stopped here last year to collect the lighthouse stamp, but Harry and Sally hadn't seen it. There is also a Canadian submarine on display. It has been beached and turned into an exhibit. Harry took the tour, but the rest of us strolled the grounds of the lighthouse.
We found that there is an RV parking area out on the pier/breakwater behind the submarine and that it seems to allow boondocking, something to consider if we ever come back this way. We considered staying, but wanted to get a bit further up the coast in order to visit the Jardins de Metis today.
On the way to Metis, we also made a stop at Vieux Moulin, near Sainte Flavie. They are a producer of honey, honey products and mead. Ellen and Sally both bought bottles of mead. Ellen picked the Devine Nectar, an award-winning traditional mead and Sally opted for the blueberry version, also an award winner. They have only tasted Ellen's so far and it has been an excellent after-dinner digestif.
After the two stops, it was time to find an overnight campsite. There were several listed in the Quebec camping guide, but none seemed enticing when we passed by. We finally decided on Motel/Camping Metis, very near the gardens, which was in my point-of-interest data on the GPS, but not in the published guide. It was a strange little place, but the hostess, who understood no English, gave us two unserviced sites overlooking the river (a bay at this point). They were probably the best sites in the place, but lacked electricity and water...which we didn't really need.
After setting up camp, we took a walk down to the beach...then it began to rain. It rained most of the evening and we decided not to dine together, but in our individual Roadtreks.
We woke early, about 4:30am, this morning. It had cooled off considerably overnight and was now 55°F, about 25° cooler than at home. The sun had arisen at that time, making it a bit hard to sleep. It was off for an early shower. Camping Metis has the most unusual shower building we've seen in our Speedy travels. First, it was a unisex accommodation, with both toilets and showers. I had the building to myself, being very early. Ellen wasn't so fortunate. Second, the showers were the smallest ever. We probably had more room to shower in Old Speedy. The stalls were tiny and the area between the stall and the door was about a foot wide, making undressing and dressing without getting everything wet a bit of a challenge.
After breakfast, we drove back to the gardens...but we were too early. There is a river park a short distance further and we continued to there. It wasn't officially open either, but the parking lot was accessible, so we stopped and walked the wooded trail out to the river and back before going on to the Reford Gardens/Jardins de Metis.
The gardens are actually a property previously owned by Elsie Reford, the niece of one of the developers of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Her uncle was the original owner, but gave it to Elsie when he decided to return to England. She turned the house from a male hunting lodge into a mansion and built and extensive set of gardens, both open and wooded, formal and rustic. They were quite a nice walk and the house itself was quite interesting, but the highlight for Ellen and Sally was a Swainson's Thrush, a life bird for both of them.
After the garden touring, we continued east along the coast, stopping at a roadside Fromagerie for some local cheese and also at Matane, to look at the salmon run. There is a dam at the end of the river with a large fish ladder and there is still a run of Atlantic Salmon here. With a bit of difficulty, we found the park with the run, but found no salmon. The people in the visitor center/fish counting station said that 75 had passed by so far today and that was about average for this part of the season. Given the time of day, it seemed that about 120 a day were coming upstream, an average of five per hour, but none came by while we were there.
So much for finding salmon, and now it was time to look for another camp. Again, with few pass-bys, we have ended up at Camping du Rivage in Sainte-Anne-Des-Monts, a rather simple spot, but right on the water. Fortunately, we had salmon burgers in the freezer, so we did get some salmon today.
Tomorrow, it is off to the National Park at Forillon.
No comments:
Post a Comment