Eight hours of driving and 4 hours on boats, made for an action packed day! Our longest day in Canada started with a 5.45am start (thought we were on holiday!). We wanted to get on the 30 car ferry across to the other side of the St Lawrence River and had no reservation. We had a nervous hour waiting, but we made it – last car on and enjoyed the hour crossing. There are whales in these waters, so I was on the deck with the binoculars for the hour crossing, but all I saw were the northern gannets diving for food.
Arriving on the west shore in Forestville, we drove the 1.5 hours down to Tadoussac. The quest for the day was to try and get on a cruise up the Saguenay fjord. I have always wanted to see the fjords of Norway, so this was a good alternative! The scenery on the way down was just beautiful – cliffs overlooking the sea, river valleys and mountains.
Arriving at Tadoussac Tourism Office, we were informed that all fjord cruises are 6 hours long and not having time for that, we opted for a whale watching cruise that includes a trip into the fjord – hey who’s complaining!! The whale cruises are huge here and we chose the smallest craft which normally carries over 200 passengers. Happily there were only about 90 people on the cruise today, so it wasn’t a packed sardine tin.
Heading out into the beautiful bay, Liam soon spotted our first Minke whale and not to be outdone, I soon spotted a pod of Beluga whales. They were far off in the distance, but about 45 minutes into the cruise we came across a pack of about 200 seals. I have never seen so many in my life. The sea was a seething black mass! Shortly after this we started spotting many Minke whales all around and really close to the boat. These were then followed by a wonderful sighting of 4 Fin Back Whales – the second largest creatures on the planet.
There were many boats in the water from zodiacs to large cruisers and everyone just idled peacefully in the water waiting for the whales to surface. It was so calm and we were surrounded by blows and the surfacing of large and small whales. A small private craft below us was included in this collection of boats with the occupants eagerly searching the water in front of them for the next whale to surface when a Minke whale sneeked up and surfaced with a big blow right at the back of the boat. The one lady got such a fright, she shrieked and started running forwards – to where I am not sure. It was hilarious and many of us including her packed up laughing!
Leaving the whales behind eventually, we headed up the fjord. It was breathtakingly beautiful and remote with steep forested slopes dropping off into the water. It was so still and rang of a different era when animals roamed the earth freely and the planet was still pristine and unspoilt.
Finishing the cruise at 4pm, we had another ferry crossing of the Saguenay River followed by a 6 hour drive which got us into Francois and Odette’s house in Montreal around 10pm.
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