Wednesday 28 July 2010

Ready for a day on the river, we enjoyed an entertaining orientation briefing and then kitted up in wetsuit, helmets and life jackets and got on the proverbial yellow school bus to take us down to the river. Here we met our guide Shane and set off in our sporty 7 man white water raft. There was an option for a 12 man raft which is much more stable in the water, but the team I was with wanted to get wet! So it was just the 4 of us and our guide – I knew that I was in for a wild ride and what a time we had!

The first rapid was a grade 4 – quite a biggie, but we managed to negotiate it intact, although we hit some pretty big waves and got flung all over the raft. It was a wild ride. At the bottom of the rapid, everyone regroups with all the other rafts and then it’s time to go surfing. Approaching the rapid from the bottom, you edge into the white water sideways and then try and surf the waves. Well, our first attempt flipped the boat and everyone including Shane ended up in the water – well Felix managed to stay in, but he was the only one! Our second attempt was really successful and we had a great time surfing – it looks really cool on the trip dvd that we purchased.

Surviving this experience, I lost all fear and really enjoyed the rest of the day. We were on the river for about 5 hours, paddling through stretches on flat water and riding down 7 more rapids with death defying names such as Push Button, Hare , Farmer’s Block and Butcher’s Knife.

Wednesday 28 July 2010 Continued

Then it was snack time where we stopped off to do have a snack and do some cliff jumping! Yup – I did that too – TWICE – check out the video clip as evidence! We also enjoyed some swimming time and just floating downstream in the water as well as trying some summersaults off the bow of the raft.

Wednesday 28 July 2010 Continued

Finishing up in the lake, all the rafts are tied together and towed to the pontoon boats where we enjoyed a barbecue lunch on our cruise back to base. Not only was there plenty of adrenaline and relaxation, but some awesome scenery and bird life. We saw another Bald Eagle and I got to see my first Osprey! What an awesome day!!!!

Tuesday 27 July 2010

Shopping this morning and getting the bikes serviced, as well as buying a padded seat cover, we spent lunchtime by the pool and then it was time to pack up again. Meeting Francois at the train station after work, we headed out with Francois, his son Felix and the 2 of us to Renfru past Ottawa for our white water rafting expedition tomorrow.
We had a wonderful sushi picnic supper on route, and had just started eating when the rain came down! Hurriedly packing everything away, it stopped 5 minutes later and we resumed our supper.
We arrived at the white water rafting camp after dark and soon settled into our basic cabin – one room 2 bunk beds. It was gorgeous walking down to the Ottawa river to see the full moon light shining across the peaceful water. The calm before the rapids of tomorrow!

Monday 26 July 2010

I earned my lie in this morning and I enjoyed it, but then it was Odette’s turn to be exercise task master. We packed a picnic lunch and set off for the provincial park just near the house for a walk to see the 3 lakes, which turned out to be a 10km march! It was great despite some huffing and puffing up hills and the scenery was gorgeous.

We had a lovely picnic on a boardwalk over the lake and I spotted my first Loon. It is a beautiful large water bird that is a fantastic swimmer, but awkward in the air, taking a long runway with lots of flapping to get airborne.
Just as well we are getting lots of exercise as Odette is a phenomenal cook and has been spoiling us with gorgeous meals. Tonight we enjoyed creamy pasta followed by a chocolate fondue which was a real treat!

Sunday 25 July 2010

Attending church in Montreal, we got to have sacrament in French and this time with no translation. I followed 2 talks and was clueless for one of them. My French still needs some practice! We took some photos of the Montreal temple and then headed back to spend the day with Francois and Odette. In our absence Francois had been planning a great 40km to 50km cycle together, but I had to give him a reality check that my maximum cycle time is currently about 90 minutes. My legs have the power, but I can’t do the saddle time!!

He still managed to get 25km out of us and a top speed of 28km/hr into a head wind. He killed me, but we had fun all the same cycling along a river and around a suburban island and then back past a mielie field. Getting home we relaxed by the pool in the afternoon and enjoyed a fantastic pork rack barbecue.

Saturday 24 July 2010

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.

Friday 23 July 2010

Not having had enough of the beachfront, we did a long cycle this morning and explored more of the area. We found a beautiful long sandy beach and bustling holiday town about 6km along the shore from where we are staying. There were people swimming and kayaking and cruising along the road in convertibles or sitting on their decks enjoying the sun. It was easy to get into the spirit of a summer holiday! Sitting on our deck in the evening, I watched my second sunset over the sea and experienced intensely every last sunray.

Thursday 22 July 2010

Driving rain was the order for today – it was raining when we packed up the car to leave Prince Edward Island and bucketing down as we drove through New Brunswick. We have spent the least time in the province of New Brunswick and had the worst weather – no wonder Liam was at home here – cold and wet like Ireland! Even in summer.

We arrived in Prince Edward Island on a ferry and left driving across an amazing bridge which is 13 km long and high enough to let full size container ships pass under it. Check out the cool photo of the bridge disappearing into the mist. Later in the day, the sun did make an appearance and we drove through a stunning river valley. I am looking forward to more of this kind of scenery in Alberta.

Arriving in Rimouski, Quebec on the East shore of the St Lawrence River, we set out on our bikes to explore the area and enjoy the evening sunshine. My quest to see the sun set over the water had brought us here. In all the lakes and sea shores that we have been, we have not seen the sun set over the water. The St Lawrence “River” here is over 20km wide and is actually still sea water, so it’s the same as being at the sea shore.

Cycling along the beachfront was gorgeous, the water was so calm and on the horizon, the blue mountains of the opposite shore. Then the town church bell tolled and it felt like being back in the south of France. Adding to this is the fact that no-one in this area speaks English so luckily we know enough French to get by. We had a lovely seafood dinner watching the sun set over the sea and the whole sky go pink. It was everything I had wished for and made me very homesick for Cape Town.

Wednesday 21 July 2010

It was time to get the golf swing working again, so we headed off to forest hills golf course this morning where we enjoyed a round of golf. The course was lovely and quite tough with lots of water features and hills and slopes. Dragging the clubs around and walking up hill and down dale was quite a work out, especially in the heat!

Tuesday 20 July 2010

Exploring more of PEI this morning, we did another cycle passing Covehead Harbour and salt marshes where we saw lots of herons and cormorants. It was very picturesque and we really enjoyed the fresh air and scenery. We spent the rest of the day in holiday mode swimming in the pool and relaxing around the cottage.

Monday 19 July 2010

It was water sports time and we set off this morning to Stanley Bridge to go parasailing, where a boat tows you attached to a parachute. You can choose a line from 600ft to 1000ft long with the price increasing accordingly. We set out in the speed boat for the other side of the bay before they hitched up the first victim to the parachute. Watching a couple of others, my palms starting sweating and swelled up at the thought of how high they were going up in the parachute.

Eventually it was my turn to be the victim and I opted for 400ft of line, which was plenty of height for me and some! It is the most amazing and peaceful experience to gradually lift up into the air going higher and higher until the boat is just a tiny speck below you and all you can here is the parachute above you flapping in the wind and your harness creaking! The view is amazing and it’s an enjoyable peaceful solitude. Liam really enjoyed his flight too and being more relaxed went to a height of 800ft!

We then hired 2 sea kayaks and went paddling around the bay for an hour. We kayaked out to the fishing boat in the middle of the bay to watch them harvesting mussels. It looks like hard work and a crew of about 6 strapping young men dressed in their fishing waders, hauling in and emptying nets full of mussels to some serious rock music!

The afternoon back at the cottage brought more excitement as we finalized our bookings for our wedding anniversary trip to Churchill. This was a detour that we were hoping to make on this trip, depending on the budget. Churchill is a very remote town on the Hudson Bay in north Manitoba where one can see artic tundra, beluga whales in the wild, polar bears and other artic animals. It is so remote and so far north that you cannot drive there as there are no roads and it is a 42 hour train journey or 3 hour flight from Winnipeg. Anyway we found a trip that fits the budget and we are very excited about this addition to our trip. It now means we have to travel 3500km from PEI to Winnipeg in the next 2 weeks. At least part of this route is a repeat of our journey east so we can skip quickly through these areas.