It is Thursday morning and it is a bright and sunny day with blue skies and crisp air announcing a perfect day for our trip going further east towards our next destination Bas-Caraquet in New Brunswick.
Our issue with the internet still has not been resolved so we have to wait till we reach our marina in order to do anything in relation to our internet connections.
As we are driving along this rugged coast of Gaspe Bay we have a couple encounters with a dolphin and a gray whale possibly a humpback as well as a sea otter peaking its head out of the water being nosy about who has entered it’s territory.
Before you know it we have the famous Perce Island and Bonaventure island in sight. And what a sight that is! As we get up close and personal we could easily examine and almost touch this ancient rock formation that at some point and by the power of mother nature created this phenomenon. There are two parts to this island of which the larger one has a window, an opening carved right through it.
The detail in the rock and the precision of the carving is simply a master piece. What a privilege it is to been able to come here on our beautiful Contessa and almost touch it.
Drifting along and around this magnificent creation and being able to take thousands of pictures of one od the most photographed rock formations in the world is quite something indeed.
Right next to it there lies the island of Bonaventure which is a bird sanctuary to the … seagulls that so majestically and usually in a squadron formation glide through the sky in many instances barely skimming the surface of the water. The north-western side of the island has these layers of rock so perfectly chiseled with ledges so much favored by these birds as well as the caves that are formed on this side of the island. The top of the rocks are covered by bird debris appearing as white snow as are the birds themselves all white with golden colored tips of their wings.
On the opposite side of the Bonaventure island the land is covered with meadows and evergreen trees amidst which there are fields of purple flowers crowning the sight. We see a few cottages on that side and have witnessed hiking trails along and above the colonies of birds in the cliffs of the north eastern side as well. It is National Geographic as alive and up close and personal as it can get.
As we leave this natural beauty behind and venture deeper into the Bay of Chagrin we slowly move to the more eastern side of this seemingly endless bay till we reach our marina at Bas-Caraquet. Here we encounter an unusual marina entrance that almost looks like an entrance to a labyrinth, just made of rock walls. The agile and elegant Contessa makes it into this small but well protected harbor. The next challenge is fuel. In order to accomplish this mission we have to back the boat into the fuel dock which lies directly at the boat launching ramp and in depth vise questionable water. Here, as in some other marinas the dock master is a woman Lou Divine and her young assistant who is maybe 14 or 15 years of age very accommodating and as helpful as can be. In order to assure us and themselves she comes running with a depth measuring pole in order to determine if we will be ok going that close to the ramp for our fuel. We make it and all is well! Thank God for that favor!
This is a small town and no stores or restaurants in sight but the Contessa is an attraction for the locals who come to see her and take pictures.