In Other Things Maritime, we're including things that made our trip
experience what it was, but for one reason or another either didn't make it into one
of our previous stories, or we feel warrant repeating it in this epilogue.
Kudos
The French folks of
Iles de la Madeleine accepted our efforts to speak French, and reciprocated
by attempting to speak English. For us it was a week of almost French
immersion. We had lots of opportunity to speak French in stores getting
groceries, around the campground and more. Unfortunately, we felt a little too
intimidated to strike up a conversation down on the docks. In addition, the brightly painted houses throughout
the Islands created a warm homey feeling. All in all, a big kudo to the
residence of the Islands.
Barachois Campground
provided us with a campsite only 20 meters from the
eroding red sandstone bluff and the Gulf
waters. There, we were open to the elements; the winds, pounding surf, and salt
spray. We were in the perfect location for a real Iles de la Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence experience; the
experience we had come to the Islands for. It was even challenging and fun making
our reservations over the telephone in our broken French, and the receptionist's
broken English. The campground and facilities were kept very clean, and the
cost was reasonable. To top off our stay, the night before we left, the
owner dropped by and thanked us for staying at Barachois. Kudos to the owners
and staff for helping make our time on the Islands an experience to remember.
Prolite Roulottes
of St. Jerome , Quebec, was the manufacturer of Penny, our 13 foot Prolite Mini.
From our earlier short trips, and now this much more significant adventure,
Penny has proven so far to be a fine trailer. We experienced some severe Maritime
wind and rain, and she made the living conditions not only survivable, but
pleasantly comfortable. Prolite gets an out-of-the-gate kudo, but we'll
continue to assess her to see if she can pass the test of time. We've
set the goal at 10 years and 100,000 kilometers.
Other Things Maritime
The ferry to and from the Islands was operated by CTMA Traversier.
The docking locations were Souris PEI and Cap aux Meules, Iles de la Madeleine.
The crossing was 5 hours in good weather. It operated daily for the most part, with seasonal variations.
For a good portion of our trip, we had some very unsettled
weather; others might say it was even poor. However, we wouldn't like to think
the weather defined this wonderful trip, other than to say, " we had
Maritime weather, and it was all part of the real Iles de la Madeleine experience
that we were looking for ".
With the exception of the winds, the Islands are bicycle
friendly. The main highway has paved shoulders, there are a number of cycling
paths, and the laid back nature of the
residents seemed to translate into courtesy and respect for cyclists.
The shores of the Iles de la Madeleine were exceptionally
scenic. They were either sculpted red sandstone, white sand beaches, sand dunes
or a combination. In some places, the waves had carved archways and caves into
the red sandstone bluffs making wonderful beachcombing opportunities.
On the windward side of the Islands, the surf may have been
angry on a dark and dreary day when the winds hit 30 to 40 kph, however at the
same time, on the other side of the Island, the leeward side, the waters were
normally quite calm. So we learned to read the winds and spend our time on
whichever side would support our activity of the day. Travelling time from one
side to the other was only about 10 minutes.
The harbours were full of fishing boats. They along with the
fishing gear were generally in good repair. The boats in dry dock were also
either in good repair or being repaired. There were very few abandon relics. It
appeared from that, the fishing industry must be relatively prosperous these
days.
We were wondering how they produced electricity on the
Islands, and kept our eye open for wind generators. We thought with almost
constant winds, that they may be the most economical way. However, except for
one derelict windmill, that didn't
appear to be the case. We did see 6 large smoke stacks near the coast, which
were probably for oil fired generators.
The Islands were anything but touristy, or as we term it,
the tourist veneer was thin and spotty. There were a few touristy shops, but
for the most part, the commercial activity was there to serve the locals and
tourists alike. Wherever we go, we try to get beneath the tourist veneer, and
be in contact with the real people, what they do, and where they do it. In the
case of the Magdalens, that was easy.
Even on a cloud laden or rainy day, often from our campsite there would be a
spectacular sunset over the gulf of St. Lawrence.
We had a great trip, and we hope you enjoyed it too. Thanks for
coming along.
