On Friday morning in fog so thick you couldn't see the end of the pier, my motorcycle was loaded into a container that was placed, along with many others, on stern of the Bella Desgagnés, a new purpose built cargo and passenger vessel that does the once-weekly trip up and down the coast from Rimouski to Blanc-Sablon and back.
The owner of the Auberge Motel 4 Saisons, Gary Landry, who had, not surprisingly, not been awake when I had my breakfast before I left at 5:15, drove out to the dock to check that everything was ok and that I had indeed had enough to eat, and to give me two souvenir postcards with scenes he had photographed and small pictures of my motorcycle on the back of them.
At the dock in Blanc-Sablon I met a very interesting Italian biker from Bologna who happens to be a tour guide who takes groups for treks to exotic locations; think a desert or the Hymalayas. Ricardo, who I guess is in his 30s is on the last leg of a trip that started in Panama and worked its way north through Central America, the Gulf Coast of the USA and up the Eastern Seaboard of the USA to Washington, and then inland up to Detroit and thence through Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, the Maritimes and Newfoundland. I had seen his distinctive red and decal covered bike in the parking lot at the Grenfel Campus Accomodations in Corner Brook on the previous Tuesday but had not met him then. While we were both on the same ship we did not see each other again until our bikes were unloaded from the container that they shared in Havre-St-Pierre.
My two day trip would take me to 7 ports, St-Augustin, La Tabatière, Tête-à-la-Baleine, Harrington Harbour, La Romaine, Kegaska and Natashquan, before arriving at my destination Havre-St-Pierre Sunday morning at 5:00. At each of the ports we were able to get off the ship and explore the local community for an hour or so while the crew unloaded and took on cargo, and there was the passenger exchange. All the villages, nestled as they are in rocky coves and bays are unique, and skilled captains are required to navigate the big ships along often challenging channels leading to them, especially at night and in the fog that blankets the coast.
This is arriving at La Romaine
And at allof these places growing in the patches of soil along the rocky shoreline and in the ditches along the roads, lovely flowers just there to be admired and collected for pixelated bouquets:
The most picturesque place, to my mind at least, is Harrington Harbour, This small community with streets that are thick plank boardwalks is where the 2003 movie La Grande Séduction - Seducing Doctor Lewis was filmed. Even under overcast skies it is hard not to like the place where residents ride around on 4x4s and have their fishing boats moored along small coves that extend into the village like pointed fingers from the river.
And you've got to like a place where a businessman can put a sign like this in his window:
My cabin on the Bella Desgagné was spotless and very comfortable, and the service and food on the ship were top notch. My dinner on Friday was a well prepared lobster; though there should have been a WARNING on the menu that there would be extremely toxic vegetables served as part of the dish. However unlike peas which can sometimes be hard to locate, Brussel sprouts are large enough to spot and hence to be carefully removed from the plate. Once I got over the initial shock and trauma, I was able to enjoy my crustacean with a lovely glass of white wine.
I'll have you know though that the Saint Laurent is a mighty big river, and ships, even large ones with stabilizers, can rock and roll a fair bit; best to lay down for a spell; which is what I did, Even so, there were times when I felt queasy and yes, probably looked like the drunken sailor while walking about the villages we visited after particularly choppy waters.
The ship arrived in Havre-St-Pierre shortly after 5:00 this morning and I was reunited with my motorcycle. After filling up on gas, Ricardo and I rode together to Sept-Îles, his destination for the day. I was also able to call home again, to check how things were, and to tell Jane that all was well on the road and that I would likely be back home sometime mid-week. Highway 138, or la Route des baleines as its labelled here, runs along the river and is in excellent shape with new asphalt for long sections. Many rivers and streams cascade down from the mountains that rise from the shores of the Saint Laurent.
Arriving at Havre-St-Pierre:
Shipwreck and ore carrier at Sept-Îles
A beach near Baie Comeau
After a coffee with my new biker friend I continued along 138 to Baie Comeau where I'm staying overnight.
As I recall it's on the highway somewhere west of Baie St Paul that you cross the highest point in Canada east of the Rockies.
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