The Furthest East We Will Go
(written August 24)
There’s a town called Blanc-Sablon in Quebec. It’s the easternmost city of the province, and would have been the furthest east we could go on this trip. As the Maritimes are closed due to COVID, this was an option. After doing some research, however, we decided to travel to the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River instead.
The Gaspésie region is a peninsula that extends into the Gulf of the St. Lawrence. The Peninsula in itself is slightly larger than Belgium and there’s a loop you can do around the entire shoreline.
We’ve been enjoying our time here. I was telling Annika the other day that trying all the food at the different casse cröutes along the road has quickly risen to my favorite parts of this trip.
(soft serve or no serve)
On the 20th of August, one day after the exact one year mark of when Annika first came to Canada, we made it to Pointe-Saint-Pierre. Looking out over the Gulf of the St. Lawrence at a beautiful vast sea, with Percé rock in the background, we felt happy to be there. Who would have thought when Annika first came that we would be here in a year. We walked around and enjoyed the splashing waves, watching birds dive into the water to catch their next meal. This would be the furthest point away from where we started.
We then headed to Forillon National Park, stopping at Haldimand beach along the way for breakfast and a stroll on the beach. All the campsites were full at Forillon, unfortunately, but we managed to do a hike up to the observatory and had some spectacular views.
(annika enjoying the view from pointe-saint-pierre)
(the view from an observatory in forillon national park)
Lighthouses, steep roads and seaside views along the way made for a beautiful drive. Over the next few days, we saw many little villages, ate way too much food, and had a peaceful and relaxing time. A memorable moment was sitting on the beach in Mont Joli and seeing a whale from shore. We weren’t sure what kind of whale it was but it was small and hung around for a while.
From there, we made it back to our first campsite since we left Montreal, completing the loop we set out to do. As we were setting up the bed, I couldn’t help but feel some sadness. The time is going by too fast.
I now realize that three more sleeps and we will no longer be sleeping in a van.
