Gaspe trip Day 6

A tropical cyclone is not what you want to be hearing about when anticipating a boat cruise. The rain started at 8am as we headed out to get our tickets for the tour of Perce Rock and Bonaventure Island. Fortunately we were prepared with rain gear. Ken already owns a knee length rain coat, and one went on sale at Mark’s just as we were planning our gear so I bought it just in case. It proved its worth today as it meant I could sit on the top deck outside during the boat trip rather than struggle to see through rainy, steamy windows.

The boat tour with Les Bateliers de Perce lasted 1 1/4 hours and toured around both sides of the Rock and then headed out to Bonaventure Island which used to have inhabitants but is now a provincial park and bird sanctuary. In good weather you can disembark and visit the Island but today was not one of those days. We headed out in rain which got progressively heavier, and fog was rolling in when we returned.

The bird sanctuary has many species of birds but particularly Northern Gannets with the largest population in the world.

The weather curtailed the rest of our planned activities in Perce but we came across a Historic Store nearby in L’Anse a Beaufils. It has been recreated to represent a 1928 company store, Robins, Jones and Whitman. They were kings of the cod fishery and their workers wages went to buy goods at the store. The store is fascinating to visit as the owner tells the story of its past and how it was turned back into a 1928 store, but also all the items in the store are originals that were squirrelled away in attics and store rooms over the years and are now returned to their shelves.

My original plan was for little travel today, which has turned out to be a blessing given the weather. So we stopped early and are hunkered down in our room, out of the wind and rain. The motel is quite nice and has an outdoor firepit and picnic tables which would have been nice to use, but we are warm and dry and not having to worry about road conditions. Time to open the bottle of wine and break out the baguette and cheese.