Early the next morning, the ship stopped briefly at Chandler on the Gaspe Peninsula before carrying on towards the St. Lawrence River.
Life on ship revolves around meals so we started the day with breakfast onboard. We passed on the option of a bus ride to Perce to see the famous rock and chose to visit the historique site at Pabos just down the road from Chandler.
We took the shuttle bus from the ship and then got off at the Atelier d'Art to look at some of the crafts before walking on to the site via the newly created bike path.
Not sure where all the money came from for all this infrastructure but it might have something to do with the paper mill that shut down in 1999 and the piles of money that went into trying to restart it in the intervening years without success.
The town seems to be doing their best to promote what they have with this nice path. There is even a nod to the workers who came from China to build the railroads in the 19th century.
The historic site at Pabos Mills does not have any remnants from the time of Nouvelle France since the British burned it down on their way to conquer Quebec in the 18th Century but there are interesting panels describing the history of the area from the time of Basques fishermen to when there was a Seigneurie to when it was a saw mill.
There is a small fishing shack that has been constructed on the shore of the bay to indicate what the fishermen might have lived in.
Access to the site via the bike path is across a long, aluminum bridge that runs just beside the railway bridge.
Time was running short as we had to get back to the ship an hour before sailing so we recrossed the bridge and made our way towards the harbour.
We watched the ship depart from the stern deck just as it was time for lunch.
Life on a ship, any ship, revolves around meals and food. The food on the ship was good though not so flavourful (something about cooking for large numbers that seems to inhibit the cooks in the spice department) and the service by the staff was great.
Shortly after lunch, it was the second attraction for the day as the ship was going to pass close to Rocher Perce and Ile Bonaventure.
After that it was relaxing, getting a chance to tour the bridge, watching a documentary on seal hunting in the cinema, and enjoying the view of the Gaspe Peninsula pass by as we waited for supper.
The day ended with listening to a bit of the musical entertainment with an Acadian flavour in the bar before turning in early to the sounds of the engines throbbing beneath us.
After trying for a week we finally got our chance to take the boat excursion to Entry Island on our last day on the Magdalens before getting on the ferry/cruise ship, CTMA Vacancier, to travel back to Montreal.
There is a small community of Anglophones on the island that survive from fishing and the few tourist dollars that come in. A gentleman was on the dock to greet us who turned out to be the owner of one of the two restaurants on the island (not bad for a population of 60 people). We chatted with him for a minute and then carried on since we had brought a picnic lunch.
The big attraction on the island is climbing "Big Hill".
First, we had to check out the grave of Farmer, the locally famous horse who was sold to a person at Grosse Île on the north part of the Magdalens in the 1920's and then galloped and swam back to Entry Island the next spring.
Next, we carried on to the little museum to add a few dollars to the local economy. There were a lot of photos and information about people from the island who had gone off to fight in the two world wars plus some interesting old photos of residents from the island.
Finally, it was time for Sarah and I, along with our friends' son who was joining us for the excursion, to tackle Big Hill. Also, joining us for the climb was "Dog" who, according to the man at the museum, attaches herself to a group of people off the boat and stays with them for the time they are on the island.
Just before we got to the steep part of the hill we stopped to enjoy our picnic lunch, which consisted of some of the smoked mackerel and the wonderful cheese we acquired the day before at Ile du Havre aux Maisons. 'Dog' was hoping to partake in some of the goodies but we didn't have anything meaty to tempt her. Still, she stuck with us as we packed up and made for the steep trail towards the top of Big Hill.
The grade was just starting to increase as a mist rolled in from the sea enveloping Bill Hill.
The wind started whipping up along with the mist so it didn't make for a pleasant moment to lounge at the summit and enjoy the view so we followed Dog down the easier slope on the other side of Bill Hill back towards the community.
Dog seemed to know exactly how much time we had to spend on the island before we had to get back to the boat and would occasionally come back to encourage us forward if we dawdled too long at any point.
As with most places in the Maritimes, the population of the cemetery outnumbered the living souls on the island. I thought the most interesting item, though, was the bottle of Port wine present in the window at the back of the church where the priest's robes were hanging.
We soon found our way back to the harbour with a short stop in Brian's Restaurant for a beer to leave a few more dollars on the island. It turned out that Dog did have a name, Poco. She lead us all the way down to the dock and wished us well on our return journey back to the main islands while she waited to guide the next group of visitors who might show up.
The return journey to Cap aux Meules was gentler and swifter with the following seas and we passed the ferry 'Ivan Quinn' that is apparently named after Entry Island's most famous and best-loved resident who passed away a few years ago.
Then, it was time to get our bags, say good-bye to our friends who were spending the rest of the summer at their cottage here and then grab a last island beer before boarding the CTMA Vacancier.
We had enough remainders from our picnic on Entry Island to enjoy an evening picnic out on the deck of the ship while watching various other boats preparing to leave the harbour and the sun go down over Cap aux Meules.
So ended a wonderful week on the Magdalen Islands and started the last segment of this long journey that will take us back to our starting point in Montreal, this time on the water rather than cycling beside it.
Our hope to get over to île d'Entrée today was, once again, dashed by a lack of people for the boat but we were told by the excursion company that the boat would definitely be going tomorrow so we went with Plan B and decided to head off on the bikes for a tour of île du Havre aux Maisons.
There was a nice downhill leading out of Cap aux Meules towards the bridge though we realized we would have to come back up it on our return.
We also passed further evidence that Disco was dead.
Île du Havre aux Maisons is smaller than Cap aux Meules but it has several distinctive Hills and bluffs that make it quite picturesque. This was also going to be a bit of a gastronomic tour as the island has a smokehouse and a cheese-making farm. The tour, however, started out on a very basic level as our picnic lunch consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with sliced banana, a few carrots and an apple as we tried to deplete our food stocks prior to our departure tomorrow.
Still, we found a nice, quiet spot off Chemin du Cap Rouge along the Lagoon with a few small boats anchored just offshore and a blue heron to keep us company.
Now fortified for the ride through the hills, we headed to the northern point of the island where we (I) decided an ice cream might also be required.
The Bar Laitier was just in front of the Plage de la Dune du Sud so we had a look while digesting our ice cream.
Unable to find any other excuses to not ride, we embarked on our steeds and looked for the turn for Chemin des Montents. And climb we did, with a bit of wind in our faces to amp up the challenge. But the climbs weren't endless and the days pedaling against the wind had fortified our legs so we got to the top. The view certainly made the effort worthwhile.
It almost felt like we had travelled over to the Swiss mountains for a moment.
Another Hill brought us to a lookout with a lighthouse and a view towards île d'Entrée.
The view from the direction we had come from wasn't bad either.
The day was getting on so we made our way down to the Fumoir to pick up some smoked mackerel and seal Jerky before taking in the selection of cheeses at the Fromagerie. Two stops on the Chemin de la Pointe Basse that are musts for anyone visiting the islands.
Stocked up with goodies for our hike on île d'Entrée tomorrow, it was time to head back to Cap aux Meules against the wind and up that hill to get us to our dining spot for the night, Les Pas Perdu.
The menu looked very good with a lot of dishes using local products. Sarah was more adventurous, going with the salad of smoked scallops and seal meat confit while I went with the old standby, moules et frites. The Crème de Légumes soup we had to start was very tasty as we sat enjoying the ambience and the glass obviously from ISO Verre.
Great meal; probably rivaled the lunch we had at Café de la Côte for best meal on the islands. Stuffed, we took ourselves across the street to the Butte to step off our meal and get a view of the harbour where our cruise ship was waiting for us for tomorrow.
Heading back down the steps we spied a good Samaritan trying to rescue a cat.
He managed to get the cat and himself down in one piece with a hearty Bravo from Sarah, though a jogger running the steps thought the salutation was meant for him and thanked her as he ran for the top.
We finished the day by taking the bike path, a real one, at the base of the Butte that took us along the shore half way back to the Auberge.
And so we parked our bikes under the windows of our room at the Auberge du Gros Cap for the last time; lucky number 7 and the nicest room in the place.
Arthur was pretty much a non-event on the Magdalens compared to Nova Scotia and PEI. The morning saw the remainder of the strong winds and rain dying out and leaving a very pleasant afternoon.
We returned to Havre Aubert (after watching Vincenzo Nibali win the second stage of Le Tour) catching a lift from our friends with our bikes on their bike rack. The day was spent around the chalet and then walking along La Plage du Ouest looking for suitable rocks to line a flowerbed at the chalet.
Although the wind had calmed down considerably, there was still a nice surf along the shore.
Nature, naturally, can often be the best sculptor.
With a good amount of rocks weighing down the car we returned to the chalet leaving the beach to the kitists.
We finished our visit to Havre Aubert by heading over to La Grave to check the shops and partaking of some local brew at Café de La Grave. We accompanied it with L'assiette Grave, which included three spreads; one with lobster, one with smoked mackerel and one with seal liver. Surprisingly, the seal liver one was the tastiest especially with the candied onions layered on top.
We said goodbye to our hosts, slipped into the public toilet by the wharf and changed into our cycling gear for the ride back to the Auberge.
As the sun was lowering in the western horizon, we hit the dunes along Route 199. The winds were quite light and just out of the West so we didn't have the brisk tailwind of the previous trip but we arrived back at the Auberge just as the sun was setting behind us. It was a very agreeable ride allowing us to digest our appetizers and beer, and giving us just enough of a hole to fill with some vegetarian couscous on our arrival.
After riding around in the wind and hills and sun, we almost looked forward to the expected bad weather coming with Tropical Storm Arthur and decided to take a health day at the Auberge.
After breakfast, we walked out along the beach to the local fish market. The winds were just starting to pick up a bit.
We picked up some crab and a few smoked scallops to make a seafood salad for lunch before heading to the Dep to round out our food necessities for the day in case we couldn't get out during the storm.
We had noticed a sign on the same road offering homemade bread so we went a bit further to check it out. We were lucky as there were a few loaves left. The lady in the shop said that usually people call to reserve a loaf as her partner only bakes the bread three times a week and only bakes a couple of extras.
We snapped up one of the multigrain loaves and headed back to the Auberge in a freshening southeast breeze. It was hard work walking against the wind so we quickly threw together our salad and sat down to eat as the wind kept increasing.
The afternoon saw some of the campers transfer into the Auberge in anticipation of Arthur.
For me, this was a chance to watch a bit of the first stage of the Tour de France (silly Mark Cavendish trying to push it and crashing out of the race 400 metres from the finish) and one of the quarterfinals at the World Cup (Robben is down again! And again! And again!).
Supper was a quick reheating of the remainder of our fish stew and then we hunkered down to watch the waves and listen to the wind and be happy we are warm and inside on this Maritime night.
