02 August 2016 | Photo: Quebec City. Current Location: Saguenay, Quebec, Canada
So much has happened since my last blog that I really don't know where to start. Firstly, Vanish is currently on the hard in the Front Street Shipyard at Belfast, Maine having annual maintenance carried out. We were hauled out last year in Belfast so we decided to go back and have another coat of antifouling applied and a few maintenance issues taken care of plus a small modification to our swim platform. We should only be out of the water for a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, we are ticking a couple of boxes regarding visa renewals by combining a milestone birthday of mine and departing the USA with a trip to Canada. We left Belfast on Saturday 30th and drove 230 miles north through Maine and crossed the border into Canada north of Jackman at the post called Sandy Bay Township. It was a very quiet outpost as there were no other vehicles coming or going across the border when we were there. Our passports were stamped and just like that we were in Canada. We did little preparation for our Canadian trip. In fact, we had no idea where we even wanted to go until I decided I wanted to spend my birthday in Quebec City. We rented a car, threw a few things in a bag, put our hotel address in Google Maps and headed off. We forgot to take a French dictionary, and it became very apparent immediately on crossing the border into Quebec that both of us were struggling to remember our high school French. It was actually quite a shock walking into a pizza restaurant and not being able to read the menu or converse properly. We have visited France in the past and were mentally prepared for the language difference, however, Maine is very American yet borders Quebec which is definitely French. The Quebecers are, let's say, over-zealous with road signs and a great deal of them seem to have no obvious meaning at all (see attached photos). The northern part of Maine seemed economically challenged but once on Quebec soil, the roads, farms, towns and houses looked incredibly prosperous and reminded us of home in Australia.
We drove on until we arrived at our beautiful hotel in downtown Quebec City, threw our bags into our room then walked miles around the old part of the city crowded with people strolling along the streets and people dining at the many sidewalk cafes and bistros. It felt just like Paris with everyone laughing, drinking, conversing and enjoying the hot summer weather outside. Wine and beer were being consumed at an enormous rate very early in the afternoon so, not wanting to miss out, we landed at the Restaurant Le Grand Café and found a perfect table right on Grande Allee E. The passing parade was enthralling. The Quebecers have two good months a year to enjoy the hot summer weather and this was it. We met a lovely couple Helene and Jean who told us in broken English the sights to see around Quebec City.
The next day Sunday, we visited the Marina du Port de Quebec in Quebec City on the St. Lawrence River where the marina is enclosed by a lock. It appears that the lock is opened around once an hour, most probably just during the 2 months of summer. At that time, all the boats who wish to go sailing leave their berths and wait in line while the ones ahead of them are tied in the lock. The water in the lock is equalized to the St. Lawrence River and the boats then exit and go sailing. Of course, they have to go through the same hour long procedure once they return to the marina.
We visited Canyon Saint-Anne, a spectacular canyon and waterfall 74 meters in height about 40 minutes out of the city. Today we also visited Chute Montmorency, a waterfall 30 meters higher than Niagara Falls yet it is only 15 minutes from Quebec City.
It is 84 meters in height. We rode the cable car to the top of the falls and walked across a footbridge to view the water tumbling over the cliffs with the St. Lawrence River in sight in the distance.
Today we headed north again on Highways 73 and 175, a four-lane perfect highway lined with nothing but magnificent huge Christmas trees so thick that it would be impossible to walk between them. The hills and mountains are covered in these pine trees as far as the eye can see. There are no billboards along the road, no houses, no farms, nothing but trees for most of the 211 km until arriving at the town of Saguenay which has a population of 157,000. Saguenay is at the end of the road. There are roads going east, west and northwest but no roads go due north from the area into the wilderness. There are no human settlements due north of Saguenay all the way to the Canadian Artic islands except for a few isolated Cree and Inuit villages. We are at latitude 48 deg N (the same as Paris) and it is interesting to note that it would have been possible to bring Vanish here had we rounded Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and travelled down the St Lawrence River then up the Saguaney River, a distance of around 1,200 miles. And yes, that's 1,200 miles to return to Maine, then another 1,200 miles to get back to Georgia.
All this just to get our visas renewed!! And why not I say.