A short drive from Perce to Carleton-sur-Mer

Up early and back to the dining room for a wonderful breakky overlooking the Rock.  A quick walk through town and we were off to Carleton-sur-Mer just a short jaunt down the road.  Only 3 hours in the car today.  We might be able to do it without a stop.  LOL - no chance.

On the drive up to here we only had to share the road with motorcycles (lots and all different kinds), RVs (big, little, slow) and more cars.  Another great thing about this road are all the passing lanes, and the condition of the roads are wonderful considering the winters they must have.  Now the trucks are showing up especially the big logging trucks, they head east full and come back empty.  No idea where they get their logs from when you look up all you see are trees everywhere.

A quick stop outside New Richmond for our picnic lunch, Jim and I are reverting back to our childhood and I'm loving it.  Much nicer sitting on a hill or by the water than in a McDonald's or road side diner.

 We arrive at Carleton-sur-Mer at 1:30 and check into another lovely little motel on the water, this one has a pool too.  Believe it or not I picked this spot because it has a lovely little golf course associated with it with 9 holes in the mountains and 9 holes on the water.  The receptionist asks what time we would like to golf, Jim says "Now".  Like right now, Yes like right now.  NO.  I have my priorities right, 3 is perfect that gives us time to get settled and have our first Captain Morgan's of the day.

 Once again, my camera was ready, set to the "Moose" setting, like seriously can you picture a more perfect picture than a moose drinking from the pond.  So don't hold your breath, not one moose.  I almost got whiplash trying to peer into trees and along rivers as the golf cart whipped around the mountain holes.

Not bad this is the only game of golf I had in 10 days, it wouldn't be a Lynne holiday blog without at least a couple of golf course pictures.

I love these little huts, the first time I saw them was in a coastal golf course in Scotland.  They are great protection if a storm blows in.  They definitely could use them at a few of the northern courses in Ontario.

We stayed at Hostellerie Baie Bleue, it was another lovely little motel with the long balcony.  If I went again I would try and get a room in the Baie Wing.  It is right on the water.  We had a wonderful view of the water but was just across the road.  The food was only so so, we did take the package which gave us a dinner and a breakfast.  Next time I would eat in town, it looked like there were some lovely little restaurants along the main street.

Excited to see the gang in PEI tomorrow.

Perce Rock Quebec

Odometer reading 82370 up and down hills and hugging the coast - an absolutely stunning drive without being terrifying.

Imagine driving into work everyday with this view in front of you.  Perce Rock in the town of Perce on the Gaspe Peninsula.  There is a great read about the history of the rock with ghosts, phantoms and ship wrecks on wiki.  Thankfully when we were there it was a lovely peaceful day.  The only spirit being raised was Captain Morgan :)



As a warning as you scroll through my pictures, I think I took 100 pictures of the rock, no they aren't all here, but there are ones from the shore, from a boat, with a boat in front, looking through the arch, with a bird on top, with me in front.  LOL.  Enjoy.

This is Bonaventure Island - a national park which includes Perce Rock.  293 different species of birds have lived on the island along with 50,000 pairs of northern gannets.  I don't think I took a picture of everyone but it looks like it.  There used to be over 120,000 pairs on the island.

We stayed at the Riotel Perce Bonaventure, the picture above is the view from our motel room.  Once again there is a beautiful dining room overlooking the rock.  The rock was glowing as the sunset.  And the food was fantastic with a wonderful wine list.  Definitely on my list to go back to.

The town was full of tourists, artists, and there was line dancing in the town square.

This picture was taken from our boat trip of the road coming into the town.  We did the 1.5 hour tour boat ride, it was a lovely calm day and definitely worthwhile.  The boat went around Perce Rock so you were able to look through the arch from both sides and then around Bonaventure Island.  The Captain was very informative about the history of this beautiful Canadian National Park.  

 Between the birds and the seals you wonder how many fish there are in the St Lawrence to keep them all fed.

 

We had another 5 star dinner at the hotel overlooking Perce Rock (I left my camera in my room :).  Another beautiful day, we really couldn't ask for better driving weather.  Lots of sun, big blue skies with amazing scenery everywhere you look.