Posts Tagged ‘around’

Around the Gaspé Peninsula

We took the ferry across the St. Lawrence River to Matane and parked overnight on the dock.  We woke up the next morning. Happy Canada Day. Unhappy fog bank. We made an early departure; the other trailers had already left. After driving for about an hour in a pea soup fog, we pulled off into a rest area. We couldnâ??t see anything. Why drive in a fog? We werenâ??t in any hurry. Back to bed we went for a nap. When we woke up, about an hour later, we could see clearly, because the fog had lifted. We were greeted by over one hundred windmills. They were of the modern type, with three sixty foot sails. They were the Aeolian Project, begun in 1988 to harness wind power for producing electricity. Ironically they are located at Cap Chat (Cat Cape). Morgana was still recovering from her sea experience and missed it all. She was asleep.  (I doubt she would have been impressed. You know how cats are!)

Traveled along the Northern coast of the Gaspe. The road hugs the shoreline, while the mountains rise over three thousand feet from the coast. Each village and hamlet was in its own little cove, where the waters for the rivers and the road dipped down to it in deference. The sky was partly cloudy, with the clouds sometimes wreathing the mountains. Sometimes we were below, sometimes within, and other times over the clouds. The vistas were ever changing. With little traffic on the road, we were able to enjoy them without feeling rushed.

Drove through the town of Gaspe, at which Jacques Cartier landed in 1534. The name comes from the Micmac language meaning “end of the land”. Our goal was the Tete dâ??Indien Campground twenty miles further down the road. We were overwhelmed when we arrived there. We had no reservations, but they had ample room for us. Not only that, they spoke impeccable English. The owner, Dan Rose, was a teacher for over forty years in Findley, Ohio and fell in love with the area. He built this campground with the motto of, “We take care of our campers.” That is an understatement. Albeit small, eighteen full service sites and fourteen tent sites.  We were given a map and pointed to the ones which were available. We were also told that if we needed help in parking he would have someone do it for us. After we were situated we went back to the office and were give the red carpet treatment. We were given a welcome package with shampoo, soap, and numerous sightseeing pamphlets. We were told where to go for the best fish buys, the restaurants in the area, where to find groceries, and the major attractions in the area. We were given a booklet with many little known tips, e.g. , on which side of the boat to sit when traveling to Bonaventure Island, for which they sold discount tickets. The campground is right on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They have bocce ball, volleyball, horseshoes, hiking trails, playground and an extensive beach for picking up driftwood, agates, and shells. The campground is so named for the rock formation of the Indian Head, which resembles some of the Easter Island statues. Of course it has a legend. The white men came and took away a beautiful maiden with them. Her beau was saddened and continues to face away from the sea, hoping that she will someday come back to him.  This is a very recent legend, because it was Dan who first recognized the effigy.  No one else had noticed it previously.  It’s his legend and he’s sticking to it.  Dan has since sold the campground and it is under new management.

We left for the sea food store, approximately three miles down the road. We purchased some scallops and fresh Atlantic Salmon. We were also shown the many lobsters and snow crabs kept in holding tanks. They are caught right off shore. You can see the buoys for the traps all along the bays. We decided that we would order a lobster for later in our stay. They even cooked them there. That night we had the scallops, which were delicious.

We woke up to a beautifully sunny day. We wanted to go to Perce (pronounced per se) and see the most famous rock in Canada. Perce is the furthest East on the Gaspe Peninsula. The rock can be approached at low tide via a causeway. The rock from certain angles gives the appearance of a horse taking a drink from the water. When we arrived, it seemed that all of Provence Quebec had the same idea. The area was crowded. Off to the rock we went. When we got to one point, we would have to take off our shoes and go into calf high water to reach the famous hole. We declined and returned to shore. We had purchased tickets for Bonaventure Island.

Bonaventure Island is a Provincial Park and breeding ground for over two hundred fifty thousand birds, of which eighty thousand are Northern Gannets, having six foot wing spans. According to the pamphlet we received, we sat on the starboard, right, side of the boat. Every inch of the cliff and rocks were covered by birds. Of course there were the gannets, but also cormorants, puffins, and sea gulls. Grey seals cavorted in the waters chowing down on the seafood buffet. After the trip around the island, the boat stops at the wharf and allows you to explore the park. At one time a colony of over one hundred people farmed the island. Most were from the Island of Jersey.

A series of four trails crisscross the island. We took the “les colones” one, the shortest in time, but one that ascended the high island. The trip to the other side and the gannet colony took forty-five minutes. When we got to the colony, we were greeted by sense surround. The noise, sights and smells were amazing. It was much more than the Discovery Channel or National Geographic could present. Thousands of gannets were crowded on this small piece of land. They were involved is all sorts of activities: greeting their mates, foreplay, copulation, defending their territory, take offs and landings. The most funny were the landings. They might be graceful in the air and can dive thirty feet into the water, but when they try to land on terra firma they put on a show. One even landed head first. We thought that his head would disappear into the ground. But he shook it all off, as if to say, “I meant to do that.”

We traveled the twenty eight miles to the town of Gaspe. The Micmac Indian Tribe has a museum just outside of town showing their way of life. They are masters at using birch bark, not only for their canoes, but also for their dwellings, basketry and arts. The Micmacs lived in most of the Maritime Provinces of Canada. They were nomadic, but returned to the same areas different times of the year. In early spring they tapped the maple trees for syrup and sugar. They stored this underground for use throughout the year. Other times they were hunters and gatherers, using all the parts of the animals and plants. They most probably grew corn, because they used it as a leavening agent for their pan fried bread.

Tonight we had the lobster dinner. For thirty dollars, Canadian, we had a four pound male lobster, already cooked. The females had been shipped off for white slavery the day before. They are prized for their delicious eggs throughout their body. I forgot how wonderful fresh lobster tasted. Most of the lobster I have had was tough and tasteless. Every morsel of this one was tender and flavorful. Butter wasnâ??t even necessary. Mags worked on the tail and I tackled the rest. There was so much meat, the we ate only half of it. Looking forward for leftovers.

Sad to say, we left Tete dâ??Indien and drove the Southern shore of the Gaspe. The land on this side is more rolling and conducive for farming and resorts with sandy beaches. There are not many attractions on this side, except the sun and surf. One important Naval Battle occurred at Pointe de la Croix. During the final days of the Seven Years War, AKA the French and Indian War in the Colonies, after the fall of Quebec, the French sent six ships with supplies for the remaining French soldiers. Only three made it across the Atlantic. There they met the British Navy and were subsequently destroyed.

The French settlers, Acadians, were dispersed, their lands confiscated. All along the Eastern shore of New Brunswick, their heritage continues, French being the primary language spoken. We pulled into an empty parking lot in Bathhurst and dry camped for the night.

Scuba Diving Around Pattaya Far Islands

As the far islands are uninhabited and a little further from Bangkok the visibility tends to be marginally better than at the Near Islands. All of the Far Islands have large amounts of Jacks, Trevellys, Barracuda, Rabbitfish, Angelfish, Butterflyfish, Wrasse, Gobi’s and as with the near islands thousands of Damselfish, as well as some Giant Reef Rays, some up to 2 metres across. A variety of sharks can also be found in these sites.

Koh Rin:

Koh Rin has three main dive areas each of which can easily support more than one dive. Hin Ton Mai also known as South Rock is a very popular dive spot as the fish life is very varied with lots of Moray Eels and Barracuda. There are plenty of both hard and soft corals, coral whips as well as very good invertebrate life such as nudibranchs, brittle stars and feather stars. This site has very good coral life down to 16 metres. Hin Khao also known as North Rock has as much coral life as South Rock and has lots of rock outcroppings that are homes to many sharks and eels. This is an excellent site for searching around for the more unusual nudibranchs, pipefish, razorfish and others that like to hide away. The site has good diving down to around 14 metres. Koh Rin bay. This site is, unlike the two rocks previously mentioned, part of the main island of Koh Rin. Although this site only goes down to a maximum depth of 12 metres it is well protected from currents and is therefore a nice relaxing dive when compared to both South and North Rock.

Koh Man Wichai:

Koh Man Wichai has two excellent dive areas, the first of which ‘The Wall’ cannot be completed in one dive. The Wall is a 7 metre high coral wall that runs down from 9 to 23 metres and is a dive in itself. The area around the wall itself is an excellent dive site, you can start your dive from the bay and go out along the soft coral line at 18 metres, finish half of your allotted time and come back to the boat along the hard coral line at 12 metres, two environments in one dive !! As each environment is different with the larger fish among the soft corals this is for me the best dive to be had around Pattaya islands. The other dive site at Koh Man Wichai is called ‘The Fingers’, the fingers are a set a rocks stretching from land out to sea to a depth of 12 metres, the hard coral and fish life is very good and as there are five fingers ( but no thumb !!) it is like diving across a large hand.

Koh Hu Chang:

Koh Hu Chang is a very small island that although quite shallow at around 10 metres has some very good corals and abundant small fish life. Koh Hu Chang probably has more sea anemones than either Koh Rin or Koh Man Wichai and as it is well protected from the wind is a good relaxing dive spot.

Koh Klung Bedan:

Koh Klung Bedan is another small dive site that is also quite shallow, maximum coral depth being 12 metres. This dive site has many Staghorn and Table corals as well as Boulder corals that have many Christmas Tree worms.

Koh Phai:

Koh Phai or Bamboo Island is controlled by the Royal Thai Navy, who restricts the use of the beaches, but the small sheltered bay at the south of the island is ideal for beginners.

If you are interested in more information or wish to dive in Pattaya please contact me at Adventure Divers in Pattaya, or visit our website at www.pattayadivers.com

why did bush take his vacations in america but obummer flies halfway around the world to hawaii?

seriously bush was either at camp david or down at the ranch, if trouble happened he was on a jet right away in an hour to washington dc. obummer on the other hand decides to go to Hawaii an island thousands of miles away from the USA. Very conveneint. if trouble happens he can always say that he was thousands of miles away from america the country he is supposed to rule and couldn’t do anything . couldn’t obambi have just stayed in teh United States instead of wasting more taxpayer dollars to go overseas.