AUG 9,10,11

Fri 9 Aug

Elizabeth has been looking forever for one of these.  Finally found one.  We have been unable to book our flight with Sundance Balloons as each time we do, it's cancelled by weather or we are away...like now.  Next year?

Elizabeth here:  On our drive this day I saw so many new colours

for houses ... lime green, lavender, lemon yellow, cadmium orange,

Burgundy!!  Jerry says not all the houses have siding but they all

look so perfect, I guess Gaspeians must paint their homes every

Spring!  They not only have a penchant for red roofs, were are

also many houses with towers, round ones, square ones, octagonal

and hexagonal!

Today was cooler and wet on and off, as we traveled to Sainte-Anne-des-Monts / Camping Ancre Jaune. Elizabeth drove the whole distance and the road is very scenic.  It’s a bit of a shorter drive day and that gave us more explore time … like stopping at a Fromagerie that also baked fresh bread.  I convinced Elizabeth that it was coffee break time…11:30 a.m. 

Our site is overlooking the Seaway with a beach only footsteps away.  There are no fire pits in the camp but they are allowed on the beach, and many campers are having fires.  Some folks are fishing from the shore.

Sat 10 Aug

Went to the Exploramer (?) museum /aquarium.  Had a sustainable seafood lunch and then a great tour of the aquarium. We were the only two English folks so we had an exclusive guide.  Part of the tour is a touch aquarium.  Lots of fun, especially holding the crab!

Quick groceries as we are headed to Forillon National Park on Sunday as there will not be a lot of opportunity to stock up.  Also, we will not have hook-ups there.  We’re lucky to have a site.  Must have been a cancellation.  Even where we are here at Sainte-Anne-des-Monts / Camping Ancre Jaune, there are no vacancies.  We have a great spot overlooking the Seaway. Beautiful.  

View out back.  Campfires allowed on the beach.

Sunday 11 Aug.

The drive around the Gaspe peninsula is incredible.  The scenes are breathtaking, 15% grades around and up and down cliffs and mountains and almost always a super view of the gulf. The wind and the waves here were strong today.  After we rounded the “cape”, the river settled and though it rained heavily for a while, when the sun broke through, it was so peaceful and calm. 

FJ on the steps

We arrived at our campsite at Forillon National Park and after set-up, went to book a whale watching tour for Tuesday.  Then we checked out a cycling ride we will do tomorrow, Monday to the lighthouse.  Along the way there are other historical sights to check out.  At one view as we were headed to the truck, I spotted a seal. Looking forward to seeing more as we booked three nights here.  You could easily spend weeks here. 

We are “boondocking” here (no water, electrical or sewage hook-up at the site) as there were no sites available with electric & water. In fact, there is no vacancy.  We reserved this site almost two months ago and even then, it must have been a cancelation as it was the only sight available in the park.  

We are comfortable “boondocking” (also called “dry” camping) and conserve our water usage.  On the way in, there is a station to fill our fresh water tank with potable (drinking) water and dump our grey water (sink and shower) and black water (the other you know.)  At the site, we will run everything on (2)12 Volt batteries and propane.  

Elizabeth has a CPAP (breathing) unit and we run it off the batteries.  The lights are 12 Volt LED.  The water pump is 12Volt and the water heater and fridge are switched from 120 Volt to propane.  If necessary the furnace will be running on propane and 12 Volt DC battery.  We also have the feather duvet on the bed but night time temps are still reasonable around 14C (approx. 50-60F) so we will be just fine.  

We also have a “Buddy Heater” which is a catalytic propane heater. We really won’t be using these heating items much until September/October but you never know…we are on the ocean now.  Last year on the way home in October from out west, there were a few nights of -5-10C (below 32F) and dustings of snow.

The batteries do need to be charged and we do not have solar panels.  It is important to not let the batteries deplete below 50% or they will be damaged. So, we are allowed to run a generator here from 5-7 p.m. and we will do that to charge them back up.  (This is an RV specific generator that is very quiet and supplies high quality 120 Volt energy.)  When we are plugged into shore power, all that is looked after.  

Also, when we are pulling the trailer hooked up to Clifford, there is 40 ampere/12volts being supplied by the truck to charge the batteries. 

Some serious campers use solar panels and Lithium ion batteries ($1000 each!) as well as composting toilets to extend their “boondocking” journey. 

Just thought some of you might be interested in how it all works…so it’s really “Glamping” more than camping.  A bit different than our portaging, multiday, freeze dried food, tent and sleeping bag campfire wilderness canoe trips. LOL.  Oh ya and we really like doing both…just not at the same time.