CANEAST 5-7

SEPT 5

We spent hours on the beach today relaxing.  Elizabeth went in for a dip.  I was too chicken.

SEPT 6

We’re getting ready for the possibility of a severe storm – the tail end of hurricane Dorian.  Hopefully all will be ok.

It was a nice sunny day and we ventured to the other end of the island, Grosse-Ile.  This area is predominantly English. 

We stopped at the salt mine (part of Windsor Salt and all part of a larger international corporation) and had a very informative tour at the interpretive center with a half hour talk and slide show given by Lucy.  The islands were created on top of seven salt domes that rose up from the bottom of the sea.  The dome here is the closest one to the surface, one of the main reasons for placing the mine there.  All the mining is done underground and about 150 people are employed year-round.   They produce a salt product ready for winter road use.  It was very interesting how they mine this product and the size of the resource now and for the future.  In the past 25 years, they have only scratched the amount of salt there.  Lucy and Woody (actually her name is Wilma) were great guides and very welcoming.  Wilma told me she got her nickname “Woody” when she was just learning how to talk. She had a Woody-the-Woodpecker toy that said, “Hi! My name is Woody.”  When people visited and asked her name, she would say “Hi! My name is Woody.”  It stuck.

We were told to visit this Anglican Church to see the stain glass windows.  Jesus is a fisherman wearing boots.  FJ felt at home.

Next, we went for lunch at the wharf – Cap Dauphin Fish Shack. 

For dessert we headed to Grandma’s Bakery, in the lower level of the Little Red School House Museum. The one-room school house was built in 1921.  We had a personal English tour of the local museum and the veteran’s museum.  There were many soldiers from the islands in the first, second and Korean wars.  All very interesting.  Our guide told us stories about several veterans, many she knew personally.  There were two men from the islands who volunteered for both world wars.  From these small island communities over 200 men and boys served in WWII.  I believe they have a photograph and ID information on every person who served in the first, second and Korean wars – including the nurses. Our guide was sent by the community to the 75^thAnniversary Celebrations in France.  Her stories were very interesting.

Above pictures were shot exploring the far end of the island Grand Entree.  The folks here predominantly speak English.  

SEPT 7

We are nervous, waiting for the tropical storm/possible hurricane Dorian to pass through tonight.  Currently the island is under a Hurricane “watch.”  The winds are forecasted at 80+km gusting to 140km or more with lots of rainfall.  Nova Scotia is under a Category 2 Warning and Quebec hydro sent two crews over to this island. 

Right now, around 5 p.m., the trailer is rocking quite a bit.  Misty is nervous and has taken to her bed.  We’ve packed our knapsacks with a few essentials, our important documents and a few snacks in case we have to high-tail it to the campground office this evening. 

And that’s where we are now at 10:00 P.M.…it’s not good but we are safe.  We may spend the whole night here…there are only a handful in the camp as it is closing at the end of September so most have left.  Mainland Quebec has sent in two extra crews in prep for outages.  The power has gone off two or three times but only briefly. What can I say except now that we have strong WiFi, and as long as there is electricity, I’m going to try to send out a new blog!