All over Quebec when ever we mention we would like to see whales, the same answer was "OH, you have to go to Tadoussac", which is on the north side of the Gaspe Peninsula. One of the things on my bucket list was to see the Beluga Whales in the Saint Lawrence, and the only place is at Tadoussac!
So of course we went to Tadoussac (thanks also to my friend Gaydene). The drive was beautiful, very hilly, but the scenery was amazing.
Just before you get to the town of Tadoussac, you board a small "free" ferry that takes about 15 minuets to cross a small fjord.
small ferry but is was free and not a very long wait to get on, below is the dock for the ferry.
This is the front of the famous Tadoussac Hotel, where you can sit out on this beautiful lawn and watch whales, amazing place, and very very beautiful.
This is the front lawn and the view!
So we headed to a campsite on the other side of Tadoussac, which some guy that Doug was talking to recommended. It is set on tiers and with a great view of the Saint Lawrence. We booked a whale watching tour for the next day.
It was a bit pricy, but it was for 3 hours. When I was looking up whales in the Saint Lawrence, I learned that there are 13 different kinds of whales, that come into the Saint Lawrence, from the biggest being the Blue Whale to the smallest the Belugas and 2 different kinds of porpoises and seals.
We were not even gone more than 2 kms saw a Minke Whale feeding. In total we saw about 30 whales of 3 different kinds. We saw Minke Whales, Humpback Whale and Yes!!!! Belugas galore!!!!
Our tour boat
Now, it is really hard to get a picture of these whales, as you never know when they are going to come up for air, and when they do it is only for a few seconds and they are back down again, so I tried my best and this is the results.
This is a Minke Whale. They do not swim in pods but mostly swim and feed alone. They grow to be
6 - 8 tons and are 8 m in length
This is the head of a Humpback Whale, which was busy feeding along side the boat for a long time.
They grow to be 11-13 m in length and weigh 25 - 30 tons.
A Minke Whale feeding. These whales come into the Saint Lawrence to feed as there are plenty of fish for them to feed on. Their diet is fish and krill.
Another check off the bucket list! Beluga Whales !! Amazing !! There were about 10 of them all around the boat busy eating. They grow to be about 3 - 4 m in length and weigh 7 - 15 tons.
Doug had never seen whales in the wild, so it was also a check off his bucket list. We have another Whale watching tour booked for the Bay of Fundy with Shauna in a couple of weeks, so lets hope we see a lot of whales.
One of the only kinds of whales not found here is the Killer Whale and it is only found in the Pacific Ocean.
All over Quebec there is a style of house that they are know for. They are built out of wood, bricks and even stones. They come in all different colours and really are a work of art. Here are a few I took in a small town as we were passing though. They all have the huge verandas and windows on the second storey.
So we have travel over 6000 klms so far, you see some pretty strange things in peoples cars, windows etc. We went by this house that had a 2 full size horses, and two people with cloths on and tons of other stuff out in his front lawn. So we made a U-turn and took these pictures of the strange things you can see. This was all on the same yard!
Can't image how he decorates for Christmas LOL Glad he is not my neighbour.
We are currently camping about 50 feet from the Saint Lawrence, and it is pouring rain. We are going to start making our way to New Brunswick tomorrow, so hopefully the weather smartens
up and we see some sunshine. We have not gotten out to golf as much as we planned as the weather has either been 30+ or pouring rain, but we are planning to do a bit more if we can.
Take care everyone, e-mail us once in awhile and fill us in on what is happening on your end
jkboorse@hotmail.com or
dwmeyer52@hotmail.com
Play safe and until next time
Judy and Doug
No comments:
Post a Comment