Thursday Sep 20, 2018

Map and road video – Percé, QC to Bathurst, NB

Another day that consisted mainly of pleasant driving but, before I left Percé, I took a cruise to Parc national de l’Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé. The pierced rock I mentioned yesterday. Bonaventure Island is one of North America’s most important migratory bird sanctuaries. The most common birds are various species of cormorants and the northern gannet and the island is believed to have the largest population of gannets in the world.

The cruise went close to the rock and circumnavigated Bonaventure Island so we could get a close look at the wildlife. During the cruise the guide asked who spoke English and I was the lone soul onboard. Once the commentary had finished he came and sat down to chat and, although he was the fourth generation of his family and the region is 95% French speakers, he had a retained a noticeable Irish accent. This part of Canada has seen many waves of immigrants and I enjoyed hearing his story.

I did not make any other stops as I drove the 220 miles to Bathurst, New Brunswick which means I’m officially in Atlantic Canada. The first two thirds of the drive was very pleasant as the road runs along the coast but the land is low lying so there were no particularly memorable sights.

Percé is a small village that is teeming in summer but was quiet this morning. This is the view to the east from the center of the bay. The cool seats were very comfortable.and to the west with the rock and boat quay.
The 290 foot high rock is impressive up close. The small and large rocks used to be joined with another arch but it collapsed in 1845.
A small sampling of the gannets on the cliffs of Bonaventure Island.