The Gaspe Peninsula

Places along the route have away of disrupting plans; my intent had been to leave from Amqui and travel directly into New Brunswick, but I kept hearing good things about the Gaspe Peninsula and lure was too much – I had to go.

The Gaspe Peninsula thumb-like projection that extends out from Quebec’s land mass to the south of the great waterway and reaches into the mouth of the St. Lawrence Seaway.   One of the main attractions of the peninsula is Perce Rock that lies just of the shore of the city of Perce.

After riding all day, dusk was approaching and I was still a few short miles from the site.  The site itself no longer seemed important; I needed to find a campsite before dark.  Although there had been plenty of campgrounds (or so it seemed) when was just riding and not actually looking for site; but now it seemed as if they had all magically disappeared!

I thought that surely as I got closer to Perce Rock that the attraction of the site would surely yield a campground.  Fortunately, this time I was right; I found a small campground that was located only a few kilometers from the site (although I wasn’t sure at the time).

The next morning I got up early, dressed and left promptly for Perce Rock.  I wasn’t sure what the morning light would bring, but knew that it was certain to be better than what the midday sun would bring and I had high hopes of getting good photos.

My only disappointment with the results was the fact that I left my 500 mm lens behind (the lens and the required tripod just took up more space than my Harley would allow).  Being limited as I was to shooting from the shore line, the 500 mm lens would have been a great asset (Note too self: find a way to bring the tripod and lens on future trips); even so, you can judge for yourself as to the results.

After spending an hour or two photographing the Rock and various other sites (see the old barn and light house) I returned to clean-up and shower before returning back to Perce to see what else the day would bring.

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When I returned in the afternoon I learned of boat trip that traverse the rock and head to the nearby island of Bonaventure.  After circling Bonaventure, the trip promised to stop off at the island for exploration before returning back to the Gaspe Peninsula (all for $20 – I was in!).

The boat gave a close up glimpse of the Perce Rock (as well as a view from the other side) and a chance to tour the Bonaventure Island; all of which would have otherwise been missed.