Well we are here and once again we are tied up on the starboard side - hasn't anyone told the Captain that the "port" side is so named as that is the side which is tied to the shore. So once again we have a view across the river to the predominantly residential area, plied with vehicular ferries. As promised it is overcast and apparently it rained on our way up the river this morning.
It is a "do it ourselves" event as we are berthed right in the centre of the old town, which has two parts, lower & upper. Apparently there are stairs up to the upper area, which is the more historic, being the only walled city north of Mexico (take note Mr Trump!). The wall is some 400 years old, but unfortunately they are in the process of doing extensive restoration work and we were unable to get to see some areas. But as usual I am ahead if myself. The stairs are referred to as the "breakneck stairs" but there is an alternative - a funicular. Unfortunately I did not have any Canadian dollars at this stage, so stairs it was. It was actually a very pleasant walk and the stairs were not a great issue.
On the way we passed through an area of "building art" adjacent to the centre of the old lower town. Having reached the upper town we thought we'd get to the Citadel, which also contains the Governor General's residence. Thought that we were on the right track, but after half an hour along a lovely walkway (& heaps more stairs) I conceded defeat and we reversed our steps. One of the most impressive sights (purportedly also the most photographed) is the Chateau Frontenac. So I photographed it!
The Chateau
Along the boardwalk
Retracing our steps - ship in background
It is at this stage that the extent of restoration work became more evident. Still saw all the "touristy" sites and also got to exchange my Euros for C$ at a good rate. Now I've got to spend them either here or Halifax. As with the last 2 ports, Quebec is predominantly French, both spoken & written. I found it a little strange as in most foreign places we've visited in the past (including China), English sub-titles have been the norm. Perhaps I am showing a degree of English arrogance- sorry!
We were in an area with plenty of food & drink, but mainly fast-food outlets, or Irish Pubs (as you'd expect), but down a side street there was a nice cafe attached to one of the better old hotels. Very good coffee and food for morning tea. Just as we were ordering, who comes in but Margit & Jim. I had joked to Jim as we were leaving the ship that we'd probably see them at coffee time. But as we were finishing our coffee the heaven's opened. Not many verandahs around either. Fortunately I was carrying our light raincoats and also the rain had eased by the time we left the cafe.
Satisfied with our exploration of the upper town, we went back down the stairs and through the bustling retail areas of the lower part. A lot more food & beverage and I must add that the sun was back out and it was becoming hot. We continued walking back past the ship and on to the markets - mostly food & veggies. We didn't think that the prices were much different to back home. By now we've been walking for over 5 hours and black clouds are gathering again, so we retreated back to the ship about half an hour before the thunder & lightning.
Quaint shops
Looking at the funicular
It is a pity we are in port until 11.00pm, not that I'd begrudge anyone the ability to enjoy the city, but that as with Saquenay yesterday, we don't get to enjoy the scenery on either sail in or sailaway. I spoke too soon, the rainclouds all disappeared and it turned into a lovely late afternoon/evening.
Once again with hindsight we were extremely fortunate where we were docked as we were in the centre of the special festival entertainment (don't ask me what it was all about but we had
•Acrobats (8.00 - 9.00) doing a major show, which we could see at least part of as they were immediately adjacent to the ship.
•A rock/pop concert (9.00 - 10.00) a little in front of the ship and another concert on the far shore too.
• An enormous fireworks display (10.00) from barge(s) in the middle of the river.
We ended up with prime views from our port balcony. So prime, that the bigger fireworks felt as though they were aimed directly at us. Before the fireworks we entertained ourselves watching the Police on their modified jet skis, controlling all the small leisure craft, as well as a couple of larger party boats that cruised up for the display. It was really an evening to remember. I did however feel sorry for the folkloric show in the theatre at the same time.
Day 71 - 10 August - at sea
Damn. I have a bug and feel Yuck. Hopefully it is just a 24 hour one, but I won't go into details. We are sailing down the St Lawrence river again and at least we can see land, although the river is now very wide and really looks more like a coastal view in the distance. This evening, around 9.00, we had a medical evacuation by the Coastguard and we had to sit for a couple of hours until our medical team returned to the ship. Although I had spent the day in bed & skipped dinner, I knew this as the stern thrusters were kept on for what seemed an eternity. Usually they just use them when entering or leaving our berth, and when they do, the ship vibrates quite violently.
Day 72 - 11 August - at sea
Much better today, the sun is shining as we power along the last of the Gulf of St Lawrence and then into the Atlantic to Halifax and not an iceberg in sight (sorry in-house joke about why we missed Halifax on the 2015 WC). The last formal for this sector tonight, but I'm sure we have another one next week! As usual the parade of the Baked Alaska's takes place and we have noticed some changes over the years. First it was replacing the real candles with battery powered ones and now the parade is of polystyrene replicas!! Health & Safety rules again.
Oh dear, another day, another medi-evac. Once again by Coastguard, but this time it is in daylight, around 6.00pm just off Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. It was after 9.00 before we sailed away, so obviously the medics had to escort the patient to hospital in Sydney and come back. The Captain previously assured us that this event would not impact on our arrival in Halifax.
Day 73 - 12 August - Halifax
Yes, we did arrive on time and we had a good walk along the waterfront boardwalk as far as the City proper. As we are not mall shoppers, we decided to skip the next few blocks and headed back home in search of a coffee. Now although it is Sunday, clearly the locals are not cafe/brunch people. Nothing seemed to be opening until either 11.00 or midday, and we need to be back in time for our afternoon excursion. The boardwalk however was very popular walking spot with tourists and locals alike. We were intrigued to see the fitness group on their exercycles on one of the smaller wharves.
See all that power
We were just about back to the ship when we came to the Farmers Market, and had a decent mug of organic coffee and organic blueberry muffin at of course an organic price. But it was worth it. Picked up some free WiFi, not that I need it, but our shipboard allowance expires in a couple of days and the next sector is much longer, so effective daily allowance is less. Good opportunity to update my Google Maps for upcoming ports.
Our excursion is out to Peggys Cove, about an hours drive away. As we've found out over the course of the cruise, if the assembly time is 1.20, then everyone is there by 1.05, so down we went through the terminal at 12.55 and there was already a queue of 40+. I know this as we were #46 & 47 to get on our 50 seater bus. There were in total 4 buses this afternoon (& the same for the morning excursions). All went well until it was time to leave and our bus was the little (big) bus that couldn't! No, it apparently refused to go into gear, so we sat and waited for 10 minutes and then it worked.
Our trip out to Peggys was through the centre of the peninsula, with not a great deal to see until we reached the coast. One factor we were told about was the impact of the last ice age, when huge glaciers ran out far into the Atlantic Sea and on their way out and in the topsoil was scrapped away. This is most noticeable in the ever reducing height of the trees. Peggys Cove and the surrounding area is almost devoid of vegetation, with the granite rock formations being most spectacular.
Clearly on a sunny, summer, Sunday we were not the only people visiting the cove. Apart from various buses there were thousands of "locals" doing the same thing. We had an hour of free time, so apart from the obligatory lighthouse photos, we wandered the wharf area and township - only 50 residents, but of course humming today. The queue at the Lobster Roll shop was amazing, but we actually had a hotdog & cold drink at "Peggys Dogs", down by the water. Surprisingly, one of the women running the outfit used to live in Christchurch, when her husband was flying with Air New Zealand.
Queuing for lobster
Peggys Cove lighthouse
Harbour
Harbour
Shopping hot dogs
Relaxing
On our way back onboard, an Officer at the gangway told us that yet another passenger is being disembarked by ambulance, so that's 3 days in a row. We were all set for 6.00 departure, but once again the ship's gangway refused to go into storage before we took off, so an half hour delay. It was a lovely evening for the sailout and we enjoyed the scenery for a change.
The Captain has already told us that we will be doing maximum speed (20-22kts) to reach New York on Wednesday. As always, the ship is treating this as the end of the cruise, but I think that I am over commenting by now. A other bit of good news is that they give us back that hour again overnight.
Enjoyed this blog love to go to Nova Scotia .
ReplyDeleteEnjoy New York love to be there with you
Sue xx
Happy O Birthday Murray hope you are celebrating well and we will hear all about it in your next blog Muir and Penny 🎂🍾
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