Mingan Archipelago

Aug 28, 2019

The alarm chased us out of bed at 4:00 am!  It was time to go ashore, and it was still dark outside. We dressed for a hike and a boat ride, so it was a hurried trip to our meeting place on deck 4.  Twenty-six of us early risers were going ashore. We left before breakfast, but Isabelle, the event co-ordinator, did provide a large bowl of fruit that we could take with us on the hike.  

The ship was moored to the dock and was busy loading and unloading as we walked across the tarmac to the Parks Canada Interpretive Center. The Parks Canada staff welcomed us and handed out Mustang survival jackets and then escorted us to a large Zodiac. The sky was beginning to lighten and the buildings of Havre Saint Pierre were taking shape.   

This community of 3400 people, is at the end of highway #138. This coastal highway was completed in 2017 and the town is feeling an upswing in tourism and visitors.  It has a snug marina with many small pleasure craft and sailboats moored inside.  The Parks Canada Interpretive Centre is at the entrance to the harbor and is a modern and well-appointed building.  A large office building and a church steeple line the incoming street.    

The water was mirror calm and the zodiac smoothly slipped across the surface.  We had two Parks Canada employees as guides, one to speak French and one to speak English. As we passed by one island, the rock formations came into view and the sun was just coming over the horizon.

We docked at a Parks Canada dock that was connected by a well-maintained aluminum framed boardwalk onto the island.  As we came onshore, the tall monoliths towered over us. 

Our guide, took us, the English group, onto the shoreline and explained the historical development of the limestone formations on the islands.  A boreal forest covers the whole area of the archipelago, and growing out through the forest are the monoliths.  The formations are the results of the ice age receding, and water erosion, making them unique according to the various layers and the type of rock.  Inside these limestone layers are many fossils that tell the story of the how the area islands were formed.  We followed our guide through the boreal forest on board walks as she gave an informative narrative of everything we passed. It was a surreal sight to be walking through the boreal forests with the monoliths towering through the trees.  The boreal forest was made up of black and white spruce, hemlock and tamarack, with thick growth of bushes and low growing plants. It was also a good experience for Debbie and I to be in the boreal forest as we had seen miles of it on our train trip to Churchill Manitoba, but we had not actually walked into it or studied it up close.  

The entire experience on the island lasted about two and a half hours, (we had to get back to the boat), but we could have stayed in this area for days.  It truly was a unique and memorable sight.

We returned to the Belle Desgagnes in time for another delicious breakfast. The meals served on this vessel are fantastic!  Each meal has three choices; one is a chef’s choice.  They are not huge meals but beautifully presented and well balanced. 

After breakfast we went back to our cabin for a nap.  Debbie slept well, however, I couldn’t so I came up to deck 6 and watched a presentation about the vessel and its crew, and history.

The Belle Desgagnes is the second supply ship of the Relais Nordik company and it replaced the Belle Nordik Express.  The video showed the winter conditions that the personnel experienced in the winter months!  To load this ship in -40 degrees or sail it in 60 mile an hour gales take a special person.  The ship is the main supplier of goods to the lower north shore settlements and is an important part of the culture of the inhabitants to the settlements. Announcements on the public address system are made in French, English and Innu.  The Canadian Coast Guard Icebreakers keep the channel open for the vessels until early January.   

I then went into the cafeteria and worked on the blog. There is no internet service in this area, however, it was important to keep up with the notes as we have been so active each day on this ship.  Debbie met me in the cafeteria as we missed the lunch meal in the dining room, however we enjoyed a light lunch.

At about 2:00 we arrived at Natashquan (pop 1100), another small settlement, whose main economy is based on tourism and mineral exploration. We walked through the community. This is the end of highway 138. There are no further roads north of this community.  The inhabitants travel on the “white road” which is the snow and ice road from here to the other settlements in winter. The stop was about one hour and we wandered back to the community. 

We had met Lucie and Jean on board the ship and they were watching their vehicle being lifted off of the ship.  We had a couple of meals with them earlier on in the week, and we thought that they were leaving.  We said goodbye to them and they started to laugh.  They were actually leaving their vehicle in Natashquan, continuing the cruise up to Blanc Sablon and then returning to Natashquan to then drive the highway #138 back to their home in St. Croix, Quebec.  Jean is going to the island of Anticosti to hunt deer.

Our next stop was Kegaska, a community of about 125 folks.  We arrived just after our supper meal.  We had met Denise and Paulette for breakfast yesterday and they too were going for a walk so we joined them for a short walk into the community.  It was Paulette’s birthday so we wished her Happy Birthday.  The ship finished unloading early and was ready to go before our re-boarding time.  We hurried up the gangplank and thankfully just made it on time!

Tomorrow morning, our first port of call will be the community of Harrington Harbour.  This village became famous with the on site filming of “Seducing Dr. Lewis”.  Tonight we are going to watch the film in the lounge on Deck 8.  At about 8:00 the lounge began to fill and by show time all the seats were filled. Judging by the laughter and the applause at the end, it was evident it was enjoyed by everyone.  We then went to bed, looking forward to another day of new places and sights.