Au Revoir Québec

Sun. 11^th October ’26

Today we are heading south and crossing into New Brunswick with a night stop in Miramichi. When I check our driving time it has increased from less than 5 hours to a bit over that. On closer inspection I see why. I had booked a hotel on the south bank of the Miramichi River in the main part of town and the bridge across the river is closed until November. At least this unexpected detour only adds 20 minutes as we head inland to the next bridge crossing, though to compound the time pressure, we also lose an hour as the time zone changes when we cross into New Brunswick.

However, before all that is another early alarm call to see the sun rise over Percé rock and Bonaventure Island. As we walk to the jetty we can see the astonishing colours in the sky, and it is still some 30 minutes to sunrise. At least it is only a five minute walk to our selected spot. I am still struggling without my 18 – 135mm lens which has broken, so I am having to use my wide-angle lens which gives me a challenge! I manage a few compositions as the colours change.

Two days ago, in Cap Forillon, there was no colour in the sky (for us) until after the sun had risen. Here the colours are most vivid before sunrise. There is a thick layer of cloud directly overhead but, fortunately, the sky is clear on the horizon. The sun’s rays strike the underside of the cloud showing up the texture of the clouds and turning the entire sky shades of pink, red, orange or yellow. Wow! We have been so lucky and we try mixtures of short and long exposures. Luckily I remember to turn around and see a rainbow over the town as the cloud starts to drop some rain. All too soon the sun rises and the colours all disappear.

The first half of our drive takes us along the pretty coastline south to Campbellton. We can see why this coast became a popular tourist destination, even though we are in the cold wind of October. We take a detour inland to a viewpoint in the Parc Régional du Mont St Joseph up a windy road climbing to an altitude of 555m just 5km from the coast. As we arrive at the car park we hear shouting and clapping as many under fives were running under the encouragement of their parents, some not looking at all happy. We had arrived during some running event for all age groups and the first race of the day.

We left the runners to it as each progressive age group headed off for their race, and admired the incredible views back towards the sea/Gulf of St Lawrence. Well the village we are looking at is Carleton-sure-mer, so it must be the sea! Interpretation boards explained that the landscape formation was complicated, so I gave up trying to understand the many geological changes and just admired what was in front of me. Well worth the short detour from the coast road.

In Campbellton, we chose a supermarket south of the river just in New Brunswick and two things struck us. Firstly we were greeted with a cheerful “Hello” not “Bonjour” and secondly Timtams are in stock again. No more Québec Province for a while and English is again the preferred language. Our schoolgirl/boy French had got us through the last ten days. It is now a quick blast to Mirimichi and our accommodation on the river. We wave at the hotel as we pass by the closed bridge on the north bank on the 20 minute detour mentioned above and are soon settled in before heading for the hot tub. It is Thanksgiving tomorrow and the hotel has a special menu of turkey but we decide the Irish Pub round the corner is calling instead.