Sunday evening to Wednesday

Sunday evening:
Confederation Bridge! The Bridge is 17 miles long and connects PEI with mainland Canada; we sailed under it at its midpoint and I just managed to scramble up to the Crows Nest and jostle my way forward to get a picture as we scraped under. The problem was it was raining, so everyone was trying to do the same from the doorway. I also got some good shots of the bridge extremities fading into the distant horizon.

Monday, Gaspe, Quebec
Small town; Graham felt well enought o have some breakfast and we got ready to queue for a tender; then he felt dizzy again and decided he needed to lie down. So I went across to the port and had a bit of a walk around. There was quite a reception on the shore for us, including a band of singers. It`s absolutely freezing! Strong, cold wind; max forecast 12C but by the time «i got back to the ship «i`m sure it hadn`t reached those heights and it was spitting rain. Everything here is written in French; and everything seems to acknowlege Jacques Cartier, who arrived in the 16th Centurey. The cathedral in this small town is a very `different` structure - looks like a factory on the outside but a beautifully warm and inviting church inside. No internet available on shore. Quite a big mall with lots of different shops available. Buildings are so well insulated, with double entry doors and warm inside. I even tried Maccas tea to get internet access but no good. Very welcoming town - nice to visit.

This evening we noticed after dinner that there was a pink line around the horizon and then we spotted the sunset! A quick dash for the camera, then we headed up above the Crows «nest to the highest point where us mere mortals are allowed - Sky Deck (14): what a sunset! The only problem was the wind chill factor made it feel like 10 degrees below; it was all we could do to hang on to the camera and try to keep it still but it was worth it - memorable pictures!

Tuesday, Sept Isles, Quebec
What a reception! We made history this morning, being the first cruise ship to ever visit this port; as soon as we anchored, little boats came out and buzzed round, followed by a police boat which shooed them away, and a fireboat did an impressive water spray dispay. Then we caught a tender to shore and people were lined up at the wire fence waving to us! We were given a souvenir tote bag with local information, taken through amarquee with all sorts of people welcomign us and displaying local goods. We discovered the Mayour had closed the shcools for the day and there were lots of parents with little kids at the waterfront; the mums push multiple cute toddlers in the cutest buggies of all shapes and sizes - up to 6 in a buggy; we have some very cute pictures. The little ones are all rugged up (it was about 40F this morning and up to last week there was still snow around). Found a cafe that makes espresso coffee «9very hard to find in these little ports). No internet though. Once again a very French town. Sunset and twilight stretch out so long here, at 9.00pm there`s still light around.

Friday, Saguenay, Quebec
Very friendly reception here again, but less English speaking. I was able to get instructions in French and get us to this library where we have free internet. This morning we spent about an hour sailing up the Saguenay Fjord and River: such beautiful scenery! We were told that we would be sailing past the "statue of the Virgin Mary" around 8.00; I was curious, so I rugged up and went up into the frozen zone on Deck 14 again. A white dot gragually appeared amongst the almost perpendicular rock faces in the fjord and then there it was! Unspectacular, just a white statue; got a picture, but it was just so strange to see it there in the middle of nowhere! I almost got frostbite in my fingers in the 7 minutes that I spent up there.
Looking forward to a fomal dinner tonight and then we disembark in Quebec City. It`s been a wonderful cruise - hard to believe it`s gone so quickly!