As planned, we left Montreal at dawn. It was so early that the sun was not up yet when we left the hostel. Despite the early wake-up call – 4:30 AM! – our young friends were quite efficient and got through their morning ritual in record time; they were waiting for the bus before the scheduled arrival time of 4:55 AM.
A ten-day expedition with twenty people means loads of baggage. We had to call on all our imagination and determination to fit all our bags and boxes in the luggage compartment of the bus. To be frank, we did not manage it… some baggage found its way inside the bus. Can’t wait to see how we’ll manage to fit all this in the kayaks!
Bananas, apples, juice, yogurts and muffins kept us alive until we reached Quebec City were we made our first stop at our old friend’s Tim H. who, as always, was waiting with bagels, morning sandwiches, smoothies, coffees of all kinds, and more muffins.
Back on the bus, everyone has his or her own way to pass the time: Jacob and Lunou give French lessons to Allegra, Charles-Henri asks a few riddles to Émile, and Francis, Madison and Layla play cards, Jeffrey doodles with Sean watching; David and Ali discuss with the guides in the front rows. Time passes by as do the kilometres; thank God as we have to go 1100 of those before we arrive.
Shortly before noon, we enter Tadoussac. We board the ferry from which we watch the curious and playful belugas perform their ballet as they come around to say hello. Is this a sign of the mammals’ sightings to come during our kayak expedition? Let’s hope it is…
Short break for lunch, with a game of ninja, and time to gulp down a salad and pasta before watching Lunou and Francis show us their skills as they agree to do the dishes before we leave. We continue our journey along the majestic St. Lawrence River until we are stalled for a good half hour because of a construction site, followed by another, and another… Apparently the North Shore region is afflicted with an orange cone disease attack… This leads to a serious delay in our schedule. We have to stop in Sept-Îles for the evening meal, at the famous (?) Chez Carlos, a canado-italo-greek-american-chinese buffet.This allows us to eat at a decent time and in a short period of time.
Given all this, we reach our camping site rather late. We pitch the tents in darkness, with fits of doubt, laughter and, to be frank, very approximate adjustments. Having said this, we must reckon the resilience and adaptability of our young friends: in spite of a full day of transportation that stretches endlessly as a Cirque du Soleil contortionist, our team is all smiles, very positive and always ready to cooperate. Hats off! And Good Night!