Jack’s Walk

Smuggler’s Cove, ©voyager, all rights reserved

This is Smuggler’s Cove, one of our favourite beaches. It’s a bit out of the way and the road in isn’t well-marked, but that just means we usually have the place to ourselves. The cliffs here show off the mixed rock that is typical of this area and the colours change as the light moves across the sky. At low tide you can walk along the base of the cliffs and if you’re lucky you’ll find a fossil or an agate. I often also find sea urchins and sand dollars here. It’s one of my best places to beach-comb.

 

Jack’s Walk

Portage River, Gaspe Peninsula, ©voyager, all rights reserved

When most people think about the east coast of Canada they think about the ocean, but because of the beautiful Chic Choc Mountains we have here there are also lots of fresh water rivers and streams. This is the Portage River which flows into the Malbaie Salt Marsh before finding the sea. It’s a great place to canoe or fish and just happens to be behind Jack’s favourite ocean beach, Coin de Banc, making it a great place to rinse saltwater off a tired soggy dog. I’ll spare you another photo of an all wet Jack frolicking in the water.

Monday Mercurial

Hello and welcome to Monday Mercurial, a regular feature for all the critters out there. Sadly we won’t be able to keep up the Daily Bird, but we will replace it with three regular features throughout the week for the winged and furred inhabitants of planet Earth.

This is a young magpie that kept begging for food, even though it was already old enough to get over to the bowl of dogfood some campers had forgotten outside.

Young magpie with open beak

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Yound magpie, begging for food

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Young magpie with open beak

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Jack’s Walk

Chic Choc Mountains, Gaspe, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Jack and I are still on the east coast of Quebec in our little village called Perce. There are so many beautiful vistas here that it’s hard to choose, but today I’ll share the Chic Choc (pronounced Shick Shock) mountains. They’re the Canadian part of the Appalachian mountain range and are among the oldest mountains in the world. I love the soft rounded peaks that roll one into the other in a long unbroken chain. I’ll be sharing more photos of certain places in the mountains, but this is the long view to whet your appetite.

After today, Jack’s Walk will be here Monday to Friday only.

Jack’s Walk

Through the meadow, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Toward Perce Rock and Mt. Joli, ©voyager, all rights reserved

So much Blue, ©voyager, all rights reserved

The weather here is perfect today, a rare treat for the Gaspe where it is frequently cool and damp. Jack and I decided to walk the meadow path that leads to the edge of the cliff overlooking North Beach. The ocean looks so blue today and the sky so clear that we wanted to take it in from on high. You can walk even higher, all the way up to the cross which sits atop Mt. Joli, but that’s a steep climb we’ll save for another day.

Jack’s Walk

Perce Rock…going…

…and gone.

Fog is pretty common in Perce and it shows up at any darned time of the day. One minute it’s sunny and the next minute there’s a thick fog. When Jack and I set out this morning the sun was shining and the air was warm and clear, but by the time we got to the beach (a 5 minute walk) the fog was thick and there was a cool breeze. I like the film noire feeling of walking in the fog so Jack and I set out as usual down North Beach where suddenly the Perce Rock disappeared in the mist.

Barcelona, the Zoo 2: Gorillas

Since we were talking about apes anyway…

My favourite great apes are gorillas. I could watch them for hours, especially their eyes. The group in Barcelona just gor some snacks when we were there, so some of the images will be them foraging.

Gorilla on green grass

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Young gorilla climbing a rope

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Young gorilla sitting

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Gorilla, eating

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Jack’s Walk

North Beach, Perce, Quebec, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Jack and I took a stroll along North Beach this morning. This is one of our regular go-to places when we’re here because it’s just across the road from where we stay and it’s seldom busy. It’s also beautiful and full of fossils, sea glass, agates and pretty stones of many types.

Barcelona: the Zoo 1

We’re leaving the Aquarium, but stay with the animals. Zoos are something we love to visit wherever we go. The zoo in Barcelona has the perk of having not one but two species of hippos, and I love hippos. These are the pygmy hippos, which are a solitary species, quite unlike the “normal” hippos who live in groups.

Something to keep in mind the next time somebody tries to tell you about human behaviour because of chimps or something.

Pygmy hippo with open mouth

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Side of pygmy hippo

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Pygmy hippo, full length

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Backside of pygmy hippo going into a pond.

Bye!
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Jack’s Walk

Perce Rock, ©voyager, all rights reserved

It’s been a long and difficult journey this year, but we’ve finally arrived. We won’t have internet access until tomorrow, but once we do I’ll share more photos and stories. For now, I’m still posting with my phone. This is the classic tourist photo of the Perce Rock, but it doesn’t really give any idea of scale. I know a better spot to take this photo, but there are so many tourists in town today that I just couldn’t get there.

Barcelona: The Aquarium 4: Creatures of the Sea

The last images from the aquarium. Oh, and I won a bet that day. When we walked past the gift shop on our way in I swore we’d leave with one of the penguins on display. Sadly, nobody who knows my kids would have held that bet.

Head of a seahorse


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Green and blue corals


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Jellyfish in a blue light


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