The Coast

We just booked our winter vacation on The Lower North Shore. We had a great time last year, and are looking forward to hitting the snowmobile trails again this year. This is definitely a snowmobiling paradise with lots of trails, such as the famous “Route Blanche”, or White Route/ White Road. There are also very few fences or man made obstacles to get in your way; just lots of lakes and mountains to explore.

In most of the villages, the roads are also not plowed and you can drive your snowmobile in the village too (as you can see in the photo below).

Here are some more photos from our snowmobiling vacation last year. I just can’t wait to get bback there again, and will include more pictures when I get back.

I did a major upgrade of the Lower North Shore Forums software yesterday. The main reason was to try to cut down on the amount of spam accounts being created on the web site. The newer software should also be easier to use, and there are some new features added that everyone should like, such as the ability to upload photos.

If you activated an account in the past couple of months, you probably could not log back in after creating the account. This was because I had disabled all new accounts to cut down on the Spam.

If this is the case, please go back in, and try to create a new account again. Let me know if there are any issues, or if I deleted someones account by mistake.

I have been going through the latest issue of the Chevery news, and have been reading about some of the activities planned for CoastFest 2008. A year long festival like this is a great idea, and hopefully it will encourage more former Coasters to visit the Lower North Shore next year. Every time I go back for a visit I have a great time, and I seem to be getting hooked since I am going back more frequently.

I was living in California for a few years, and during that period it was difficult to visit the Coast. I ended up not going back for 5 years, which I always regretted since we had such a great vacation on the Coast, just before we moved. When we went back in 2006, we enjoyed it so much, that we ended up buying a small house in the village of Mutton Bay. It is funny but paying our own bills and getting the place fixed up, helps us feel closer to the Coast even when we are not there. It is also great to have our own place when we do visit, and we can personalize it with some of our favorite knick knacks. We actually refer to the house as our cottage, although it is definitely not a traditional cottage location (as you can see from the photos below).

Since the vacation in 2006, we have been going back more frequently, and we went back once in the summer, and also in the winter this year. It was the first time that I had been back for a winter vacation in a long time, and I really enjoyed riding on snowmobile again. It is also a great time to visit, since there are lots of carnivals and hockey tournaments, and you can meet more people during these events.

I wish that I could spend more time on the Coast during the winter, but because of time constraints we take most of our vacations in the summer. This is the best time to go out on the islands in the gulf to see the whales and porpoises, and to pick some berries if they are in season. We spend most of our time hiking around the hills, riding on my father’s boat, and eating fresh seafood. The summer vacations are always very relaxing, and we always come back feeling well rested, and energized.

I would encourage anyone thinking of visiting the Coast, to take advantage of Coast Fest 2008 and to visit next year. Hopefully, some of our recent experiences are helpful in helping you to make up your mind. Maybe you will end up buying a small house too. Here are a few additional pictures to help make you home sick.

For more information on CoastFest 2008, you can go to the coastfest web site, or read more in the Chevery News.

I have fallen behind on my Blog updates this fall, and I am just now getting to the last post related to my summer vacation. On the last day of our vacation on the Lower North Shore, we decided to go out in the boat again to see if we could find any porpoises. It turned out to be the best day yet, and we saw a huge school. I have included some of the best photos below.

This photo shows one of the porpoises jumping right out of the water.

This is part of the school that we saw. There must have 30 of them in the school.

Here is another photo of porpoises jumping.

The latest issue of the Chevery News has been added to theLocal News Section of the Lower North Shore web site.

Inside this issue:

• Community Snapshots p.3
• Chevery News needs a new name p.3
• Souvenirs de Chez-Nous: Sylvie Pinette p.4
• Celebrating Culture p.5
• LNS Social Development p.5
• Coasters Association KI.D.S. Camps p.6
• Breaking New Ground, Route 138 p.7
• L’Escale 2007 p.8
• Favoriser l’équité entre les jeunes p.9
• Moose hunting season & zoning p.9
• Development is change p.10
• $3M for regional health services p.10
• Villages branchés p.11
• 4S fixed gear sentinel program p.12
• Understanding career counseling p.13
• New Commissaire for council of mayors p.15
• Achèvement de la route du Nord-Est p.16
• Réponse de Monsieur Mario Dumont p.16
• Restructuring at the CLD p.17
• CoastFest 2008 Update p.18
• Aeroport de Kegaska p.21
• Consultation… santé et bien-être p.21
• One Christmas Eve in Cross River p.22
• YOUTH ZONE JEUNESSE p.23
• New owners for Ransom & Rowsell Enr. p.26
• Scrap booking - A new hobby p.27
• Struggling to be heard Harrington H.A. p.28
• Netagamiou CLC progress highlights p.29
• Update from Gros Mecatina Tourism Association p.31
• A word from your Social Development Animator p.32
• Bullying & being bullied: Advice to share… p.33
• Can the youth of today triumph… p.34
• New promotional brochure for GMTA p.34
• New Development Agent for SADC LNS p.33
• TD Great Canadian Shoreline Clean Up p.34
• MADD presentation p.34
• MADD presentation p.35
• Job postings, for sale, volunteers needed… p.36

The full article can be found at the this link

My wife and I went to the Signatures 25th Anniversary Christmas Show at the Ottawa Congress Centre this past week-end. The main reason why we went, was to meet Michael Osborne, of Art of Gold Studios. Michael has been creating art on the Lower North Shore for many years, and I had always wanted to see some of his work.  It was great to have a chance to meet him.

I have included a photograph below of Michael in his booth at the show, along with a couple of photographs of some of his work. It never occurred to me until I went to the show, but it is an incredible amount of work to set up a booth like this. Michael had to load all of his art into a car, then drive down to Ottawa, and set up the booth. After the show, he has to pack it all up again, and then load the car back up again. Obviously all of the art is very fragile, so he has to carefully pack each piece to make sure that it does not get damaged.

We were purchased two of his paintings, which was hard choice since there were several that we liked. We ended up just going with the ones that caught our eye as we walked into his booth. We are very happy with our selections, especially now that it is hanging on our wall in the living room.

After this show, Michael is going to be doing a tour of the Coast, and will be returning home for Christmas.

Volume III of the Chevery News

Volume III of the Chevery news has been added to the Lower North Shore web site.

Inside This Issue

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REGIONAL NEWS

• Community Snapshots p.3
• Chevery News needs a new name p.3
• Brenda Anderson Fond Memories… p.4
• Coasters Association: 18 years … p.5
• Strengthening partnerships p. 5
• Transportation - Making progress p.6
• Fishery - Team work is vital p.6
• Volunteer Leaders p.7
• Relais Nordik p.7
• 1+ Million for economic development p.8
• Hydro Quebec Romaine Project p.11
• Harrington Harbour Park Project p.11
• Baie Comeau Dioscese includes LNS p.12
• Eau-Naturelle Discover Camp p.26
• Cross River History temporary exhibit p.27

[edit]

Gros Mecatina

• 75 Year anniversary of Mutton Bay Church p.28
• La Tabatiere wharf reconstrction p.29

[edit]

Saint Augustine

• N.A.L.N.S. Historical Inuit Metis Community p.30

[edit]

Bonne Esperance/Blanc Sablon

• An inspiration to everyone p.33

CLASSIFIEDS p.35

• Job postings, for sale, volunteers needed…
• Volunteer & Citizenship Celebrations p.12
• Bob Belvin’s, The Forgotten Labrador p.14
• OCOL community vitality study p.15
• CoastFest 2008 Update p.16
• Jessica Buffitt Where the root lies p.18
• QLF… Fun in the Townships p.20
• Tourism Public Consultations p.21
• YOUTH ZONE JEUNESSE p.22

[edit]

MUNICIPAL NEWS de la Côte Nord du Golfe St Laurent

• Celebrating 25th Anniversary… p.23
• La Maison Jos Hébert p.24
• Wind energy works on the LNS p.25
• NCLC Video Conference Convenience p.25

• Complete Issue

This morning, it was cloudy and cold when we woke up, so I also got to light a morning fire for a change. After breakfast, we went for a short walk through the village, and then got ready to go and visit my parents. Unfortuanately, when we tried to start the car, the battery was dead, so we had to get a boost from our neighbour Jim. After that, we were on our way, but without any real plans for the day.My mother told me that the Nordik Express was at the wharf, so we got into the car to see if we could see any damage from the accident in Harrington Harbour. When we got to the wharf, they had already unloaded all of the freight for the village, and were now loading frozen fish from the local fish plant. We looked along the side of the boat, and could not see a hole, but someone working at the fish plant told us that the hole was below the water line. We also found out that it was a thirty foot hole, and was in one of the ballast tanks, so this is why they were able to continue. With both ballast tanks filled up, the boat was very low to the water, and it looked like the ship would not be able to go into very rough seas.

After lunch, Ellis came by for a visit, and asked if I wanted to go on his sail boat today. Since I didn’t have anything else planned, I thought that it was a good idea, and we went out. After we got out on the water, the sun started to come out, and it turned into a beautiful day. We didn’t actually put the sails up, and just went around with his outboard motor. We steamed around for a couple of hours, and went to Red Bay, Old Post, and down near Big Point. It was a very nice and relaxing ride.

After dinner, we packed up our gear, and went back to our house in Mutton Bay. We were a little sad that this was probably going to be our last night on The Coast until next summer. Of course we could still get to enjoy the wood stove for one more night. Sitting in the small living room with the wood stove crackling is definitely the thing that I enjoy the most about this house.

I definitely indulged too much last night, and I had a throbbing headache when I woke up early this morning. I drank lots of water, which usually works, but I just did not feel much better. I also couldn’t sleep anymore, which is what I really needed.We decided to drive down to see what my parents were doing, but they had already gone out fishing for mackerel. We got ready ourselves, and just as we were about ready to leave, they showed up with some cod fish that they had caught. My father told us that it was an absolutely perfect day on the water, and said that he would take us out again, if we wanted to go out. They had also seen a couple of whales, so we thought that it would be a great time to go and try some whale watching.

Just as we left Red Bay, we saw our first whale, and we went off to get a closer look. The water was very calm, and it was very easy to see whales from far away. The whale must have taken a very deep dive, since we didn’t see it again, but we did see some porposes off near one of the islands. Unlike the whale, the porpoises stayed near the surface, and also came very close to the boat. I have never seen so many porpoises in one place, and so close to our boat before.

We just could not believe our good luck, and I took lots of pictures, and video of the porpoises. Since the water was so clear, we could also see them as they were swimming underneath our boat, which is something that I had never seen before. They move so fast under water, and can change direction in an instant. I was really amazing to watch.

After watching the porpoises for about ten minutes, we went out to Gros Isle to look for more whales, but did not see any. As we were coming back to Red Bay, we saw another one in the Cove, and tried to get some photographs of it too. Again it seemed to take deep dive, and we just decided that the porpoises were enough for today, so we headed back to Red Bay.

The salty air made me feel better while we were whale watching, but I still spent the rest of the day nursing my hangover, and took a nap in the afternoon. The kids also just played with each other, and seemed to be tired too. All of this fresh air and fun was starting to tire us out.

I did go by to see Ellis later in the day, and he told me that we could go sailing on Sunday or Monday if the weather was good. I can’t believe that we are already down to just two days of vacation left, but sailing would be a good way to wrap things up, before we get back to the grind.

It is raining tonight, which this just makes the evening by the wood stove so much more enjoyable. The kids did not even put up a fight when we put them to bed at 8 p.m., and I think that they must be realy exhausted. I am goin to make it an early night too.

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. My wife and I decided to go for a long hike in the hills above the Western side of Mutton Bay, to get some exercise. All of the nice seafood meals, and late evening drinks by the wood stove, were starting to add a few pounds, and I was looking forward to some exercise. I also thought that it would be a great opportunity to get some photos from the top of the hill, and I was not disappointed.We headed out across the plain near our cottage, and then proceeded to climb up to the main hill, which is near a point out in the gulf. As we climbed the higher and higher, the views became much more spectacular, and we just kept saying “Wow!” as we reach the top of each smaller hill on the way up. There are just so many beautiful spots along that particular path, and there are lots of large boulders where you can stop for a break, and just stop and stare at the ocean.

We also found some excellent berry patches along the way, and my wife quickly filled up a small margarine container with bakeapples. We both ate lots of berries, and it was really great to just snack as we walked. In the more sheltered areas, the bakeapples were starting to get a little over ripe, but at the higher elevations, and in the open, they were just perfect.

We also saw a couple of owls or hawks along the way too, and I managed to take a picture of one of them. I guess the noise that we made as we were walking startled them, and they took off from some bushes in front of us. They just seemed to float on the wind in front of us, and they looked absolutely magnificent just hanging there.

After we reached the highest peak, we deicided to hike back down to the water, and then walk along the shore instead of just retracing our steps back the way we cam up. We had to be a little careful on the way down, since we were not familiar with the area, and the moss can sometimes be slippery. There are lots of cracks and cliffs where you can hurt yourself if you are not careful, but we did not have any problems.

The hike back along the shore was also very nice, and much less windy than on the top of the mountain. It was also a great opportunity for my wife to collect some firewood to make some picture frames. She got the idea for the frames from the Stage Restaurant, and it should be a nice project when we get back.

Just as we were walking back into the village, one of our neighbours told us that the Relais Nordik had hit a rock in Harrington Harbour. Apparently, this happened last night as the boat was coming in through a narrow passage, just outside of the Harrington wharf. There was a hole ripped in the side, and all 150 of the passengers would have to get off of the boat in Harrington. Luckily, nobone was hurt, but it must have been very scary for the people on board.

Since the villages of Harrington, Chevery, Tete a la Baleine, La Tabatiere, and Saint Augustine are isolated, the Relais Nordik being out of commission is a big deal, since it is the main way that these villages get their supplies. We were already having trouble getting a few items, such as eggs in the local stores, and there would probably be more shortages soon. I would imagine that they will have to quickly get another boat running to replace the Relais Nordik, if the damage is as extensive as it sounded.

We continued back to our house for luch, and then went back up on the hills nearby again to enjoy the rest of the beautiful day. The kids were running around on the moss, and eating more bake apples. The bakeapples seemed to give them short energy boosts and they would run for five minutes, and then stop and eat some more. I also showed them how to roll down the mossy hills, which was a game that I used to play when I was a kid. It basically consists of climbing to the top to a hill covered in moss, and then lying on your side, and roling down to the bottom. Once you get to the bottom, you are pretty dizzy, so the goal is to try to stand up right away, and try to run back up without falling down. It is great fun.

This evening, we had invited several of our old friends over for our first house warming party. Two of them brought guitars, and we had a great time. I am not a singer, by any stretch of the imagination, but at one point I was singing part of a John Prine song. My cousin left at around 2 a.m., after many beers, and a late snack of local shrimp that I had in the fridge.

This was definitley the best day of our vaction so far.