A little Zodiac time in the Bay of Islands

This morning, we took a Zodiac ride through the Bay of Islands near Lark Harbour. Our guide and driver was Serguei, who is the geologist on the expedition team, and he told us quite a bit about the rocks we passed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take notes. :-)

An unknown French sailor is buried here from a warship in 1770
Natalie (one of the expedition guides)
That’s quartz in them there veins!
Iron oxide escaping from the rock
Witness rock
Jellyfish

Îles de la Madeleine

We spent today in Québec – specifically, hiking the cliffs of the Îles de la Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The National Geographic Explorer docked during breakfast, and we saw the busy port and the 187 stairs leading up to a scenic lookout.

We met our guides and set out for our hike…which, of course, started with a bus ride.

Our walk begins
Wild roses and rose hips
Fishing boats at rest
Notre Dame de l’Assumption
The Acadian flag
Cliffs along the beach

A gentle hint – our guide kept telling us to keep to the right, AWAY from the cliffs!
Caterpillars today, butterflies soon
Phare du Borgot
We had to walk well inland from the trail due to erosion
Northern Giant Petrel
Don’t follow the trail here!

We had a boxed lunch on the beach at Plage de l’Hôpital and had some time to wander around.

Plage de l’Hôpital
Blue and white shell

Our tour continued with another lighthouse and even more beaches, this time on Île du Havre aux Maisons.

Phare du Cap Alright
Phare du Cap Alright
Ferrules
An optimistic parawinger
Seal at Plage de la Dune du Sud
Double-Crested Comorant
Double-Crested Comorant
The parawinger finally got up!

And then it was time to return to the ship for a performance of Acadian music by Giles Lapierre and Evan Martinet.

Home sweet home
Giles Lapierre and Evan Martinet with local music