We are in Gaspe

After a 251 mile drive along the coast and in some lousy weather AND steep terrain, we all arrived safely in Gaspe. It is a nice campground just outside of Forillon National Park. We were warned that Canada may not have re-certified the water system, so before we left Quebec City, we made sure our water tanks were full. Good thing, the RV portion of the park does indeed have nonpotable water, but we were prepared and no problem.

At the start of the tour we all received a Canadian National Parks Pass and so we put it to use and went a few miles up the road to Forillon.

A view of the rugged coast of the Gaspe Peninsula

The old fishing boat that was used by one of the earlier residents of Forillon. Notice the replica of cod drying next to the boat.

From the 18th century onward, the cultural landscape of Forillon took another turn with the arrival of ambitious cod merchants. Anglo-Norman, Irish, Scottish, French-Canadian and American families, among others, settled here to take part in this lucrative activity.

One of the few structures of the fishing village, Grande Grave, a typical Gaspe fishing village

The people who settled here were tough to say the least. The winters were bitter and the fishing was done by hand. At one time, more than 400 people inhabited Grande-Grave (which also encompassed the hamlets of Petit-Gaspé, Anse-Saint-Georges and the cove that since 1993 has been called L'Anse-aux-Amérindiens). The dried and salted cod was exported to Italy, Spain and the Caribbean in what became known as the famous “Gaspé Cure.”

If you love to hike, this is the place to be. Hiking trails abound and the forests are beautiful.

Another view of the house. This one does open for tours but not at the time we were their.

We then headed up the coast to the  Pointe-à-la-Renommée Lighthouse. What is unique about this lighthouse is it was from here that Marconi sent the first wireless message to a ship about 2.5 Km. offshore. He would later go on to be the first to send a wireless message, the morse code signal for the letter "s" from Poldhu, Cornwall, England, to Signal Hill in St. John's, Newfoundland.

  The lighthouse is literaly at the end of a dirt road on a cliff. When we arrived the marine layer had not yet lifted. The wooden structure to the right is the original light house, constructed in 1880 for a cost of $4,000 dollars and was manned by keeper with fourteen children.  The red lighthouse, was constructed in 1906 and put into service in 1907. It is unique in that it is considered the "most traveled lighthouse in the world." After it was decommissioned in 1975, it was purchased and moved to Quebec City to provide a tourist attraction. Twenty years later after four ladies from Gaspe worked tirelessly for five years, it was returned to its original site as a cultural heritage of the Gaspe people. Today it stands as monument to the seafarers that were saved by its light and Marconi's invention.

 A view from the top.

Tomorrow, we start our long drive of 61 miles to Perce. Where we will take a boat to see the Perce Rock and the bird sanctuary at Bonaventure Island. Please join us, you are always welcome!