Marc & Nora ROUND THE WORLD 2005/2006 - Join us!

After a 5,5 hour drive we arrived in Montreal. Liesi's boyfriend JF (Jean-Francois) met us on arrival at their home.

The 1st night we drove into town with JF to pick Liesi up from work and have dinner in a restaurant in old Montreal.
After that we went to the "Just for Laughs" Comedy Festival which was really good (well, at least Marc and I found it dead funny, but Liesi was a bit shocked by the Irish Humour which, admitidly, was rather often below the waistline.)

The next day Marc and I explored Montreal. We strolled along Vieux Montreal, the port, walked to the new part of the city and enjoyed the beautiful sights in fantastic weather. Montreal was founded in 1642 and was conquered by the Brits in 1759.

In the evening Chef JF prepared a huge bbq which was delicious!!!

The next morning we got up early as we went for a 4 day camping trip together with liesi and JF. I couldnt believe my eyes when I saw the amount of supplies for the next 4 days! 6 bottles of red wine, huge containers of pasta sauce, pasta, sausages, vegetables, marmelade, giant bags of nuts, philadelphia, bags of bagels, etc etc...

We will definitely not die of starvation!

After a approximately 5 hour drive we arrived at the ferry

As it was already afternoon we only had 3 kms to walk which wasnt too tough. As marc and I had never hiked with our big rucksacks before we werent too sure how difficult this weekend was going to be for us - well, i can say that we didnt last for too long.

In the 1st hut we prepared some nice dinner - sausages and rice! Nice!
From the hut we could see the fjord which was beautiful. And then we even spotted some beluga whales! they are snow white and really cute.

After extensive breakfast on the 2nd day we started our 16km tour. After just a few kilometers Marc and I knew that we are not going to last for another 2 days. The plan was to hike 16kms on the 2nd day, 15kms on the 3rd day and 11kms on the 4th day.

JF soon got the name chamois from me as he sprinted away like there was no tomorrow.
We arrived late in the afternoon that night completely exhausted and sweaty as!
As the huts are very basic there is no shower or drinking water. all the water for cooking has to be treated beforehand. But we were lucky that the hut was just a few minutes away from the beach. Marc, JF, Liesi and I decided to go for a swim to cool off.

JF told us beforehand that the water is too cold for swimming...Well, it was pretty fresh, not to say nipp(l)y as the photo reveals...

Despite the fact that it was that freezing that your foot soles immediately got cramps when entering the water it was great!!!

In the evening Monsieur Chef JF prepared his "Pasta speciale" - delicieux!!!

We decided that we wont continue the trip as planned as Marc and I would have simply died of exhaustion.
Instead we did a kayaking trip instead on day 3.

This was fun! JF, the Kayak-Expert showed us how to get dressed (i already struggled to put this bloody "skirt" on)and how to paddle.
Again he paddled like there was no tomorrow - but the weird thing was that he didnt paddle any quicker than us - he and liesi somehow had the same paddling pace as us but they nevertheless managed to become smaller and smaller until they were a tiny dot on the horizon...
...maybe the reason for that were my frequent paddling breaks that also annoyed marc after a while...

Being in this massive fjord almost on the level of the water surface is amazing. It is so silent and relaxing, simply beautiful!

And then we saw beluga whales! really close-up! But unfortunately they were too quick for a photo.

Paddling back was easier as the tide helped us!
We then drove to another trail which we hiked up to reach the final hut. Up there we had a fantastic greek salad made by chef Liesl! The next day it rained so we only hiked back to the car and decided to drive back with a stop in Quebec to have some lunch and the infamous Quebec-Ice Cream!

We then also did a day trip to Quebec City. I have been there once already in 2001 and that time the beauty of this little town blew me away completely.

On my birthday, the 13th of September, but 220 years earlier (hence the 13th of September 1759), the future of North America should be decided! England had a battle against France which was carried out just outside of the old walled city of Quebec. England won this battle and that is why Quebec has this unique blend of English and French architecture, culture and flair.