And it was beautiful. In one small peninsula, there are wooded hills and wildflower meadows, and rocky coves with mist rolling in from the sea, and beaches spread with bleached driftwood.
The park is brilliantly designed so that you lose sight and sound of the couple of main roads almost immediately and head off on dedicated trails. It's instantly quiet, just the sound of birds. It was safe to let Tom hare off by himself, and he really worked at it, little legs pedalling furiously. We worked out tonight that from the campground to the tip of the furthest cape, we cycled 20 kilometres, not a lot for serious bikers, but probably the most we three have done in a day.
I wish I could identify everything we saw. I'm pretty sure of the lupins and harebells, dog roses, gorse and lily-of-the-valley. Some amazing fungus too, from edible looking mushrooms to more exotic outcrops. On the deserted beaches, we jumped across rock pools and crunched over beds of bladderwrack, looking for seals, but spotting only birds skimming over the water. As the day warmed up, clouds of mist rose from the seaweed and rolled across our path. Out beyond the rocks, the deeper water was so clear, you could see the outlines of pale rocks many feet below. All to the sound of distant foghorns echoing through the sea mist every few minutes, as boats made their way unseen along the St Lawrence estuary.
And on the way back, as we were starting to run out of steam, we found both patches of tiny wild strawberries and brambles laden with ripe raspberries, right by the bike trail. No moose or caribou, just a startled hare jumping across our trail.
Comfort food supper of fish fingers, fried potato slices and buttery veggies, with local strawberries and vanilla bean ice-cream to follow. We'll hit the road again tomorrow.
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