Amazing Azamara – Day 9 – Havre St Pierre, Quebec

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Day 9 — Sunday, 10th August
Havre St Pierre, Quebec

Welcome back, loyal reader! 👍👍. After a sea day yesterday, we’re back to our itinerary. Sorry that this one is a bit late – we temporarily lost the internet around 7pm last night.

Yesterday, at sea, was spent catching up with my reading, where, in the absence of any ‘whale watching’ opportunities, I switched to ‘people watching’ instead (it was probably more entertaining and definitely more reliable!). Culturally speaking, we’ve got a mixed bag aboard the good ship Azamara Quest – Australians, Canadians, Brits, but predominantly Americans. We’re enjoying seeing the wide range of fashion choices on display, as well as the ‘beauty’ of the many ‘gravity-defying procedures’. 😉

People-watching aside, we also enjoyed a couple of ‘enrichment sessions’ (err, that’s a ‘talk’ to you and me!). Pretty diverse in our case: ‘DNA Forensics‘ and ‘What is a Whale?’ (honestly, we ARE good fun at parties!) all from a series of specialist topics that will continue during the numerous sea days ahead.

Back to today, where ordinarily, on a Sunday, we’d have a short lie-in (until about 6am!!!), catch up with the ironing and watch Laura Kuenssberg on TV. Today, it’s something quite different as we are docking shortly in Havre St Pierre, a small town located on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The day is significant, as it’s our last day in Canada before we sail for three days, northwards, towards our next stop: Nuuk in Greenland. Based on previous experience, THREE days at sea isn’t good for anyone, and we’ll probably have gone completely insane by the time we dock in Nuuk, but at least we’ll be experts in DNA and whales! 🤔🤔

Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec

7.35am: We’ve arrived!.

Out on deck, it’s cool – pleasantly so – watching the Ship ‘tie up’ in readiness for the invasion of this ‘un cheval’ kind of town.

“Nestled in Quebec’s north shore, Havre-St-Pierre is a charming coastal town and the perfect jumping off point
Experience the warm welcome of this remote maritime community”
– The Insider, Azamara Cruises

After a leisurely breakfast out on deck, soaking up the early morning sunshine, we headed ashore.

Havre-Saint-Pierre is small, with a population just under 3500 – and it is in decline. Once a proud town boasting a vibrant fishing industry, these days, it’s tourism that keeps it on the map. Today had a quaint feel about it, although it does still seem quite surreal to see American ‘muscle cars’ lining the streets alongside French shops and signage. And, being a Sunday, the immediate area was pretty much devoid of locals.

However, one thing became immediately obvious – the drop in temperature. Where we had previously been enjoying temperatures in the 30s, it was now actually cooler than the UK! at (only!) around 19℃ 🥶.

As there weren’t that many things organised by the Ship, we decided to do our own thing and keep it simple. We walked along the inner-harbour path that gave us some great views out across the misty water, as well as the fishing fleet safely moored awaiting their next outing.

Sadly, that path came to an abrupt end, and we turned around and headed back in the direction of the Azamara Quest. It was then that we overheard a conversation between two of our fellow passengers discussing that they might have seen a whale on the port side of the Ship. Ralph and I trained our cameras in the general direction – and good news (of sorts), we could see areas of bubbles rising to the surface (sometimes a sign of ‘whales in residence’). Ralph’s superior zoom capability of his camera picked out something ‘whale-like’ far into the distance, but on closer inspection, it turned out to be possibly a seal… or something… but definitely NOT a whale. The ‘Curse of Palmer’ strikes again, and in spite of other areas of bubbles nearby, sadly, nothing of significance materialised. Personally, I think they were beneath the surface laughing at me! (but I’m not paranoid, Doctor!) 😉

Whale-less, we now wandered away from the water onto a road called ‘Des Anciens‘ (how appropriate!) that initially ran parallel to the harbour. We were simply soaking up the sights and sounds of a town that hadn’t quite woken up yet. It certainly got our vote, as a very pleasant morning unfolded. The houses looked very pretty, the whole area was spotlessly clean and every so often we (almost) tripped over a painter… 🤔 (as you do!)

Yes, that’s right, a PAINTER! How weird! It was only 10am in the morning, on a Sunday, and on three or four separate occasions, there was someone in front of us on the ground painting the path! We weren’t expecting that! 😲 – But it was a nice touch and a great way to brighten up the surroundings AND stress out any H&S types! 😁

We hadn’t initially got a destination in mind, but a quick look at Google Maps revealed that there was a ‘Tim Horton‘ not too far away. If you’ve not experienced one before, think of it as a ‘coffee shop on steroids’ offering everything for the traveller in a hurry – from fast food and sweet treats, to a range of hot and cold drinks.

Except today! 😡. Their latte machine was broken, and we had to make do with good ol’ fashioned ‘plain white coffee’ – a real First World Problem, ehh!? 😉

Ann and I resisted the temptation of the sweet treats (but only just!). Thoughts then turned to getting from the Cruise Terminal to the Airport when the Cruise ends in Iceland, on Wednesday week. We confidently logged onto Uber to schedule our taxi transfer – only to discover that Uber doesn’t operate in that country! 😡. It looked like we needed a ‘Plan B’ – but that’s for later! 👍

We took a slow wander back to the Ship and agreed that this had been a very enjoyable, but brief visit. Note to self (and others who might come here) – if you’re looking for more than a coffee or tripping over a pot of paint, then you will need to travel further afield, out of the immediate area. Mingan National Park is an obvious – and popular choice.

A relaxed afternoon followed, and then later, even more food (well, it IS a Cruise!)! Tonight, we tried the Windows Café after meeting for a pre-dinner drinks in The Den. Felicia, was again, ‘on the keys’ and didn’t disappoint.

After the meal, it was a quick return to The Den for a Chocolate Martini before heading off to the Cabaret Lounge for tonight’s entertainment.

The Ship’s Singers and Dancers with the resident Band energetically ploughed their way through a bewildering number of show-tunes from the movies including: Top Gun, Moulin Rouge and about a gazillion others – without any breaks in between! Great stuff! 👍👍

CAMERA ROLL
All the photos so far
(and none of my chat)
HERE

Tomorrow…

It’s a day at sea again tomorrow – Monday – followed by another one (and then another one!) as we head to Greenland and where the Captain has suggested that tomorrow we may see our first iceberg. We eventually arrive in Greenland on Thursday, after sailing about 1000 nautical miles. There is unlikely to be a reliable/stable internet connection during that time, and so my next Post will be from Nuuk, capital of Greenland, on Thursday evening. Have a great week, and thanks for your readership so far.👍👍