Gaspé Peninsula and Eastern New Brunswick

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leaving Quebec City we took route 132 on the southern side of the St Lawrence River to the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec.

Map of Gaspé

Gaspé extends into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The Appalachian Mountains actually end on the peninsula. It is separated from New Brunswick on its southern side by the Chaleur Bay and the Restigouche River. The primary economy was fishing and timber, both over worked and tourism has become the leading industry for the 100,000 residents in the almost 12,000 square mile peninsula.

Unfortunately we toured in pouring rain, however driving through the small villages,

Countryside

population usually only 1,000 or less, was interesting, as there were small roads, called navigateurs, off of 132 that took you to the shoreline side of the villages then back out to 132, the best way to see each village. We drove to the most eastern point of the peninsula to Percé Rock which appears from a distance like a ship under sail. It is considered one of the world’s largest natural arches located in water and is considered a geologically and historically-rich natural icon of Quebec and a major attraction in the Gaspé region. It reminded us of the London Arch on the Great Ocean Road in Australia. This section of the peninsula is called Lands End. John looked for the outlet store, and Janice had to remind him that the “Lands End” was an online store, duh! Just beyond Percé we found a fish market called Poissonnerie D. Caron at 8 rue Windsor East in Cap-d’Espoir. We bought some fresh cod for dinner. Traveling along the coast, the weather improved and we saw some beautiful vistas. We found a great campsite in Carleton, called Carleton-sur-Mer.

camp view..rather wonderful.

The campsites were on an isthmus off the main road right on the beach. We prepare our cod and enjoyed a nice bottle of white wine.

The next morning was sunny and bright and we made our way along the coast to the bridge connecting the peninsula to New Brunswick at Campbellton. After getting loaded with information at the info center we decided to play golf at Restigouche Golf and Country Club in Campbellton.

Golf Vista’s

Founded in 1923 this 18 hole course overlooks the Restigouche River and the Bay of Chaleur providing many spectacular views of the Appalachian Mountain Range and the Province of Quebec. The thunder storms began on the 9th green and that became the end of the round. Good course and fun. We headed out to the Bathurst area to find a campsite for the evening. In the morning we headed out towards The Acadian Isles following the eastern coast of the province. The rain continued so we stopped at the Creek Seafood Restaurant in Moncton, New Brunswick. The clam chowder was one of the finest we have tried and the lobster club sandwich was sensational. The rain and thunder storms got worse and we continued down the coast to Miramichi where we stayed at a campsite just south of the city off of route 11. Camp Miramichi was relatively new, the couple that purchased it three years ago has actually built four tree houses that people can book and stay in. The site is off the ocean, but was a delight.

We took a leisurely drive along the coast, stopping at a small seafood stand and bought a  lobster that was steamed, stopping along the road, Janice captured the lobster from the shell and prepared lobster salad and made some sandwiches.

We arrived at the Confederation Bridge  to Prince Edward Island. After continuing to PEI, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland we will return and do the rest of New Brunswick. On to PEI!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *