Day 3 Iles de la Madeline, Canada

What an amazing day!!! I went out very early this morning for our sail into the Iles de la Madeline. It was a beautiful morning. We had clear skies, little breeze and sunny skies. I enjoyed our sail in and took a number of photos. I went to the Rembrandt Lounge (show lounge) to gather for our organized shore excursion. Once we were called for our tender I was shocked when I looked outside….gone was the clear skies and sunny weather; we were in such dense fog you would have never known that there was an island within 100 miles. We had to use radar to sail ashore since the visibility was almost nonexistent. Anyway we finally got ashore and were off on our excursion…first stop a smoke house for herring. It was a nice visit and the smoked herring was delightful. Next stop, the Cap-Alright Lighthouse …the number one reason for my taking this tour. We never were able to see the lighthouse because of the dense but our guide did point to the direction it would be if we could see it. There is nothing like sightseeing in the fog… Let’s examine that word, sight (nope) seeing (certainly not)…interesting…. I did get a photo of the lighthouse as we sailed in during the morning. Oh yeah, concerning the part of the tour described in the literature “Chemin Pointe-Basse is a road peppered with many examples of traditional local architecture: houses and barns are quite simple and painted in a variety of bright colours.” I’m quite sure we went by there but it looked exactly like the lighthouse to me. Our next stop took us to Dune-du-Sud where we got an up close look at the red cliffs. It was pretty nice but still foggy. Next, we went to a glassblowing studio, Verrie La Méduse which was fairly unexciting. That finished our tour and when we got back to the pier I walked into the town of Cap-Aux-Meules and explored a bit. I even walked along the red cliffs…nice but again a bit foggy. I went back to the ship and the weather cleared a bit. It was a nice stop. The islands are lovely, beaches very nice and the people were wonderful. We even had a throng of boats escorting us as we departed for Bonne Bay, Newfoundland. All in all a nice inaugural call for the Maasdam. It was a very good day. Tomorrow I will be doing another excursion (hopefully with better weather). Here is a description: The Tablelands - a Rare Piece of Earth
Located in Woody Point overlooking beautiful Bonne Bay is the Discovery Centre. Here you will learn about the forces of nature that shaped this area of Newfoundland and helped to prove Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics .The center has many interactive displays to help you understand the actions of nature that produced this effect on the land and sea. A short bus ride will take you to the Tablelands to see first hand a piece of theocean floor. These weathered rocks are now a powdery tan color after being here for 400 million years. These rocks are high in iron and magnesium which is poor conditions for plants but you will see plants and trees thathave adapted to this soil. The unique Tablelands have resulted this area receiving a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation in1987.