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| Dune du Nord Beach |
Today under sunny skies we continued north on Rte 199 to see the last three islands. Pointe aux Loups is the smallest inhabited island with a fishing port, about 50 homes and the Dune du Nord Beach.
We stopped at the Dune du Nord Wind Farm.. Surprisingly we could get very close to the two wind turbines that went into operation in 2021. They supply more than 15% of the island's energy needs.
Grosse Ile and Grande Entrée have the best preserved natural environments of Les Iles. Pointe de l'Est National Wildlife Area connects the two islands. Grosse Ile is populated by Anglophones of Scottish descent. They work as fishermen.
Another point of interest was the Salt Mine. Huge salt dunes are part of the base of the islands. In 1983 Mines Seleine began excavating the salt which is mined at a 300 metre depth in tunnels.
We were very pleased to find a large enough parking area to accommodate us so we could walk one of the trails in the 684 hectares ecosystem. We chose
L'Echouerie and would have walked more than the 1.2 km if most of the trail was not deep dune sand which made walking extra difficult. What we did see was very impressive.... so many photo ops for me as Kathy powered along.
We drove through some very foggy stretches along the highway.
We ate a delicious seafood lunch at Cap Dauphin's
Fish Shack sitting outside on a deck overlooking the Grosse Ile wharf. The restaurant was very busy; the long wait was worth it.
Grand Entrée was the last island to be permanently inhabited in approximately 1870. It has a vital fishing port. In 1994 it was designated Quebec's "Lobster Capital." There are over 100 lobster fishing boats.
We drove literally to the end of Rte 199 and can now say we drove the entire length of the archipelago, 85 km southern tip to northern tip.
On the way back to our campground we stopped in
Old- Harry where the Grande Echouerie Beach dominates the shoreline. We walked the short distance over the dune. Unfortunately fog obscured the view.
We arrived back at the campground around 3:30 having motored 121 km. It was another great day of sightseeing, on Les Iles.
