Magdalen Islands

Located north-east of Prince Edward Island, the Magdalen Islands (or Les Iles de la Madeleine in local parlance) are a mere 5 hours away from Souris, PEI, by ferry, or they can also be visited by plane via the small airport. In our case, the ferry was the C.T.M.A Madeleine, and the trip was smooth and uneventful. 

C.T.M.A. Madeleine arriving in Souris, PEI. Madeleine ran like clockwork during our visit, making two round trips per day with one-hour turn-arounds between voyages at each of Souris and Cap-aux-Meules. She frequently appears in the background of my vacation photos.

Lying off the primary port of Cap-aux-Meules on the central Grindstone Island, Entry Island (or Isle d'Entree) is an imposing feature that is visible from at least some point on all the other main islands. Most of the islands have both French and anglicized names, of which I use a mixture of both here. 

An imposing Entry Island silhouetted against the late afternoon sun.

Sailboat approaching Entry Island on sun reflecting waters. 

Rolling hills of green sitting on the sandstone cliffs of Entry Island.

We booked a small cottage near the beach in nearby La Martinique, and despite all the vehicles leaving the ferry it was a short and easy trip to get there from Cap-aux-Meules. La Martinique proved to be a good central location for our travels, and provided easy access for me to several good settings for sunrise and sunset photos. 

Sunset on our first evening from L'Etang-du-Nord on Grindstone Island. There may also have been ice cream.

Dusk in L'Etang-du-Nord.

Sunrise from Parc de Gros Cap.

Sunrise from near Portage-du-Cap on Havre Aubert Island. Entry Island is on the horizon to the right.

Sunrise over Anse Firmin from Cape Alright on Ile-du-Havre-aux-Maisons. 

Sunset in L'Etang-du-Nord harbour.

As a part of the Province of Quebec, the islands are predominantly French-speaking, although the island to the far north-east, named Old Harry, has English roots. Despite their French background, many of the residents speak at least some English, and with those who don't, the remainder of my high school French was sufficient in most cases to at least order food at the many restaurants. In our experience, the residents were all very friendly.

The archipelago consists primarily of islands of sandstone bedrock sitting on a salt dome, with dune beaches connecting most of the major islands. There is therefore no shortage of beaches.

Utility poles running along the dune beach between Grindstone and Havre Aubert islands.

Entry Island as seen from Sandy Hook beach on the southern side of Havre Aubert Island. 

L'Hopital Beach in Fatima on Grindstone Island.

Speaking of the salt dome, the islands have been home to a salt mine since the 1980s. I would recommend giving the visitor's centre a miss, however - pricey admission for little payoff.

Loading wharf at the Canadian Salt Company mine on western end of Old Harry.

In other locations, the sandstone bedrock is much more obvious. I expected the Magdalens to be a sting of flat sand bars, but they have their share of cliffs and hills.

Waves crash into the sandstone cliffs near L'Etang-du-Nord.

Cliffs ring the shore along Anse Firmin, as seen from Cape Alright.

For the photographer, there are also a number of scenic lighthouses.

Lighthouse of L'Anse-a-la-Cabane along the southern shore of Havre Aubert.

Lighthouse at Cape Alright at sunrise.

I also took a few opportunities to photograph some of the local wildlife.

Sandpiper.

From asking on Twitter, apparently this is a Semipalmated plover.

Cormorant colony at Cape Alright.

Cormorant flying alongside the ferry on our departure from Cap-aux-Meules.

Active lifestyle aficionados seem to enjoy the summer in the Magdalens. Although packed with cars and other vehicles, many of the cars carried bike racks, and some of the passengers actually arrived at the ferry on their bikes. The islands are compact enough that it is perfectly viable to see them entirely via bicycle, and although their are hills, most of the roads are relatively flat. Others come to the Magdalens by boat, or otherwise for the windsurfing and kite surfing opportunities. 

Kite surfing between the barrier dunes just east of Havre Aubert island.

Kayaking braving the surf at L'Hopital Beach on Grindstone island.

Being the boat and ship nerd that I am, there were plenty of opportunities for me to photograph the boats in the various fishing ports spread throughout the islands. 

Fishing boat returning to L'Etang-du-Nord at dusk. The wreck in the background is apparently a floating dry dock that broke its tow and ran aground just outside the harbour - regrettably, I couldn't get closer than this for photos.

Fishing boat at La Grave on Havre Aubert Island.

Fishing boats and other vessels, including C.T.M.A Voyageur, and the formerly Nova Scotia-based tug Spanish Mist, in Cap-aux-Meules.

Sunset in L'Etang-du-Nord harbour.

After several thoroughly enjoyable days in the Magdalens, our time was at an end, and the day after the last image above we had to make our way to the ferry terminal early the next morning. Although dark and cloudy that morning, I found the lighting to be supremely interesting from the ferry.

Entry Island seen from the deck of C.T.M.A Madeleine.

Entry Island seen from the deck of C.T.M.A Madeleine.

Crepuscular rays filtered through the clouds over the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Before we knew it, we were back in Souris.

After another uneventful ferry trip back to Souris, we made it back to our home in Dartmouth before evening.

The link to my complete image gallery is here. 

Touring Great Britain (2006)

Having family in the "old" country still, I have been lucky enough to visit Great Britain four times over the years, most recently in 2006 when I attended a relative's wedding. While I would love to go back sometime, finances currently don't allow for it, and I will instead make do with revisiting my images from 10 years ago.

I landed at Heathrow, and upon renting a car, immediately headed to Chatham which is home to a former Royal Navy dockyard, now a museum. 

HMS GANNET.

The Chatham Dockyard is currently home to three historic vessels, including HMS GANNET above. After leaving Chatham, I traveled the south coast and stopped in at Beachy Head where a lighthouse sits at the foot of a chalk cliff. It was a very windy day, and I had to actually lay on the ground and shoot out under the lowest rail of the railing on the path I was on to keep out of the wind and keep the camera steady.

Beachy Head.

Brighton.

During my south coast travels, I also visited the historic dockyard in Portsmouth.

Looking up at the transom of HMS VICTORY.

I will cover my dockyard visits in some future post, and move on to other photos in this post. After Portsmouth, I stopped in Yeovilton to see the Fleet Air Arm museum and to visit someone we consider to be family, one of the children sent from the UK to Canada during the Second World War that my grandparents took in.

My B&B near Yeovil backed onto a church.

After leaving Yeovil, I headed into Cornwall, and passed through Dartmoor.

According to Jeremy Clarkson on the old BBC Top Gear motoring show, the Vauxhall Vectra is a truly nasty car. I kind of liked mine, at least in part because it had a built-in Sat-nav which kept me from getting lost (much).

Sheep in Dartmoor.

I went near to the tip of Cornwall and photographed Mount's Bay, though unfortunately was running out of time that day, and missed a number of other Cornish sights that I would have love to have seen.

Kite-surfer on Mount's Bay, Cornwall.

Kite-surfer on Mount's Bay, Cornwall.

I spent the night near Tintagel, and when I got up and left my B&B the next morning, it was cloudy and raining. I had planned to take in the castle at Tintagel, and almost gave up due to the weather, but headed over anyway. As I arrived, a hole opened up in the clouds, and I had blue sky for my entire tour of the castle ruins. 

The approach to the mainland portion of the castle ruins at Tintagel (with puddles on the path, in case you thought I was lying about the rain).

There is a separate set of castle ruins on a peninsula that extends out from Tintagel that is only accessible by a bridge that connects from the mainland.

Because I am an engineer, I had to stop in at Bristol and see two of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's creations. Built in 1864, the Clifton Suspension Bridge is still in use for road traffic.

Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge spans the Avon Gorge in Bristol, England.

Clifton Bridge.

Clifton Bridge.

Brunel's other creation that captured my interest is of course the SS Great Britain, an early steamship built for the run between the UK and Australia, and eventually abandoned in the Falkland Islands before being recovered and returned to the UK on a barge.

SS Great Britain is kept in an old graving dock with the water pumped out. A plexiglass roof over the top of the dock keeps the rain out, and a sophisticated de-humidification system prevents further corrosion of the ship's iron hull. Again, a post for another day.

After leaving Cornwall, I headed to Wales. I had previously visited the northern portion of Wales in 1999 during a previous trip, but only for an hour or so before heading back to Liverpool. This time I was able to see a few more sights. 

Southern Wales.

My Vauxhall Vectra once again littering up the countryside.

I didn't spend much time in south Wales, and headed north through Brecon Beacons National Park, and over to Carmarthen. Dryslwyn Castle is nearby, and I happened upon it by chance one morning.

The view from the ruins of Dryslwyn Castle in Wales. The Welsh seriously need to use another vowel than the "sometimes Y".

This sheep was entirely unconcerned about my presence in the castle ruins.

Same sheep.

Too bad Wales isn't a short drive away from my home.

I spent a night outside Aberystwyth at a B&B which was an adventure and a half to find (it was a fair distance down a dead-end driveway, with no additional signage after the sign on the road), and the next day headed up through Snowdonia National Park.

Views in Snowdonia.

Views in Snowdonia.

After Wales, I was a bit behind schedule, and was forced to beetle my way north, visiting a great uncle (brother of the man for whom I am named) in Dumfries (my first stop in Scotland). The next photos I appear to have bothered to process are of Loch Lomond, north of Glasgow.

Loch Lomond.

When working in India years before, I had been given a calendar of UK landscape images (that I cut up and hung from the walls of my room), one of which was of Kilchurn Castle near Lochawe. I just had to visit, so I tracked it down on my way up the west coast of Scotland. I didn't tour the castle itself, but rather trudged through a field on the other side of the loch to get some photos.

Kilchurn Castle.

It being autumn, and with Old Scotland's more northernly location (than, say, Nova Scotia), I found that lighting throughout the day was nice and warm. The "magic hour" sometimes seemed to last all day, and these photos are perfect examples.

Kilchurn Castle.

I continued north to get to Morangie for the family wedding that I was supposed to be attending and photographing.

This photo is ever-so-helpfully labelled "Scotland".

So's this one. I think it is near Glencoe.

Seriously, more bloody Scotland?

Guess where?

Finally, a better photo label: "Foot of Ben Nevis".

And then, for lack of anything better to do, I took more photos of....wait for it....Scotland.

"Scotland".

Note to self: take better notes when travelling.

"Scotland".

Finally, an image that I know precisely where it was taken:

An abandoned church within a graveyard in North Ballachulish, Glencoe, Scotland.

Also in the churchyard in North Ballachulish, Glencoe, Scotland.

Apparently I wasn't beetling as quickly as I thought, because I had time to take photos of another castle. Even if I hadn't labelled it, I would know which castle this is, having photographed it previously in 1999, and I have slides my grandfather took in the 1950s and 1960s.

Eilean Donan Castle, near Dornie.

A bridge in "Scotland".

"Scotland".

"Italy". OK, you caught me, it's really "Scotland".

Soon after these last photos, I arrived in Morangie and spent several days visiting family. My photography seems to have dropped off, but I will finish off with some images from the area around Morangie and the lighthouse at nearby Tarbat Ness.

Ponies near Morangie.

The road approaching the lighthouse at Tarbat Ness.

Tarbat Ness lighthouse near Portmahomack, north-eastern Scotland.

Hay bales near Portmahomack, north-eastern Scotland.

If only my hankering to go back to the UK was matched with the appropriate funds in my bank account!