Going on a whale hunt...

This weekend took me on an adventure further north in Quebec to a place called Tadoussac- a small, quaint town known for its pretty red and white buildings and more importantly its large population of whales!! In total 24 of us hired cars and drove up the coast in search of these magnificent mammals and we were not disappointed!

We left on Friday after lectures and made the 6hour drive up to Tadoussac with plenty of snacks and music to make the journey go faster. The drive made it clear that autumn is coming; the trees are starting to change colour and amongst the green you can now catch sight of striking burnt reds and oranges in the leaves. ‘Fall’ here is going to be beautiful and I will definitely be making the effort to get out of the city to fully appreciate it!

Anja and Ruth

Arriving at the hostel, we met up with the rest of the party only to discover that we were lucky enough to have arrived just in time for the live music. The hostel is famous in the area for welcoming travelling bands and allowing them to stay free of charge in exchange for a concert! The band itself was made up of three French guys with two guitars and a double bass playing the type of folk music that is oh so catchy! All their music was in French and from my limited understanding I could appreciate that all the songs are about places in Montreal. Better still, after some helpful translations from my roommate Marie, I could appreciate how hilariously cynical the lyrics were too! By the end we were all up dancing and singing along with the choruses until we were just too tired to continue!!

The next morning, after a delicious pancake breakfast, we headed up to the viewing point next to the hotel that looked out over the bay. From there the panoramas of the area were second to none and I really felt that I was in the heart of Canada- the expansive pine forest and dramatic fjords made for some impressive scenery. We were also lucky enough to spot our first whale of the weekend, right next to the shore!

Finally we all made it into the cars with all our stuff, ready to go- organising 24people is no easy task- and headed off for our whale-watching excursion. We hired kayaks and, accompanied by some guides, headed out onto open ocean in search of whales! At this point it was really very rainy and surprisingly cold considering it is only September so we were all wearing our wetsuits and about 5 jumpers to stave off the cold. However, it didn’t take much to take our minds off the weather; within minutes our kayaks were surrounded by porpoises (smaller whales, similar in appearance to dolphins) playing and jumping in the water. Only a short time later we also saw a pod of 5 or 6 beluga whales- large white whales that are slowly becoming endangered. It was so mesmerising staring out across the water watching their heads and fins pop up and down through the waves.

Coming back onto dry land, everyone fought for a place around the tent heater and later a place in the hot showers, but it was definitely worth the cold! We soon warmed up after a hearty meal in the hostel and a good old dance with the band featuring that evening.

Marie, Anja, me and Lennart- the flatmates!

The next day before we set off back to Montreal, we all set out for a walk along the beach to the different points. Again we saw quite a few Minke whales swimming close to shore and got to enjoy the dramatic coastal scenery before heading on our way again. On the way home we took a quick pit stop at the Montmorency waterfalls just outside of Quebec ,which were very impressive- I can hardly imagine what Niagara falls will be like in comparison!

A fantastic weekend all round and I can’t believe how lucky I was to see so many whales with such amazing people- talks are already underway as to where our next adventure shall take us!!