Originally, we were supposed to embark the Pearl Mist at between 11:30am and 12:30pm today and sail away at 3pm. But a few days ago, we got an email from the ship telling us to be on the ship by 7am for an 8:30am sailing…oh, and we were going to be at a different dock, too.

So we got ourselves out of bed at 5:15am and were at the designated address about 6:40am. There was nothing there and no way to get to the docks; I asked our Uber driver to drive a bit farther and we eventually found an opening leading in the right direction, and a crowd of people standing there with luggage. We joined them.

It was the right crowd – we were all waiting for the previous cruise’s passengers to be unloaded before they’d let us on (which, to be fair, was the right procedure). And eventually, the word circulated that we could walk down to the ship (with luggage) or wait for busses to take us there. Most of us walked, and then we got in another line to have our bags tagged and taken and to go through security screening before we could get onboard.

We were finally on the ship about 8am, all sent to the lounge to wait because our rooms weren’t ready (not surprising) and because we had to do the safety drill and presentation before the ship could depart. That was finished about 8:40 and then we sailed away, had breakfast, and eventually were able to go to our cabins.

I’ve heard two stories about the reason we had to leave early and from a different dock. One story says that the recent nor’easters had forced several ships to stay in port in Québec instead of leaving; the other story is that this is peak fall color season and there were LOTS of ships in port for that…and they were bigger and paid more for the dock space.

We saw the Silver Shadow coming in while we were waiting to board, and we also saw the Celebrity Silhouette and the Queen Mary 2 on their way to Québec in the first couple of hours after we sailed away (before our original departure time), so I’d put my money on the “big ships wanted the dock space” theory.

Things got better after we had breakfast and unpacked. This is a “Fall Foilage” cruise, and there was plenty of it to see.

Pearl Seas Cruises is a brother line to American Cruise Lines (literally – the owners are brothers). ACL’s ships are all US-registered; the Pearl Mist (Pearl Seas’s only ship) is registered to the Marshall Islands, but the resemblances are unmistakable (and the loyalty programs interoperate; we’re taking this cruise as our “free” cruise for completing 10 ACL cruises).

There was one clear benefit from sailing early – we got to the Saguenay Fjord about 5pm, while it was still light (instead of the original plan which would have gotten us there after dinner), so we could enjoy the scenery and the wildlife…including beluga whales!

I’m enjoying my new camera – I’ve been taking a lot of bursts in to get the best possible shot of birds and whales, which I wouldn’t have been able to do with my old camera. On the other hand, I had to scan through more than 500 photos I took in the hour or so I spent on deck as we were entering the fjord! It’s a learning experience.

Today’s excursion was something different: Goat Hiking with a Beaver Dam Visit and picnic in Quebec forest. It was great fun, though getting there was a bit more of a challenge than I would have preferred – our Lyft driver wasn’t able to find the hotel to pick us up! Fortunately, he was only half a block away when he called, and we weren’t carrying luggage, so it was only an annoyance.

The actual hike took place in Parc naturel du Mont-Bélair; we met François (our host and guide), the goats, and the other guests in a parking lot a few hundred meters from the trailhead.

Once we were all present and accounted for, we drove into the woods and loaded up the goats with our lunch. There were five goats all told: Theo, Buzz, Sven, Forrest, and Shadow – all males (or former males) saved from a fate as dog food because goat farmers only need nanny goats for milk production. François also brought his dog, Luna, who kept the goats (and the people) in line!

The forecast called for rain, so Diane and I wore the bad weather gear we’d gotten on the National Geographic Newfoundland trip last month, and it worked perfectly – there was no rain at all while we were out.

We were encouraged to lead the goats on the hike; of course, they actually knew where they were going and led us!

Soon enough, we were at the beaver pond; beavers had dammed up a stream and made a large pond, as well as converting some of the dry areas to marshland.

François had brought lunch for us – beef/moose stew, locally-brewed beer, strawberries, and brownies his daughter had baked. All were yummy. Not everyone finished all that they took, but the goats and the dog took care of the leftovers (see the photo at the top of the page).

We took a different path back to the cars; François pointed out bear claw marks on one of the trees along the path (fortunately, the bear was elsewhere).

Sven was a bit slow on the way back to the cars; he kept butting trees along the way. François said that it was because rutting season was approaching – he also said that Sven would be a lot less interested in such things very soon!

And suddenly, we were back to where we’d all parked. François brought us back to the parking lot and we discovered that some of our new friends were staying at the same hotel we are…so we came back to the hotel in the same Uber, saving the environment in the process. :-)

We went back to the old city this afternoon so we could see the Halloween decorations outside City Hall. We also had some goat ice cream at Fromagerie Ferme Audet, which we’d visited on our tour yesterday.

We decided to have dinner in the Upper City and found Aux Anciens Canadiens, where we had a very nice (and probably very traditional) meal. Diane had duck confit salad and I had hunter’s chicken, which were delicious; we weren’t as impressed by the Inniskillin Pinot Noir. Somehow, we saved enough room for maple syrup pie!