We have spent the last few days exploring and hiking in Forillon National Park at the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula.

Cap des Rosiers was named for the plethora of wild roses growing here.

We hiked the Cap Gaspe Loop at the end of Forillon Park, ending up at Le Bout du Monde (the end of the world).

Our last day in Gaspe, we took a day trip south to Perce. Roche Perce, or pierced rock, is said to look like a ship under sail from a distance. The rock is considered a geologically and historically-rich natural icon of Quebec.

The rock contains one of the world’s largest natural arches located in the water. The hole is 15 meters (49 feet across)!

The Ile Bonaventure, just off the coast of Perce, is home to one of the largest colonies of Northern Gannets in the world, an estimated 110,000 birds; maybe twice as many as the Little Skellig in Ireland which we visited earlier this year.

We had a great lunch in Percé.

We stopped by a well known whale watching spot at Pointe-Saint-Pierre. 

Several species of whales migrate to the Saint Lawrence estuary to feed in early and late summer: blue, fin, minke, humpback.   While hiking along the coast in Forillon National Park we have been keeping an eye out for telltale blowholes. 

Tomorrow we head off to northern New Brunswick.