Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue - St Lawrence . . .

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I'm on the road again, halfway through a Quebec City tour. The "tandem of awesomeness" - 4 buses from the same school with me on bus one - is generally going well. When it's just me and my group, all is great. When we've got all 4 buses together, it is inevitably chaotic. I still marvel at how tired I am - a much different tired than I ever felt on the ship. On your feet all day, talking all day, entertaining al day, thinking ahead & planning for a group all day. I'm amazed at how we do it, how I've done this for so long. Or am I just actually getting old and just can't keep up?

I have been struggling a bit to feel like I belong now, even as I'm amongst familiar people in familiar places. Life goes on without you and trying to find your place in a place that has changed, when you too have changed, is difficult. WIth Keating, there are so many guides I don't know, I'm not in the same position I've been in the last few years, things have changed. I was once an intricuate part of the company and now I feel almost like my time has passed, like I'm not supposed to be here. These feelings come during the quiet moments, the social moments and when I'm in the places I used to supervise. When I'm with my groups, at the mic, leading animations, checking on the tour details, I feel good. I feel great. I feel like I'm back. I'm doing something that matters.

We are at Tadoussac/Baie-Sainte-Catherine, on a boat in the St. Lawrence River for a whale watching excursion. It is good to be on boat. I am surprised at how pleassant it is to feel the swaying movement of the water. For all my motion sickness tendencies, that rocking became engrained in me. It's sunny and beautiful today which is nice (unlike the last time I went with a group here 5 years ago when it was freezing and raining), but it's certainly not the tropics. Our guide said the water is 4 degrees celcius. That alone is enough to make you miss the Caribbean Sea!

Having said all that though, I am being continually reminded of how incredible Canada is. The drive from Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre (East of Quebec City, where my group is staying), to Baie-Ste-Catherine is gorgeous. We stopped in Baie-St-Paul, a quaint little artistically-rich town like a Quebecois Niagara-on-the-Lake. Briefly strolled around the village. In the background were rolling mountains. Beautiful.

Then we drove along the twisting and curving roads, nearly every turn revealing another picturesque view of the St. Lawrence, a small lake, an old farmhouse and everywhere are majestic evergreen trees.

The father East we went the more signs there were of us nearing the Atlantic - the styles of houses, the boats, the signs with fish and whales on them. Yet it's all still distinctly Quebecois.

J'adore Quebec.

Really. Really. I simply love it here. I love Canada. And everytime I think of the vastness of this country, of the countless beauties and wonders in our country, I am awed and grateful.

We have seen so many whales! Minke whales, fin whales, beluga whales! Seals too. Many of them have been right up close to our boat. And a mother beluga with a tiny baby beluga swam by. It's so incredible. I love getting out and seeing natural beauty. I have been so lucky this year to have seen so much: whales, stingrays, fish, rainforests, caves, rivers, beaches, mountains . . .

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Photos

The Tandem of Awesomeness
Me and my fellow guides: Simon, Felix, Me & Julia

Comments

[swills82]

I miss you. That is all.

[Sarah]

I love whales - and you!
Just had a chance to read this...such fun! It's pretty amazing that you've been practically all over world and still rave about Canada. It is beautiful! Miss you...BUT I will see you soon!