SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2017 SECTION T ON ON2 QUEBEC’S CAN’T-MISS LIST 10 things you must see and do during your visit to La Belle Province, T4-5 > QUEBEC CINDY NADEAU/RELAIS NORDIK The MV Bella Desgagnes transports people, cars and cargo along the St. Lawrence River between Rimouski and Blanc-Sablon on the Labrador border. Canada’s most unusual cruise Touring St. Lawrence’s Lower North Shore aboard a cargo ship offers rare opportunities TIM JOHNSON and I disembark down the gangway to see SPECIAL TO THE STAR just a few glowing lights at the end of the To celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, we long pier. are exploring all 10 provinces and three Pausing for a moment to admire the territories. Today’s issue is devoted to Que- well-choreographed off-loading of cargo bec. Watch for our Saskatchewan coverage — the crane built into the side of the ship on Oct. 7. swinging big, blue containers onto the dock, some of them filled with cars, or ABOARD THE MV BELLA DESGAGNES, QUE.— building materials, or ice cream, or pretty The dusk grows deeper as we roll into much anything — the hard-hatted crew Port-Menier, population 216. The lone works like clockwork, guiding everything village on huge, remote Anticosti Island, into its perfect place. which sits right in the mouth of the St. And I see that I’m not alone here in the Lawrence River, this was once the play- gloaming. Glancing over at a brown, ex- ground of French chocolate tycoon Henri tended-cab pickup truck that I had as- Menier, who paid $125,000 for the island sumed was waiting to drop off something, in 1895. or someone, a closer look reveals a family He built a bustling but short-lived set- of four — mom, dad, and two young boys tlement here, complete with shops and a — taking in the show, as if they’ve parked sawmill and his own extravagant chateau, at a drive-in movie, all of them snacking where he hosted personal guests who on big tubs of popcorn. ventured all this way for some amazing I’m spending a week cruising the St. hunting and fishing. Lawrence on board the MV Bella Des- But those sweet, heady days are long gagnes. gone. Humans are now outnumbered — a JEAN-PIERRE HUARD/LE QUÉBEC MARITIME thousand to one — by white-tailed deer, CARGO continued on T6 A sunny day in Harrington Harbour, where life moves by foot, sea and ATV. 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Ont Reg. 4062527 T6⎮TORONTO STAR SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2017 ON ON2 >> TRAVEL Ferry serves as key link between rural communities CARGO from T1 > WHEN YOU GO More than a pleasure ship, the Bella Do this trip: Sailing round-trip is an essential service, an absolute from Rimouski to Blanc-Sablon, lifeline that ferries freight, food and the MS Bella Desgagnes calls at 11 medicine — and people — up and different ports, twice each. Shore down a distant, beautiful region excursions are led by local guides known as the Lower North Shore. and can be purchased on board I’m one of a couple dozen cruisers (they average around $25 per who occupy the 63 comfortable cab- person for a two-hour, no-frills ins on the upper decks, here to sail tour). Not a traditional cruise, round-trip from Rimouski to Blanc- guests are informed upfront that Sablon on the Labrador border, get- the primary purpose of the voyage ting a look at a rarely seen part of is to deliver cargo and thus delays Quebec. are always possible. Superior As we make our way downriver, the cabins are very comfortable, complexion of the ship changes at equipped with two beds, ensuite JEAN-PIERRE HUARD/LE QUÉBEC MARITIME each stage of the voyage. Until Ke- bathroom, satellite television and Harrington Harbour is one of the many isolated villages served by the MV Bella Desgagnes. “That ship is essential gashka — the end of Quebec Hwy. 138 picture window, and are priced in to our survival,” says one local resident. — the majority of the passengers fall the autumn regular season at into the “cruiser” category (when $1,768 (round-trip, per person, there’s a highway available, few will based on double occupancy, in- opt for a ferry). cluding all meals). Most are Quebecois who had, like Details: relaisnordik.com. me, signed on for a full weeklong Get there: Rimouski is served by round-trip, and the rest are Ontari- Mont-Joli Airport, about 30 min- ans on a sort of circle tour, driving utes away, which welcomes a daily their cars into shipping containers flight on Air Canada Express from and hitching a ride on the Desgagnes Montreal. as far as Blanc-Sablon, where they’ll catch the Labrador ferry to New- foundland (finishing their trip by driving onto the ferry back to Nova where a man named Keith Boswell Scotia). tells me that this used to be his home. After Kegashka, transit passengers A school teacher, he also owns one of start filling the ship, including a two local general stores. number of Innu riders, ferrying to “The Bella brings in all of our (or from) Pakuashipi, where they freight. That ship is essential to our were electing a new chief. Despite survival here,” he explains. the fact that the ship is absent a casi- It’s a story that’s told, time and no, disco club or swimming pool, my again, as we sail to villages that are days are spent doing activities simi- not only isolated from the outside lar to the other two dozen (or so) world, but from each other. ocean, river and expedition cruises Accordingly, while separated by rel- I’ve taken — namely, napping, relax- atively small distances, each place ing with a book or iPad in the public has its own unique character, from TIM JOHNSON lounges and, especially, eating (my La Romaine, a French-speaking In- The Labrador ferry steams out of Blanc-Sablon and toward Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula. ticket includes breakfast, plus three nu community, to Tête-à-la-Baleine, very good courses at lunch and din- an English-speaking fishing village the 120 shipping containers (for ex- ready swinging a big, blue container it all, once again. ner). settled by Newfoundlanders, who re- ample, the heaviest containers and up from the shore onto the ship, Tim Johnson was a guest of Quebec From the beginning, it’s clear that tain their distinct accent, to Blanc- those destined for the last ports on freight destined for villages down the Maritime, which didn’t review or ap- the cargo is the Bella’s No. 1priority. Sablon, at the end of the line, on the the voyage go on the bottom). coast, the Bella at the ready to deliver prove this story. “Because there’s no road, we are the Labrador border, where French Can- He keeps an eye on both ballast and road,” explains Francis Roy, presi- ada meets Atlantic Canada at the stability, tracked by computer sys- dent of Relais Nordik, which oper- gateway to the Far North. tems he shows to me on two flat- ates the ship. As we move from port to port, I screen monitors, and with all this “And that cargo is anything you can grow evermore fascinated with the information, he creates an Excel imagine, for a little village to live. cargo and want to know more. spreadsheet mapping out the cargo When people see the vessel arrive in Guillaume Séguin, the Bella’s young deck. these villages, they say, ‘Oh, fresh captain, says “90 per cent of every- But items don’t have to fit into a fruit is coming!’ ” thing in the world is carried by ship, container to be carried — these “spe- The ship, which sails 2,200 kilo- and here you can get close and see cial cases,” as Deveau calls them, metres and makes 22 stops each how it works. At all the big ports, have, in the past, been as big as a week, also serves as a vital transit link things happen behind closed doors. tractor, or even a whole house. between communities, with many Here, we open those doors.” When in port, the crew’s move- using it as a point-to-point ferry ser- And then I pull back the curtain, ments are co-ordinated through mi- Summer Lovin’ vice. meeting with the Tetris-master him- crophones and earpieces, but even Getaway Harrington Harbour is a prime ex- self, Chief Mate Corey Deveau, who with the best preparation, you can’t ample. Used as a stand-in for the organizes the cargo. He uses the ex- plan for everything. sunny, fictional village of Ste-Marie- perience he gained during years of “Here on the Lower North Shore, la-Mauderne in La Grand Séduction, working on both tall ships and tank- there’s always a few surprises on the Take your summer love on a romantic summer getaway in Caledon.