A day of land adventures: 40km biking, 4km walking, swimming, capoeira, hitchhiking.

Wake up and the sun is shining. It seems weather around here can vary from hour to hour, so we decide we’ll make use of the day to explore the island. Who knows when we’ll get another sunny day like this.

No car, no rentals nearby, no bikes for rent, no buses. Carlos is adamant that he’ll walk all the way to La Grave (a small quaint touristy town some 8 km away). I’m not up for walking this distance. I stand behind him with my thumb out (hitchhiking is a very common and acceptable practice on the island). Within 15 minutes, a car stops and gives us a lift to La Grave, the driver even gives us a little tour of the place. I could understand only half of what this guy was saying—the accent here is different than anything I have heard in Quebec.

After a delicious meal at Café de La Grave (recommended to us by Eve) we find a place to rent a bike and start cycling up to Cap-Aux-Meules passing a beautiful bay full of kite surfers and windsurfers. There are sand dunes and picturesque beaches. We stop at a beach, go for a swim. Other tourists think we’re crazy, but we’ve been waiting too long to bathe in the ocean water. We come out and play some Capoeira on the beach, again attracting the curiosity of tourists. People start taking out their cameras.

We continue on to Cap-Aux-Meules, grab a drink in a bar where a live band is playing old tunes. The bar is filled with seniors dancing away. Carlos may be old, but not that old, after a quick drink we get out of that place! We start cycling back to La Grave, full of headwind. It’s a tough ride back, and the mountain bikes are in bad shape, along with the riders who have been on a boat for 2 weeks. We finally arrive back at La Grave, it’s already cloudy and starting to rain.

Hitch a ride halfway to our wharf, and walk the last 4 km. Carlos refuses to hitchhike any further. Walking is one of Carlos’ favourite pastimes, so we continue forwards, getting to our boat at 11pm. Lay down and we’re out.

P.S. Today (Monday) we’re preparing the boat to head out tomorrow to Nova Scotia, a 30 hr voyage). Weather seems to be promising for Tuesday and Wednesday.