Harbour. Dark Harbour, is the only harbour on the west side of the island, 
     
     the coastline being very rugged with steep mountains of rock dropping straight 
     
     to the sea. If the name seems mystical and dramatic, then so does the actual 
     
     place. It was no surprise we found lots of eagles and hawks here, it was a 
     
     surprise when we found the sun. Walking on one of the trails, we started 
     
     looking down instead of up and first of all, found lots of snack food in the 
     
     great abundance of blueberries and blackberries, and secondly wildflowers. I 
     
     suspect our leader, chef, and driver knew all along what many of these flowers 
     
     were, however he made the van library available to us, and by the end of the 
     
     day we were pretty proud of our new found expertise. Ray became very good at 
     
     picking out St. John's Wort. My favorite was a brilliant blue flower called 
     
     Vipers Bugloss. The bird list was growing too, the waxwings and hummingbirds 
     
     seemed to be making every stop with us, we were pleased to find as many 
     
     warblers as we did, and a little surprised at how few crows and starlings we 
     
     saw. Before the long but eventful day ended Dan created another gourmet meal, 
     
     and Bill and Bruce set the campfire, while Ray gave a lesson in astronomy. 
     
     The rest of us worked together as a first rate team to give assistance, the 
     
     veggies were pealed to perfection and everyone wanted to do the dishes, 
     
     although the cool temperature may have been a factor in making that hot water 
     
     seem attractive. 
     
    

    
     Whale watching at last! It is very hard 
     
     to put into words the excitement created when 70 
     
     to 80 foot whales are surfacing on all sides of 
     
     the fishing boat, close enough to hear them 
     
     breathing. We were lucky to see both hump back 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     whales and, the second largest whale in the 
     
     world, the fin back. The dolphins seemed 
     
     determined to get their share of the attention. 
     
     It was if they were on stage at Sea World, 
     
     synchronized swimming at its best, coming close 
     
     enough to touch. Moving down in size, there 
     
     were the pelagics, shearwater, phalarope, 
     
     kittiwake and fulmar. Try to imagine all this 
     
     happening at once. Trying to imprint it on your 
     
     mind knowing you may never see anything like 
     
     this again. Trying to get the perfect 
     
     photograph. Little wonder no one had time to 
     
     even think about getting seasick, even though the swells were so high I was 
     
     looking up, trying to take a picture of the dolphins. The tour operator 
     
     admitted that our particular trip was one of the best he had all summer. We 
     
     were out on the water from seven in the morning till noon on a beautiful sunny 
     
     day, we also witnessed first hand the famous fundy tides. When we arrived, 
     
     early morning, we had to go down a two story ramp and be ferried out to the 
     
     boat, but when we got back at noon we tied up at the wharf and we simply 
     
     stepped off. 
     
    

    
     It was a very tired and satisfied bunch that arrived back in 
     
     Charlottetown late Sunday night. The trip more than met all of our 
     
     expectations. Grand Hanan is a nature lovers paradise, the birds find it an 
     
     "in" place to be as well. The whales, well, they are just more than my words 
     
     can tell. Friends were made, we learned to work together, enjoy together, 
     
     suffer together (it was a little cramped on the way home,) learn together 
     
     (Jean and I were a little amazed when Ray and Dan started listing the birds 
     
     they heard flying over in the night.) I'm sure I speak for the group of us 
     
     who participated in this field trip, Bruce, Dan, Bill, Evelyn, Jean, and Ray 
     
     in expressing our gratitude to the Natural History Society for providing this 
     
     opportunity. When a similar expedition is mounted next year, you will find 
     
     our names on the sign up sheet next to yours. 
     
    
   
   
    
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