Family enjoys whale of an Odyssey

ANDREW MEESON/TORONTO STAR

The Meeson family transporter, a top of the line Honda Odyssey Touring edition ($48,890), swallows all manner of luggage and passengers for a trip along the St. Lawrence. The eight-seater was set in seven-passenger mode.

Andrew Meeson

TORONTO STAR

TADOUSSAC, QUE.–With gas near record highs, there are surely more frugal, relaxing and earth-friendly summer holidays than jamming three generations of the same family into a minivan for a 2,000-kilometre roadtrip.

Soaring fuel costs have been credited for everything from a drop in traffic fatalities to plummeting tourism revenues in the GTA and elsewhere, as people choose "stay-cations" around the house over vacations on the road.

But for us, the simple fact is nobody's getting any younger and there will be fewer chances for all of us to share in one of the attractions the country is renowned for – like whale-watching in Quebec.

And if you're taking that many people, there are worse ways than in a $48,890 minivan chockablock with all the modern conveniences designed to take your mind off the pain of travel – if not at the pumps.

All of which is how three generations of Meeson (ranging in age from 6 to 74) set sail for this small town two hours' drive east of Quebec City in a 2008 Honda Odyssey – and not just any Odyssey, but the top-of-the-line Touring edition – in search of a blue whale.

Though pestering an endangered species while it's eating wouldn't win any environmental awards (the jury's still out on whether it actually causes damage), the lure of catching a glimpse of the rare marine behemoth proved irresistible.

SOME 200 KM EAST of the Quebec capital, the warmer fresh waters of the Saguenay fjord smash into the cooler brine of the St. Lawrence estuary, stirring up a smorgasbord for the world's largest mammals.

Because of the concentration of plankton, the area is renowned as one of the best spots in the world to go whale-watching – whether it's a beluga, fin, humpback or the majestic blue.

"This is really an exceptional place," says Nadia Ménard, a biologist with Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, as the area is officially known. Having a rich feeding ground in such a narrow body of water that's easily accessible makes it a favourite for migrating animals and tourists alike.

"We aren't in the open sea," she adds. "If you go to Cape Cod, you might travel five hours before you see a whale. But here the St. Lawrence is only about 25 to 30 km across."

It's not surprising then, that more than 300,000 people each year come to look for whales here – most on one of the 59 boats licensed to undertake expeditions in the marine park. Whale seekers inject some $93 million into the local economy – also not surprising, given that it costs a family of four roughly $150 for a three-hour cruise.

An added wrinkle for tourists this summer has been the wretched weather. Wind, rain and fog are all enemies of whale-watching hopefuls – and the only city wetter than Toronto this summer has been Quebec City.

Luck seemed to be with us, though. The one picture-perfect day on our trip ended up being the day of our cruise – and the Odyssey did its part to make what could have been an ordeal a bit less gruelling.

At 2,106 kg, the minivan has some way to go to match a blue whale, which can weigh some 135 tonnes. The van's 5,132 mm length is also a far cry from the 26 metres the largest of all creatures can reach.

In fact, the Honda's dimensions are roughly the same as its competitor minivans. With the back seats folded flat and the second row taken out, it has 4,173 L of cargo capacity – about average for the breed.

But with all the seats in use, it has a whopping 1,934 L of cargo capacity, more than any other minivan. And that configuration made all the difference in our case.

Four adults and two kids, along with what seemed like several hundred kilos of luggage and toys, fit comfortably, even for a marathon 10-hour stretch from Toronto to Quebec City.

Despite its capacity, the Odyssey proved nimble enough to dodge jumbo tour buses and quaint calèches on the cobblestone streets of Quebec. Its squared-off shape meant you could judge accurately whether it could squeak through the narrower alleys.

The other big plus was that the Touring edition is basically a luxury car in a minivan form – built not just for schlepping kids to soccer games.

At $48,890, the Touring edition is a whopping $17,400 more than a base Odyssey. Put another way, for the price of a Touring edition you could buy a base Odyssey and a base Civic sedan.

As you'd expect, the Touring was loaded to the gills with options – some useful, some merely puzzling. Satellite radio, satellite navigation, backup camera (very handy in the cramped streets of Old Quebec or Montreal), leather, adjustable pedals, and automatic doors all round.

You have to wonder about the use of some of the van's options. Do you really need dozens of satellite radio channels giving you local weather for, say Miami and Phoenix?

And though the SatNav worked fine most of the time, it sent us the wrong way down some one-way streets in Old Quebec.

There's still no substitute for good old human intervention and a $5 paper map. And God knows, the automatic doors seemed to creep open during emergency pee breaks.

No arguments about the best option of all for our tour group though: a DVD player with cordless headphones.

When you're 6 and 7, Hannah Montana episodes and High School Musical are treasures to be enjoyed over and over. The rest of us on the other side of the generation gap could marvel in peace at one of Canada's most breathtaking drives between Quebec and Tadoussac.

Whenever the rain clouds lifted, that is.

ONE FEATURE EXCLUSIVE to the Touring package that supplied hours of entertainment for the driver was the computer that showed how much gas we were burning at any given moment.

It was a lot of fun watching this display hit zero while swooping down some of the hairier waterside bends in the Charlevoix region. But on the inclines, consumption went through the roof.

In the end, it was kind of pointless data, really – it's not like you could do anything about the rising and falling gauge.

We managed 10.2 L to 10.9 L /100 km (mostly highway), depending on whether it was the flatter road or the up and down of Charlevoix. That's nowhere near the 7.8 L/100 km the van is rated at.

The Touring version has Variable Cylinder Management system, which shuts down three of its six cylinders when coasting or motoring on the flatter Hwy. 401 or Autoroute 20. It may have helped, but there's still no way around it – that much vehicle is expensive to push around.

Less luggage (or one fewer generation of Meeson) may have helped. But who wants to make that call?

As it turned out, our cruise was an unqualified success in cross-generational bonding and wildlife spotting. We watched several whales surfacing, blowing out of their spouts, then slipping back beneath the waters.

Though we saw several different species, including minke, humpback, fin and belugas (who live in the area year-round), the Baltic Blue Pearl coloured Odyssey, sadly, remained the only big blue in sight.

Which may be just as well, given the precarious existence the marine mammal leads. It's a fact the park's experts are well aware of.

"It's a whole change of culture to go from tourism to eco-tourism," says Ménard. "But that's part of our work here: to make sure these activities are done with respect for the whales."

Andrew Meeson is the editor of wheels.ca. He can be reached at ameeson@thestar.ca

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