Newfoundland Aug 24 - 26

Aug 24 – the ferry ride back to Newfoundland was uneventful, oh we did see a few dolphins/porpoises to liven up the trip. We stopped in at Port au Choix National Historic site, four different native cultures inhabited the area over the centuries. The land is limestone barrens and very little grows there and what does grow is quite rare but the sea provided abundance for the natives and still provides a good living for the shrimp and snow crab sea harvesters. We camped for the night at Shallow Bay and had the luxury of a good wifi connection right at our campsite and acceptable showers near at hand.

Aug 25 – heading south, we haven’t had cell phone coverage for a few days, we’re feeling out of touch! We took a boat trip on Western Brook Pond, which is a fjord but over the eons it has been separated from the coast and only has the brook outflow to the sea. First step on the tour is a hike over bog/marsh and moose pasture, we chose the 4 km route because we had time to spare. We learned a new term – a slow, barely flowing body of water is called a steady (at least in Newfoundland). The boat trip is two hours through the spectacular glacier carved valleys of Gros Morne Park. We took the shorter 3 km hike on the way back because the weather was less than perfect, but we were glad that we hadn’t waited until later because the fog and drizzle settled in. On the road again early in the afternoon, we explored around Rocky Harbour and then continued to Wiltondale where we headed west. We left the trailer at Lomond River campground and continued on to Woody Point, where we visited the Discovery Centre, Denis took in the exhibits and I enjoyed an art exhibit. We continued on to Trout River, quaint fishing village where in April of this year a dead blue whale was washed up on the beach.  It has been removed to Ontario but we aren’t sure what the final plan is for the skeleton. We had dinner at the Seaside Restaurant, where David Suzuki has eaten, and that’s where we learned the whale tale.

These red chairs are scattered around the province in Federal parks, this was at the Western Brook Pond

Aug 26 – we left Gros Morne Park and continued south to Deer Lake and on to Cornerbrook. We dropped off the trailer and drove west along the Humber Arm to the end of the road at Little Harbour. We stopped at Bottle Cove and hiked to Captain James Cook’s lookout, beautiful warm sunny day but still very windy out there. I guess that’s why the park and some other places are called ‘Blow Me Down’. On the way back to Cornerbrook we visited the Woods Island Re-Settlement House Museum, I can’t get over the fact that all this re-settlement happened in the 50’s and 60’s, I thought it was longer ago. The lady at the museum said her family was relocated in 1961, when she was 6 years old. We came back to Cornerbrook and toured around and are we be leaving for Stephenville in the morning. We have a reservation from Port aux Basques to Sydney on August 31.

Here I am on Sunset Rock but it's not sunset and I didn't let the wind 'blow me down'

 

Captain James Cook Lookout

I changed the color to red so our route shows a bit better