NL August 4

Hiked 3.5 km

Here’s last night’s sunset:

There was some wind and rain during the night, enough to raise the neighbours’ screenhouse and toss it into our MoHo (no damages, but scary at 3:30 AM).

As we headed further west (it seems south to me), we added another Dave’s Rule of the Road: whenever there is garbage or roadkill you’re trying to avoid, a car will pass.

At 10:00, we finally saw the open ocean again (it had been a while). And we had another view of the Table Mountains:

We remember how they amazed us the first time we came here. For some reason, neither of us expected mountain.

Though we’ve driven by the Cape Ray road sign many times, we finally drove out today, and it was amazing. The weather had become quite sunny and warm so we prowled around the lighthouse and rocky shore and learned about the Dorset camp that was unearthed here in the 1950’s and dug and studied in the 1990’s. Several artifacts and building foundations suggest this was a fishing and hunting camp. We even took time to pick a few Bakeapples here:

We drove in to Port aux Basques, another place we’ve barely visited but have left from many times. It is the Astrolabe Festival (this area is known for finding these old ship’s navigational tools) and there were food stalls and other activities. We wanted to hear some music (from the stage that looks like a boat!) but we were tired  of waiting (more tomorrow) so decided to drive to the Rose Blanche Lighthouse along the southern shore:

It was a beautiful drive and though we didn’t bother to pay to walk the trail to the lighthouse (it was free before and only entering the lighthouse cost), we enjoyed the view and some ice cream:

On the way back, we stopped and hiked the Barachois Falls Trail:

Then we pulled in to the Boat Cove Park and Trail and walked part of the trail. This is famous for the sea of Pitcher Plants:

The surroundings and view of Isle aux Morts were so beautiful that we decided to stay here tonight. Another Newfoundland “free” campsite. So this is home for us AND home of Hairyman the Heroic Newfoundland Dog (in keeping with our theme). In the 1820’s, Hairyman and his mistress, Ann Harvey, saved 188 Irish immigrants from drowning after sinking in the rocks. So we felt nice and safe!

Here’s the lovely view from my chair: