RV Trips: NL #7 Excursions around the Bays

Waterfront View

Great Big sea has a song “Excursion around the Bay” which named many of the places we have seen in the last few days. And many of the places have great waterfront views, like this one at St. Vincent’s Beach:

Day 24 July 14

The last you read, the Caplin were cleaned. And here is the final look at our delicious Caplin dinner from last night:

We continued north through Heart’s Content and its lighthouse and “House of Commons”, a hangout for fishermen through the years:

We traveled through a couple more lovely harbours and coves until we found ourselves in Grates Cove. This is a beautiful place, and a National Historical Site for its many rock walls that we could see well from the top of “The Big Trail”:

It’s also known to be the home of Cabot’s Rock, believed to have been painted or carved by John Cabot when he made landfall here. Then, in the 1960’s, it’s stated that two members of the media stole that rock and it’s never been seen again. I believe all stories.

We met two women from Peterborough who have summer homes here. Turns out one of them is a cousin of our friend, Marilyn Hinds (which we found out after we left). Such a small world! As we talked with them, someone spotted a whale right in the cove! Oh, and we saw the incongruous cow that becomes Christmas dinner for a local:

There are four or five free RV campsites provided by the town and a local band called The Gravesters, so we grabbed the best site. There are many views from my chair:

…plus a path to a “complete” Fishing Stage and Cookhouse, donated and maintained by locals from the Heritage Society:

What a beautiful place. It’s worth investigating property here for sure!

Day 25 July 15

Kind of sad to leave this place, but the fog was starting to roll in, so we headed south again, in search of icebergs and other beautiful things. Just outside Grates Cove is a reminder of a train route that once came here:

It was a miserable day for a bautiful drive, so we will definitely come back here. We did see our first icebergs of the day in Broad Cove:

…and more in Bay Roberts. Harbour Grace had this tribute to Amelia Earhart as the first woman to make a Trans-Atlantic flight; she left from here:

We arrived in Cupids (it was pouring, so no pictures), then went a few kilometres to Brigus where we found the Riverside RV Park we’d avoided a few years ago when we were in a tent! It’s run down, but right in the centre of this pretty town, so we headed out on foot using three walking tour maps provided at the “Ye Olde Stone Barn” museum:

The town has a beautiful harbour lined with old houses and many new, built mostly by people from St. John’s. A local said the about 1/3 of the houses are owned by people from away who come in for the summer:

We visited the newly moved and slowly reconstructed “Pinkston’s Forge”, and met the grandson of the original owner who is lovingly doing the work:

Then we stopped in at Hawthorne Cottage. This was the home of Captain Bob Bartlett, the Polar Explorer who “prepared the way for Commander Robert Edwin Peary’s celebrated dash to the North Pole in 1909”. It is beautifully maintained and contains many artefacts:

Here’s the not-so-gorgeous view of our campsite ($30, Water and Electric):

Oh, and here’s why it’s called The Riverside RV Park:

Day 26 July 16

We drove along Conception Bay, past my friend, Beulah’s, road (Seal Cove). She and Gordon were on their way to Ontario, so we knew they weren’t home! We decided to take the short ferry ride to Bell Island. We drove around the island, saw some horses:

…some of the famous murals:

Our lunch stop was at Lance Cove with a Seaman’s Memorial and a permanent trailer park right on the cove:

We even met the Lighthousekeeper (a 9-5 job and he commutes from Portugal Cove!):

After the return trip, we headed to Bauline (Ball-Lean) and chatted with a local from Pouch (pronounced Pooch) Cove who said we could stay there in the RC Church parking lot since no one goes there anymore! We got there and checked out the view:

…but decided to head to Flatrock. We saw an iceberg in the cove from the very place that Pope John Paul II blessed the fleet in 1984:

…so we decided to stay here in the harbour. After a short walk on part of the East Coast Trail, we enjoyed the view from my chair:

Day 27 July 17

On to St. John’s! But first a stop in Middle Cove where the Caplin were rolling. We did travel on Cuckhold Cove Road to Quidi Vidi Village, but the roads were not meant for an RV! So we drove up to Signal Hill for the token picture:

…and decided to tour around the harbour:

…and head for Cape Spear (it was too rainy to enjoy St. John’;s this trip):

Actually, we spent a couple of hours here watching whales. There were so many spouting and playing, but all just too far for picture, But it was amazing.

We stopped in Petty Harbour, home of Allan Doyle, and had an icecream in this lovely place:

…then spent a quiet evening in La Manche Provincial Park ($11.70 in Overflow; it was full):

Day 28 July 18

We headed further south and chanced upon a lookout at Renews-Bear Cove and watched whales and a Harbour Seal for the next two hours:

Lunch was in beautiful Portugal Cove South, looking something like the Caribbean:

Two years ago, we travelled to Trepassey and were stuck in the fog for several hours and saw nothing. This time it was sunny and beautiful. When we stopped for some wine and beer, I asked the owner if she knew “John” from Trepassey, a former student. She said that everyone knew Johnny Trepassey! Well, small world.

The landscape here is barren: