S18: Wave over Wave

Waterfront View:

“Wave over Wave” is another Great Big Sea song and suits our multiple ferry rides and ocean views. And this is one of those views of Panmure Island Provincial Park, PEI:

Day 41: July 27

It was a rough crossing that I mostly slept through. We got to North Sydney at 9:30 (Mandy survived), got supplies, hitched up and headed to the ferry to PEI.

We didn’t have a reservation and were the first MoHo that DIDN’T make the 2:30 crossing, but we were first for the 4:45 sailing from Caribou (this is the only “Caribou” pic I got on this trip):

And while I’m at it, here are all the Moose we saw:

It was a lovely sail with Porpoises and Seals. We got to Alana’s cabin, got settled in the beautiful, if buggy, setting, and had a great evening talking and admiring her beautiful PEI home.

Day 42: July 28

It’s HOT in PEI! We got up early, and David and I headed into Charlottetown for the day. We walked around and saw some sights:

…then found a spot to watch the Pride Parade:

After, we drove to the beach at Blooming Hill Beach (so hot and crowded; we only went this far):

…then went to Savage Harbour and its Heron Rookery:

We got back to the cabin for dinner with Alana and Kyla, then Alana and I headed to the Trailside Cafe for a J. P. Cormier and Bill Elliott concert. Hot and steamy and amazing. What a night:

Here’s the view (of two cuties and the biggest deck in the world) from my chair:

Day 43: July 29

It rained all morning, so we hung out and recovered from all the sun and heat of the day before. Then we decided to head to Panmure Island Provincial Park for two final days on the beach.

We relaxed, and I walked the beach (and saw a seal) as the sun was setting:

Here’s the view from Site #37, $38 E/W:

Day 44: July 30

Wow, another hot day. We are not used to this!

We took a top-down Jeep ride into Montague and took in some of the street art:

We got some supplies for dinner and relaxed on the beach and waited for our guests:

Alana, Kyla and Mary, Alana’s Mom, arrived and we took a 10,000 step walk on the beach:

…and had dinner in the beautiful setting. Here’s a view of four friends and a sunset:

Day 45: July 31

We were up and out early and had a nice drive to the bridge along the south shore. Then it was Bye Bye, PEI:

It was a long (especially for David) and uneventful drive to the de la Republique Provincial Park near Edmundston, New Brunswick. We like this park and were surprised that all the E/W sites were booked. Since we didn’t want to unhitch, they let us stay in the Day Use area ($25, No Services):

Not glamourous, but our front yard was a dock on the Madawaska River:

…and our backyard was the Botanical Gardens, complete with artistic beehives!

Day 46: August 1

We had a lovely, quiet night and were up and out early for the last haul across Quebec and Ontario and got home safely around 9:00 PM. Whew!

Here are some final thoughts on Summer 2018:

• travelling with “Freddie” was fun and, according to David, not bad to tow; we saw more places with fewer worries!
• staying in campgrounds, as opposed to boondocking, is more expensive, but we met and enjoyed more people, and the cat was happier staying put while we drove around
• visiting Alana and Kyla was amazing; it was fun to be with a home friend in a different place
• we continue to love the Maritimes, especially Newfoundland (and PEI is growing on us)

S18: Friends, Fins and Fog

Waterfront View

This beautiful vertical rainbow appeared over “our” cove in Bauline East after a sudden downpour:

Day 35: July 21

Time to leave the big city and go looking for more whales. We arrived at the Celtic Rendezvous RV Park (Site #8, $40, FHU). It’s really little more than a parking lot, but, oh the view from our cliff:

We took Freddie down the coast a bit to Cape Broyle and Admiral’s Cove, where we saw this strange Squid Conveyor Belt:

Back at the campground, we indulged in more whale watching and visiting with Jeff and Betty from Florida, Roland and Miriam from Quebec, a Swiss family, and Linda and Bob, from “Bob’s Newfoundland”. We were all rewarded with a display from a couple of Humpbacks frolicking across the cove. Amazing!

Day 36: July 22

It rained and drizzled most of the morning, so we hung out, watched “our” whales (Minkes and Humpbacks), birds (including Puffins) and sheep:

…then headed out for a drive when the sun came out. We went to Tors Cove and had the kind of Newfoundland encounter we cherish: 30 minutes with a local who told us stories about the now abandoned Fish Plant, about the Caplin (which were running, but the beach is gone, so they’re just swimming, but the Puffins were happy!):

…and the story about the only privately-owned island in this Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. In the 18th century (he thinks), the land was granted to a Newfoundlander who had saved a shipwrecked Earl. Our friend had even seen the scroll declaring this. What a time.

We continued up the coast a bit for a stop at the River of Boats. The fleet of models has increased since our last visit:

Back at the Celtic Rendezvous, we enjoyed reconnecting with Martine and Guy from Quebec (we met in Trinity where we rescued that young daredevil bicycle rider!) and watched whales with them and Jeff and Betty. While I was getting drinks, a Bald Eagle swooped into the Gulls’ nests across from us, picked up a chick, and was chased away by a horde of adults. I only caught the chase!

The downpour gave us our rainbow and then some nice alpenglow after the sun set over our little cove:

Day 37: July 23

We woke and packed up to a final show of Humpbacks and a Bald Eagle. This was a great stay.

As we drove farther down the Avalon listening to Great Big Sea, “Ferryland Sealer” came on just as we entered the town of Ferryland. Not kidding!

Fog was building as we travelled. We stopped at the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve Visitors Centre to a real Newfoundland welcome (stay here, stay across the road, stay on the beach, stay anywhere you want!). After lunch, we drove to Cape Race (thank you Freddie and Portugal Cove South for finishing the road we’ve never ventured on before):

Cape Race was once a thriving community supporting the important lighthouse and Marconi Relay Station located there. In fact, when the Titanic was sinking, the message was relayed here then to the Marconi site we visited on Fogo Island:

This area held some nice birds (a Ruffed Grouse, a circling trio of Loons, another Savannah sparrow, and an elusive, feeding American Bittern):

When we got back, we moved to a concrete pad on the beach (made for us) and chatted with Cynthia and Bobby, very young retirees from Tennessee, in their very cool, Aussie-built pop up trailer:

Here’s the view from my chair:

Day 38: July 24

Sadly we woke to fog but also to two locals who stopped by to make sure we knew the Caplin were rolling on “our” beach:

Before we left for St. Vincent’s, we had a great chat with Colin and Don, two “Fish Guardians” hired by the Department of Fisheries to watch out for “poachers” and other abusers of fish and wildlife. My favourite line from Don, when we discussed the roadside potato patches, was that, next year, Newfoundland will look like Brazil (we think he meant "The Amazon”) when Marijuana is legalized!

We drove the 39 kms separately. When we got to our favourite boondock in St. Vincent’s, David found a spot for the night, but I saw what I thought was an even better spot. Not thinking about the Tropical Storm of last week and the fact that this beach was a mess, I pulled onto a flat spot and sank in the gravelly sand. Aargh! David walked to my rescue, got in and casually backed out, reminding me, kindly, that this IS a Jeep and it has 4WD. I saw the sign after:

Our search for close-up whales proved fruitless (there were spouts and tails in the distance). Sheila and Don from St. John’s suggested that the Herring and Mackerel may be coming in and the whales are feeding farther out. But the display of hundreds of Gannets diving for Caplin near shore was amazing:

Don suggested the Celtic Knot for Fish and Chips:

…and we laughed on our return when someone was pushing a car out of the gravelly sand!

We continued to wait for those spouts to come in closer to shore, but had to settle for Seals:

…and this foggy view:

Day 39: July 25

We woke to more fog but the promise of sun by 11:00. While waiting, we took eerie walks along the beach:

The fog continued until 3:30, so we decided to leave. But before we did, we caught the sight of hundreds of new Life Birds: Sooty Shearwaters:

…and a few of their cousins, the Great Shearwater:

And we realized the reason for the Tern attacks we were noticing: a couple of adult Arctic Terns were protecting a chick:

Within minutes north of the beach, there was sunshine! We headed to the Argentia Sunset RV park close to the ferry (Site #35, $30 FHU):

…where we saw Martine and Guy and enjoyed our final Newfoundland sunset:

Day 40: July 26

More fog to start the day, so no final sightseeing though the ferry terminal housed an interesting storyboard on the history of Argentia during WWII. The town was commandeered by the Americans and the residents were relocated, and their houses were burned or bulldozed. Sure, there were citizen jobs for years, but the original community was gone. Poignant. Martine and Guy said they had approached the site, still secured and patrolled.

We got to the front of the line and visited with our Quebec friends and others waiting for our ride:

Lots gets discussed in a lineup!

We were delighted when, after we checked out the terrible seating for the long journey, we got a cabin after all! We joined Martine and Guy and Romeo for drinks then dinner and settled into our little room for a much more comfortable night.