NL July 15

Hiked 1.5 KM

Not sure I can start every post with the previous night’s sunset, but I’ll try. So here’s last night’s:

We were up and away north. But first, the eastern side of the Port au Port peninsula and it’s unusually decorated houses in Mainland:

As we drove through Stephenville again, we were reminded of that it was US Air Force base in the 40’s-60’s. The buildings remain and are being repurposed as a courthouse, apartment buildings, businesses and a cinema. But it still feels a bit like the Cold War here.

Oh, and saw a guy selling cod from his pickup for $1.50 a pound! Should have bought some after we went on to find a Fish and Chips lunch was $13.95!

There’s a new Moose fence for about 7 km north of Stephenville on Highway 1. But that’s all. And no Moose anyway

We headed in to Deer Lake for final groceries for the next week or more. And enjoyed the accordion playing in front of the Down Home Variety and Chip Truck:

We had a bit of a nostalgic trip through Gros Morne. We saw beautiful Bonne Bay:

… snow in the mountains, and the loaded parking lot at Western Brook Pond’s entrance (glad we did that great hike and boat ride a few years ago when it was less known).

We tried for lunch on the breakwater in Cow Head (more nostalgia), but the winds saw us move to St. Mary’s Botanical Walk instead:

And we fought the wind and rain to revisit The Arches:

The further north we got, the more frequent the roadside life began with garden patches:

…lobster traps stored for the season:

…and woodpiles being readied for the winter:

Personal, private yard space is rare, so the side of the highway is used for everything.

We had about 20 minutes of serious rain before we headed to St. Barbe to see about getting the Tuesday ferry to Labrador. It was full, so we headed a bit further north to plan. We found a great place to stay in Flower’s Cove at the trailhead for the White Rocks Walking Trail. We have an ocean view in the front and the trail in the back.

We walked the limestone features:

and took a lot of pictures of the stunted but beautiful plants tucked into crevices. Here’s a slideshow. ONE day, we may try to identify them:

		Flora on the White Rocks Walking Trail VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After dinner, we made a reservation for the Wednesday ferry and enjoyed our little free campsite.

Here’s the view from my chair:

NL July 14

Hiked 4 KM

Oh, what a beautiful day. But first, here’s last night’s sunset from our campsite:

Time to leave the Codroy Valley and start north. There were very few vehicles on the road. It IS Sunday, but I am still amazed by the seemingly small number of cars, trucks and RVs here. There are few signs, no billboards but some artistic repurposing (and I could name all the figures):

We headed west on the Port au Port peninsula (west of Stephenville) to a place we visited the last time we were here. It seems like few people venture here, but we think it is a lovely road with some of the best rugged coastline we’ve seen in North America. The road has vistas like this:

small towns and old cemeteries:

a Federal harbour:

and a very ugly limestone mine we didn’t photograph, but it’s one small blight on this landscape.

We reached the Boutte du Cap Park in Cape St. George, and it was as we remembered it. We found a spot to stay (camping is free here)

then hiked the trails high and low around here. The pictures tell this story":

We’re parked on a feeding route for some seabirds, so have enjoyed the Gannets, Guillemots, Kittywakes and gulls flying back and forth. We are also enjoying the plants, some miniature wildflowers and shrubs (because of the terrain) and some Alpines:

This is how happy we look in Newfoundland:

Here’s the view from David’s chair:

NL July 13

Hiked 7 km
We woke up in Newfoundland and I am so happy! It was sunny (though buggy) and we felt great to really start the trip.
After three days of being inside vehicles on land and on sea, we spent the entire day outside today.
First stop was the Codroy Provincial Day Use Park. It has been the first (and often last) place we have stopped on all our four other trips here. So I it’s a must.
We walked the beach and were rewarded by sightings of the endangered Piping Plovers we have seen here in the past. AND we saw two chicks. Oh my!


There were a few other shorebirds and swallows (but not a lot):


There was lots of interesting flotsam and jetsam:

And we didn’t look for the foot:

We drove around to the Codroy Wetland Interpretation Centre and were welcomed by two very chatty and sweet young women. We hiked the trail they recommended:

and then decided to head back to a spot just outside the park boundaries to see about camping for free beachside. And we got an amazing spot. Locals dropped by the parking lot to fish, play on the beach, OR this:

The wedding party came in this:

This is the spectacular view from my chair:

NL July 12

We were up early and heading towards North Sydney.

Alas, another standstill for construction, but we had plenty of time. We passed Rita’s Tea Room, and felt a little sad that the great Cape Breton singer died this year.

We scoped out the Walmart in Sydney for future free camping near the ferry. We arrived around 9:00 and hung around in line until we started to board around 11:30. There was a 30 minute delay (of course), then we set sail on the Blue Puttees.

There was a lot of this:

and only a little of that (it was cold on deck):

We had a great five hour sail and finally got on shore in Newfoundland around 6:30 (that’s two time changes in three days as well!).

We decided to hit J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park for a night and bought our seasonal pass ($13) and camping fee ($9.75). I love my Senior Citizen and Newfoundland for these camping bargains.

Here’s our campsite:

and the view from my chair:

NL July 11

Another day of driving!

We were passed by three sets of two big Prevost Class A Motorhomes with Tennessee license plates and were wondering if a Nashville band was on tour? Or, by the third set, we wondered if it were a Tennessee invasion!

No moose sightings, though plenty of Moose Caution signs. We did see a doe and fawn, though.

Then we hit another standstill for more than an hour near Antigonish, NS. When we finally got going, we saw the remnants of a terrible accident (which we later discovered was fatal). We were subdued for the rest of the drive. So sad.

But we moved on and got our first sight of the ocean near Tracadie. We made it through the Canso Causeway and decided to stay at St. Peter’s. We had seen the small locks across the canal from the Battery Provincial Park the last time we were here, and decided to try for a free camping spot there.

Loads of locals were out seemingly fishing, so we found a spot and decided it was safe to stay. We also learned that they were Squid Jiggin’ (David thought the bucket of yucky, inky, white squid was bait until we learned it was the catch of the day!).

It was a lovely spot to stop after a long day.

Here’s the view from my chair:

Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) July 10

We’re finally returning to our favourite place in the world. It’s so exciting. This is our fifth trip, and I know it will be a great one.

We got away early (7:30) and began two days of detours and delays in Cobourg, only about 45 minutes in to our trip. It took us about 30 minutes to get going again.

It was a great day for driving, a little overcast. AND it was a great day to try the new toll bridge to highway 30, thus avoiding driving through Montreal. It was worth every penny of the $2.30 (cheaper for cars). There were a couple of short construction delays in Quebec, as usual!

David was a trooper and drove and drove and we spent the night at an Irving Truck Stop just before the New Brunswick border. Wow.

Here’s us, the little fish in the big pond:

Vermont and New Hampshire, June 3-7, 2013

Oops, forgot to write about this trip. But I will soon. Right now, we’re enjoying Newfoundland and Labrador (which I AM writing about).