NEWFOUNDLAND
Aug 16th was a beautiful, sunny, non windy
morning as we headed for the ferry which leaves at 11:45 am and we had to be
there 2 hours early. When we arrived they were just starting to board the
trucks. It took a surprising long time to load. When we drove onto the lower
level of the ship they directed us to an open hatch in the floor and we drove
down in to the basement. You then turned around and backed into your spot.
It was a 6 hr trip arriving at Port Aux Basques. It was comfortable as all the chairs were recliners and the sea was calm. We got off the ship at 6:30pm and headed for Corner Brook getting there about 8:30pm. It was quite dark when found our campsite and managed to pitch camp in the twilight.
Our first view of NFLD
We spent two nights in Corner Brook exploring and poking about the city, the downtown area is not very big, but like most city’s it’s starting to sprawl out.
We took a nice long drive along the South Shore to Blow Me Down Park where we did a hike up the Governors Staircase from the sea to a lookout on top the mountain for a beautiful view of the Bay and Islands.
From there we drove to Little Port and Bottle Cove Park overlooking the Gulf of St Lawrence. The scenery is really spectacular!
When we were driving back to Cornerbrook, we could see the rain coming. We rushed to the top of Crow Hill to see the monument to Captain James Cook who was the first explorer to chart the western coast of Newfoundland in the 1760s. As we reached it, the rain was coming down, however the sun was shining over Cornerbrook and we saw a beautiful rainbow! We knew it would stop soon.
It apparently rained everywhere except our campground! Good karma, we thought! It did rain during the night but in the morning we were able to have everything dry before we packed up the car.
The wind has started to blow here and if you think it’s windy in Saskatchewan it has nothing on Newfoundland! It doesn’t seem to matter which way you’re driving, the wind is always coming at you from the side.
We drove through Gros Morne Nat’l Park on the way to L’Anse Aux Meadows, the Viking village. On the way we stopped for picture taking at The Arches Provincial Park. This is a natural archway created by eons of tidal action. Really cool!
We managed to get the last camping spot in St Anthony. Once we were set up we made our way to see the Canso Water Bomber that is a memorial for all flyers who have died while fighting forest fires. This Park was created in 2008.
That evening we went to a Viking Feast where we were introduced to typical food, little black fish, more fish, Jiggs dinner, and Cod tongue. I tried it, but I’m not too fussy about eating something that’s been living in somebody else’s mouth. It was a fun evening with the guests getting up and supplying the entertainment. The dinner was served in a typical Viking sod covered room.
It was a 6 hr trip arriving at Port Aux Basques. It was comfortable as all the chairs were recliners and the sea was calm. We got off the ship at 6:30pm and headed for Corner Brook getting there about 8:30pm. It was quite dark when found our campsite and managed to pitch camp in the twilight.
Our first view of NFLD
We spent two nights in Corner Brook exploring and poking about the city, the downtown area is not very big, but like most city’s it’s starting to sprawl out.
We took a nice long drive along the South Shore to Blow Me Down Park where we did a hike up the Governors Staircase from the sea to a lookout on top the mountain for a beautiful view of the Bay and Islands.
From there we drove to Little Port and Bottle Cove Park overlooking the Gulf of St Lawrence. The scenery is really spectacular!
When we were driving back to Cornerbrook, we could see the rain coming. We rushed to the top of Crow Hill to see the monument to Captain James Cook who was the first explorer to chart the western coast of Newfoundland in the 1760s. As we reached it, the rain was coming down, however the sun was shining over Cornerbrook and we saw a beautiful rainbow! We knew it would stop soon.
It apparently rained everywhere except our campground! Good karma, we thought! It did rain during the night but in the morning we were able to have everything dry before we packed up the car.
The wind has started to blow here and if you think it’s windy in Saskatchewan it has nothing on Newfoundland! It doesn’t seem to matter which way you’re driving, the wind is always coming at you from the side.
We drove through Gros Morne Nat’l Park on the way to L’Anse Aux Meadows, the Viking village. On the way we stopped for picture taking at The Arches Provincial Park. This is a natural archway created by eons of tidal action. Really cool!
We managed to get the last camping spot in St Anthony. Once we were set up we made our way to see the Canso Water Bomber that is a memorial for all flyers who have died while fighting forest fires. This Park was created in 2008.
That evening we went to a Viking Feast where we were introduced to typical food, little black fish, more fish, Jiggs dinner, and Cod tongue. I tried it, but I’m not too fussy about eating something that’s been living in somebody else’s mouth. It was a fun evening with the guests getting up and supplying the entertainment. The dinner was served in a typical Viking sod covered room.
Driving back to the campsite located 8 kms outside St Anthony was a bit interesting and after a few wrong turns we managed. During the night Keith heard an animal grunting and then it snorted right beside the tent. Well, his hair stood on end about 2 inches( ‘cause that’s all the hair he has) and he shot straight up in my bed. By the time he looked outside there was nothing to see and of course Sharen slept through it all. In the morning Keith found some fairly big hoof prints outside the tent. The owners forgot to mention there’s a pet moose in the park!
L’Anse Aux Meadows was so interesting. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the first and only known site established by the Norse in North America and the earliest evidence of European settlement on this continent. The Parks dept. has reconstructed a Viking long house covered in sod and staffed it with period players that are very knowledgeable about the historical conditions and the Viking’s life style. The Vikings lived in L’Anse Aux Meadows 1000 years ago and abandoned the place after 2 decades. It was only used as a boat repair station and never continually inhabited, although they did have one bad assed woman, Helga, living there. One night she killed 5 other women, not a really good thing to do especially when women were hard to come by in those days. We enjoyed our time spent here. We then went to the only restaurant in the area for a light lunch. It was delicious. We shared a “Figgy Duff” dessert…..a blueberry bread pudding with figs and a splash of whipping cream…Yum!
It had been threatening to rain all day and on the way back to our campsite it started to sprinkle. By the time we reached our site it was pouring big time. It took us about 20 minutes to uproot camp, pack and get out of there….soaking wet. We drove about an hour to the Plum Point Motel where we got a room, dried out our gear, had supper and a dry bed.
On the way back down to Gros Morne National Park we stopped at Port Au Choix National Historic Site. This is a very barren area and appropriately known as Limestone Barrens!! Four ancient cultures have been found here. The Port Au Choix Peninsula juts slightly out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Newfoundland’s northwest coast. With marine resources like fish and mammals within reach, it’s been a favoured spot for peoples who have lived and traded here for 5,500 years.
We then drove on to the Shallow Bay campsite near Cowhead to meet Sharen’s 1st cousins Val & Wayne. Sharen & Val were thrilled to be meeting after having corresponded for around 28 years!!!
Besides having meals together, drinking wine and getting to know one another, over the two days Val & Wayne showed us the highlights of Gros Morne. They took us around to Woody Point, a small village on the south side of the inlet, a marvellous little place just like you imagined all the little villages of Newfoundland should look like, nestled on a rocky shore line.
Here we saw the Tablelands loom above the small communities perched along the side of the fjord. It was an awesome sight.
We also took the Western Brook Pond Tour. This was an enjoyable 2 hour boat tour exploring the iconic freshwater fjord lake with stunning billion year old cliffs. Unfortunately it was a cloudy day, however, we did enjoy ourselves.
With the wind always on full….we couldn’t help but notice the stunted trees and the fact that they were all blown in one direction. These are known as “tuckamores”. It is a Newfoundland term for the stunted balsam fir and spruce trees that grow in alpine areas along the coast.
Another oddity we noticed was that in the graveyards, all the graves had fresh flowers on them. When we asked Val about this she said that in Aug it is quite common for there to be a flower run for graves!
We wanted to take Val & Wayne to a musical show in Cowhead, but they were very, very nervous of the highway crossing of moose after dark. Val had worked in Gros Morne in the very early stages of it being designated a National Park. In fact she blazed many of the hiking trails. She has seen the extreme damage hitting a moose can create. So we decided to just have a few drinks back at our campsite….we enjoyed that!
Gros Morne has lots to offer. We did not get to do any hiking this time….we will have to return!!
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