August 17, 2016

 

Prepared for our ferry ride to Newfoundland, arriving at 9:45am at the ferry dock in North Sydney, Nova Scotia.   Greeted nicely, but the lines move slow.  Ferry did leave on time at 11:45am.  Very nice ferry, very much like a “mini cruise ship”,

Ferry "mini Cruise Ship Atmosphere"

 

four decks for vehicles and cargo, three decks for passengers.   Very comfortable, lounges, bars, restaurant, snack bars, play areas, etc.  We enjoyed playing cribbage, watching dolphins, and observing the scenery.   Arrived at Port aux Basques, Newfoundland at 6:30pm, lost another 30 min in time zone change.  Had reserved lodging at Hotel Port Aux Basques, just minutes from the ferry.  Nice, but expensive.  Everything here is expensive, including a 15% tax on everything.  The US dollar is favorable at a 25% disc, but prices seem to make up the difference.

Newfoundland Shore Line

We found Newfoundland to be a very large island / province.  We had only allowed 7 days, and quickly learned probably three weeks or more necessary to see all.  So we decided to pick the most prevalent sites.  Beautiful, but lots of driving.  Concentrated on the west coast and the world acclaimed national park Gros Morne.   Awesome Views!  Driving,  had to break for a moose crossing the hwy, (sorry no time for picture) very large, would have won over the Ford Fiesta, but braked in time.  Lodged in Rocky Harbour, just outside the park.  Tomorrow a boat cruise on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, will be seeing fjords.

 

Fjord Boat Cruise

A 10:00am boat tour to the Western Brook Pond Fjords. 

45min Trail Walk to Boat Cruise

Was a 45 min walk to the boat through a very nice maintained walking trail past ponds and marsh lands, bogs and a lot of neat wild flowers.  A windy day, some overcast, cool temp of 62.  Tour guide narrated us into the fjord, explaining the development in terms of “millions of years ago” timeline.  Well, for us mid 70 year olds, what’s a millions years.  Anyway, the scenery was spectacular, lots of waterfalls and a bear sighting.   While still called a fjord, it is actually inland now on fresh water as the path to the ocean is closed from silt, marsh, bogs, etc.  Still the water is some 500’ deep.  And of course, the glacier long gone.  Amazing the power of mother nature.   Tomorrow

Fjord

, hopefully, 

Water Fall

whale watching in St. Anthony.  Once again, we are learning weekends book fast hear, our motel booked full for tomorrow night, so we will move to a cottage in a less dense area.

Early departure north for St. Anthony, 9:00am.  A three and one half hour drive.  Hope to book a whale watching tour.  Long drive along coast line, a rather barren area, small villages, how they survive is beyond us.  Arrived at St. Anthony at 1:00pm, lucky to get on last tour, boat just leaving. 

Whale Watching Boat

Weather overcast, windy and a cool 60 degrees.  Two and ½ hour cruise and whale sightings within the first hour.  No breach, but lots of “blow holes”

Whale Breaks Surface

and a few surface breaks and some tail flaps.   These are Humpbacks migrating to South America. This is Iceberg area as well, but we are well past the season.  They come all the way from Greenland and are some 15,000 years in the making.  Yes, 15,000 years.  Well, our luck was in place.  Still one small iceberg chuck in the area and our captain was on it.  Captain said it was sinking. (for my buddy Mr. Crowe) Maybe he said "shrinking", not sure. Really neat!  Captain circled several times. 

Iceberg Remains

A great experience.  Off the boat by 3:45pm and about a 1-1/2 hour drive to a cottage we reserved for the night.  Rain began, thank goodness not on the boat.  Checked in, Tucker’s Cottages, very nice cottage, new, nicely furnished, very comfortable.  Pizza supper.  May stay another night and hike tomorrow.

 

The cottage was so nice

Cottage

we decided to spend another night.   They had a wonderful hiking trail right across the street, St. Margaret trail going to one of the first settlers in the area.  This road of course is right on the “Viking Trail”, the very first settlers of this area.  Anyway, locals made a boardwalk from the road all the way to the settlement, some 2-1/2 miles one way, through the marsh, bogs, and woods right to the St. Margaret’s Bay in Reef’s  Harbour, on  salt water.  

2-1/2 Mile Boardwalk

We spent 1 hour 15 min walking one way, but enjoyed immensely.   Beautiful scenery, hoping to spot a moose, but no such luck.  Shari spotted a sizeable critter, but we could not identify.  

Remote Lighthouse

Then we opted to find a “Lighthouse” noted in our cottage material.  Very rough road in a very remote area, but found and enjoyed the view.   Wonderful Day!  Cottage has a grill, so cooked steaks in.

 

 

 

 

Left the cottage early AM heading south for our last leg of Newfoundland.  Heading to Corner Brook for a stay at a B & B, a little change for us



 

B & B Corner Brook

.  Nice place run by a single gal representing the owners.  A beautiful travel day, awesome scenery.   Looking back, the seven days of Newfoundland was ample for us, having seen all of the west coast, concluded we probably saw the best and the rest would be more of the same, excepting St. John, the capital, would have been nice, but a long way to drive.  Anyway, exploring Corner Brook, situated on the Humber Arm of the Bay of Islands, off the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Swan

View Corner Brook

 

Corner Brook a very nice community, more active than we’ve seen in others.  Paper mill industry here.  Found a very nice hiking area around a pond and marsh.  Community project.  Swans in the pond.  Spent about 1-1/2 hours here, then drove to a lookout in honor of Captain James Cook, founder and surveyor of Newfoundland, sent by the British.   Morning had a great breakfast with fellow B&B Guests.  Great Visit!  Then off to our port for the ferry back to Nova Scotia.

Arrived at Port aux Basques late afternoon, so booked a room at a local “Housekeeping Suites” called “Shark Cove Suites”. 

Shark Suites

Interesting!  Newfoundlander’s do live an interesting life.  Clean and friendly!  Ferry leaves 11:45am 10/17, arrive two hours early again.  Returning the RV will feel Great!!  Next adventure will be Prince Edward Island.