Newfoundland15 - Avalon Peninsula3 - St Mary's Ecological Reserve

Talk about a "natural high", the fossils, the brisk wind, tenacious plant life and a curious seal made this one of the most perfect days ever.  Happy that we took the time to visit the fossil beds, we motored on to St Vincent's where we had heard that whales can often be seen near shore.  We pulled into a parking area with picnic sites next to a rocky beach and started to get out of the van when a fellow camper from Ontario motioned to us to stay put.  He had been watching the whales all day from his motorhome.  Yes, they were that close.  He told us to look for gannet flying overhead because they look for fish.  The whales know that and they follow.  Schools of fish come really close to shore and the whales follow.  This was too good to be true!  We stayed the night.

Whale watching at St Vincent's

The long curved beach with a steep sand and gravel mix provided the opportunity for excellent viewing.  We saw 10-12 humpback whales cruise the shoreline.

We had been fortunate that we had arrived during a period of clear days, so we left the next morning for St Mary's because we knew we wanted to see the gannet colony there.  No need for a guide to take us; we hiked out 1.5 km to the gannet colony.

Atlantic Gannets at St Mary's Ecological Reserve

Murres and kittiwakes

In the second picture taken from the footpath, the middle bluff looks like it sticks out and this is where we walked to and sat down just a few feet from the gannets. Wow!  To our right were the murres and razorbills (black) and some Black-footed Kittiwakes. To gain some perspective, slightly above and to the left of that middle bluff, it looks like it is a bit level and there appears to be some yellow there.  That's where all the people were. I know, you can't see them; but compare that to the size of the bluffs and you can get a sense of what 100's of thousands of gannets look like when they come to Newfoundland to nest.

Knowing we had just experienced a most spectacular sight, we were feeling pretty content and so on day #42 we were ready to leave Newfoundland.  We were not scheduled to leave on the ferry just yet, but we drove to the ferry dock at Argentia and asked if there was room.  No Problem! One week ahead of schedule. but early enough in the season to get a space for the van and a room for the night aboard.  As we enjoyed a buffet dinner, we watched dolphins and whales. Such a nice way to say goodbye to Newfoundland.

Newfoundland14 - Avalon Peninsula2 - Mistaken Point

Portugal Cove South rest area

We moved our van across the road to a pleasant rest area in full view of Portugal Cove South, a small well-kept village.  While waiting for the tour the next day, we drove on down to Trespassy for lunch and made our way out to yet another lighthouse along a single-lane dirt road which we shared with some local walkers.  I haven't mentioned it, but everyone in Newfoundland is a walker.  With footpaths criss-crossing rocky hills and disappearing into thick pine forests, there are plenty of places to walk.  We even spotted them walking along major highways, miles from anywhere.  Good idea.

The Rookery

A drive and hike out to The Rookery was an introduction to what we were to see at St Mary's Ecological Center later.  These rocky cliffs host 1000's of kittiwakes, murres and gannets.  We were not able to see the puffins up in their burrows, however.  We would have been better with a spotting scope here because of the distance to the cliffs.  The best opportunity was yet to come.

Meanwhile, after a dusty 15-km drive in the National Parks Service van, we hiked out 6.0 km across the barrens, tuckamore, a river and several hills along the old road/path between Long Beach and The Drook communities.  These were among small remote villages set up during the fishing season where young men, eager to meet young women, had to first hike this route to the nearest village of any size, battle other young men for a dance with a pretty lady and then trudge back to fish for yet another day.

Just looking across the barrens, one might conclude that nothing exists here, but that would be misleading.  The constant wind keeps the plant life very short.  Trees look more like small bushes.  Even irises here are in miniature.  Yet on this barren grow berries that are so vital to migrating birds.  The migrating Whimbrel feeds on the crowberry in August before that 4000-km trip to South America.  Different berries attract different birds and so on.

The path to Mistaken Point

As our Parks guide explained, we had to take off our shoes and don booties because, while we were allowed to walk on the fossils, they were trying minimize our footprint, letting only the wind and sea take its toll.  The fossil beds were created by volcanic eruption 450 million years ago and are the oldest multi-cellular fossils in existence as far as we know now.  By establishing a reserve, not only are the fossils protected, but the barrens are included as well.  After taking photos for an Earthcache, we began to walk back to the van, a much harder walk against a 30-35 kt breeze.

Plants along the path:

Iris, dewberry and crowberry (not yet ready) survive along the path and play their role in the ecology of our planet.

After a day like this, I understand the song of my childhood:  "Oh Lord, My God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made....Then sings my soul..."

Newfoundland13 - Avalon Peninsula1

With the fog beginning to roll in, I am standing at the eastern-most point at Cape Spear Lighthouse.  Of course we came here to do a geocache, so off we went down a path and literally under the lighthouse.  In the distance, we heard a whale blow three times.  Strategically located, it also was a gun emplacement during WW II for the US.

Yep, it's there somewhere in those rocks! Awesome!

We stopped for lunch at Riverside Restaurant and had a nice conversation with a couple who had driven some schoolchildren down to a fishery nearby.  It just goes to show you that you ought to read carefully before you march off somewhere:  we turned off the highway onto a narrow gravel road and then hiked 0.6 kms across an isthmus to Ferryland Head Lighthouse.  We were joined by two nice ladies from Vancouver who were on their way to pick up a picnic lunch at the lighthouse.  Dang!  Gourmet sandwiches, spring water, fruit and a dessert in a basket, complete with plaid blanket to sit on whilst overlooking the rocky shoreline.  Dang!

Off we trudged to find our geocache, stepping over and around the rocky headland.  Find it we did, but we noticed on our way back up the hill that the picnickers had all but disappeared in the crisp wind.

                                      

Ferryland Head Lighthouse

 Sitting out in the harbour was  the iceberg that had floated in two weeks ago.  We had seen a report on the television and you can see a small boat near the 'berg which will give an idea as to its size. As we were walking back to the van, it started to roll.  Ferryland is also the site of the 1620's Colony of Avalon, founded by Lord Baltimore.  Rumor has it that his wife was not impressed and lit off for warmer climes in Maryland. An archaelogical dig is currently working on the site.

Traveling down the Avalon Peninsula starts to get a little sparse as far as settlements are concerned. Our only opportunity for a campsite was Chance Cove Provincial Park, described as having no campsites, but it's okay to stay in the parking lot.  Gettting to it was another deal: 6.0 km toward the coast over a very bumpy gravel road - washboard comes to mind. We thought we might be the only ones here... wrong.  Six travel trailers were permanently set up and a couple more arrived after we did.  Just over a rocky dune, the sound of large pebbles being swept and tumbled by the waves was as calming as a rocking chair.  Numerous trails ran through the pines and across a marsh; some with warnings to stay away from the edges: a fall would mean landing on the rocks below.

Chance?

6 km of gravel road - adventure...

The next day we stopped at the Interpretative Center for Cape Race and Mistaken Point. They weren't open yet so we drove down 20 kms on yet another gravel road to Cape Race Lighthouse and Marconi Station.  This station was the first to hear the Titanic distress signal.  It's an incredible site; the rock ledges uplifted out of the depths of the ocean with rock that began in either Europe or Africa a gazillion million years ago when continents were floating around.  We found our geocache here and left a little something from Indiana.  Back at the Interpretative Center we learned that the guided tours were full for the day so we signed up for the next day.  This site is in the process of becoming a World Heritage Site and as a part of that, locals must be involved in the project.  So, manning the center are locals who seem so delighted that anyone comes to see the fossils at Mistaken Point.  They will tell you that they knew that they were there, but never knew how significant they were.  And the experience is one I will never forget.  Besides that, they told us to just park across the street for the night.

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At this point, we had a decision to make: continue farther along the TransCan or detour up the Avalon Peninsula between Trinity Bay and Conception Bay. With names such as Dildo Cove and Heart's Desire, we could not resist the temptation to travel yet another north-reaching finger of land. (Don't believe I just wrote that.)

After searching endlessly for a breakfast place, we drove on the TransCan until we found a truck stop with a restaurant. Picking up our route again on Hwy 80, we stopped at Heart's Content to view the cable station, site of a major relay station point for transatlantic telegraph messages and the place where the first transatlantic cable landed in 1866.

We don't always join a tour group at museums, prefering to move along at our own pace. This museum tour proved to be quite informative, not so much about the cable industry, but the lives of the people of Heart's Content during the height of the cable business. Originating in the British Isles, the business brought employees from England to operate the machines (the building still houses original equipment). A community of ex-pats developed apart from the local community: churches, schools, clubs, etc.  It cost $5.00 to send a child to their school and the local fisherman could not afford to pay the tuition.  Almost all the operators were imported with the exception of one notable Newfoundlander and his name is remembered by locals to this day, but I can't remember it.  Also noted is the fact that during times of war, women were used as operators and proved to be faster and more accurate than men.

At Heart's Desire Lighthouse we searched for yet another geocache, but came up empty-handed.
Because John Cabot told the world about the abundant codfish in the area, an influx of fishermen from Europe began to fish the area seasonally and then began to settle permanently.  At the tip of the peninsula sits Grates Cove where evidence of its Irish past still remains - rock fencing on hillsides.

Driving back down Hwy 70, along the pirate coast, we traveled through several small communities and settled for the night at Brigus' Crow Rock Camp, a brand new campground whose dust had yet to settle.

At Harbour Grace, we followed our noses to get a better view of an iceberg just offshore. Parking the van along the road, we hiked across a stretch of tuckamore.  Back in Harbour Grace, an airplane and an Amelia Earheart statue commenorate her transatlantic flight which began here in 1932.  Aground in the harbor is the SS Kyle, a former cargo/passenger vessel which worked up and down the coast.  Grass now carpets the decks.....

At Cupid, we stopped to tour the Legacy Centre and met the manager leaving for home on a bright Sunday morning.  He was most interested in telling us about his childhood growing up in Cupid. Precious little commercial fishing operates out of Cupid today, but most residents are descendents of those intrepid fishermen who came to carve out a living on this most fertile, yet unforgiving coastline. The three fishermen who still ply the trade fish with longlines for crab and shrimp.  The Legacy Centre was built not as a museum, but as a reminder of where they came from.  Most of his school friends have left for various parts of the world, but still consider this their home.

Not far from the centre is an archelogical dig, site of a colony during the 1600's.  So far over 100,000 artifacts have been found.  Pre-dating Jamestown in Virginia, the findings suggest a well-organized and successful colony.

 

Newfoundland10

With just a slight taste of Puffin-sighting, I was ready to go; but before we left, we toured the replica of Matthew, John Cabot's ship which landed at Cape Bonavista in 1497.  Little did I know that John Cabot was actually an Italian sailing under British sponsorship, thus the name change.

Not far from Bonavista, is Elliston Lookout, a geocache site and  puffin colony.  With puffins to watch, we almost forgot about the fact that Elliston is the root cellar capital of the world.  We sat down on the grassy bluff and watched puffins flying around the rocky island just a few feet from our perch.

We were able to find lunch at the Seafarer Inn in Port Union, although there was no fish on the menu.

We drove through Trinity, a restored 19th century community, home to a theatre/art enclave. Driving down the peninsula gave us time to take in what we had seen so far:

100's of puffins, gannets, snow geese, black guillemots, one American Black Duck, murres, eiders to name a few. Then, 20 or so icebergs, 3 moose, 3 foxes and 2 kits, 1 coyote, 1 groundhog, 4 dead porcupine, 1 dead black bear.

We found the Horse Brook Trailer Park just outside Fortune, NFL, run by Bridges Employment Corps, providing job training for multi-challenged. They also operate a tea room in town.  We were their only guests for the night.  We failed to find the Horse Brook geocache, a small camo just off the trail.  Maybe too many muggles in the tourist season.

From there we drove to Grand Banks, found a small tea room/cafe for lunch and then toured the Seaman's Museum, a very nice facility.  This is, after all , the Grand Banks with a commercial fishing harbor. Nearby Fortune actually has a larger harbor and has ferry service to the two French islands offshore.

The Fortune Head Ecological Reserve Interpretation Centre is not large, but does have a good explanation of the 500 million-year-old fossils nearby. The drive out to the Fortune Head Lighthouse and geocache was worth the trip just to talk to the two lighthousekeepers. When the guidebooks say to stop and talk, they really mean it.  We had a pleasant chat before driving the rest of Burin Peninsula counter-clockwise. Burin maybe the name, but barren might be the best description since the day became overcast and windy.

Jack's Pond Campground near Arnold's Cove is a lovely site overlooking Placentia Bay.  We drove up a gravel road to a cleared area with a perfect view of the water. Before long, trailers began to arrive and by nightfall all but 2 of the eight sites were taken. We all were backed in a circle like wagon trains.

Newfoundland9

After talking to a local lady who had taken an interest in Missy Moo, we moved on to pick up one more geocache at King's Cove Lighthouse.  Not a quick grab, we hiked out to the lighthouse through a grassy meadow, but then we trudged over a partially washed out, suitable-only-for-Jeeps trail.  I thought we might save ourselves by taking an alternate route back - wrong! We had to backtrack to the Roadtrek.

  Up to this point in our trip, we had no problem finding a place for the night. I, however, failed to realize there was no campground in Bonavista; there was one 7 miles out of town, but we didn't want to move on just yet.  A young girl at the Visitor's Center told us to just go out to "the cape" and park  there for the night.  The small, municipal park overlooking the rocky cape was perfect! We were all set to visit the lighthouse the next morning.

 Hiking out across the rocky landscape to find a geocache we were stopped in our tracks while watching a wary lady fox and her two kits who make their home among the rocks near the lighthouse.

I'd been satisfied just seeing the fox and her kits, but on the other side of the lighthouse on a rocky island just offshore we discovered our first puffin.  Maybe hundreds had found a place to burrow and care for their young, but a bit too far for my Nikon Coolpix to get a good picture.  It didn't matter; I was thrilled to see puffins at last!