Central and Western Newfoundland

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Another week in major tour mode.  We left the eastern area and are now touring the central area and as well a little of the western part.  After leave St. John’s we set up base camp near Musgravetown.  As soon as we got there, we set up and went of to see Terra Nova National Park.  There were a couple of hikes interested us – they were neither long nor difficult.  The first one was Ochre Hill which was actually a lookout tower and the hike basically consisted of stairs – lots of them. 

However, the climb up the tower gave quite a view.  From there we went and walked Sandy Pond trail which was a loop around Sandy Pond – lakes here are rather rare as the bodies of water are called ponds.

He didn't care if we were watching

Off we went to Elliston and Bonavista in search of whales and puffins.  At Elliston, which is known for the puffin population and has a great viewing site, we went out to see the puffins and you could certainly see the influence these birds have in the community. 

If you are very patient, and very few people are around, they do on occasion, come right up to you, but that wasn’t the case for us.

There are also a lot of root cellars that are built into thee side of knolls, or small hills.

Then off to Bonavista to see if we could find some whales.  Sure enough, they were frolicking in the harbour.  While none of them gave us a real show, we did see a few tails out of the water and as their backs rose up out of the water – fun to watch. 

Then we went to the spot where John Cabot landed. On the way home, there was a trail, Skerwink Trail,  which was a bit long but is considered quite spectacular so off we went.  While we didn’t go on the entire trail because it was also considerable more challenging than we were prepared for, the scenery, once again, was amazing.

Then off to a new campground at Dildo Run Provincial Park.   En route we mentioned that there have been many warnings about watching for moose but we had yet to see any.  Well the time had come and one almost came up close and personal as it jumped out of the ditch onto the road in front of us.  Gerry hit the brakes and finally it scampered off – it could have been ugly.  Now we have seen one – good enough.

We settled in at the campground and set off to Twillingate.  This is often a location that icebergs float by but none were to be found.  We went to see Long Point Lighthouse and nearby, was a sample of how many buildings are built – one side is on stilts. 

I think it would be a bit unnerving to be in there.   Twillingate is known for the many icebergs that pass by but today was not the day.  I think we are a bit late in the season to see them here. 

The next day, it was off to Fogo Island so across on another ferry, only to see views that were different again.  As we toured the island, we drove by the Fogo Inn.  Now this Inn is really quite a plain Jane in appearance but only has 29 rooms which start at $2,875.00 per night.  This is as close as we got. 

Also Fogo Island hosts one of the four corners of the earth as declared by the Flat Earth Society.  With all the crazy theories there are circulating right now, it’s almost a surprise that this society is not more popular.  But proof is revealed in the photo – it looks like the four corners (of which one is Brimstone Head), the earth is really a triangle as there are only three corners!!  So like most theories, the theory that the earth is flat can be easily disproved.

The stairway up

View from the top

We did notice that all the fences on the island were wooden.

Time to leave again so we spent most of the day driving in the rain and spent the night at Deer Lake.  We wanted to go hike the Tablelands at Gros Morne Park, so instead of driving in (on possible rough roads) with the motorhome 40 km in, we unhooked and chose to take the Jeep instead – wise choice as the roads were quite rough. 

These signs are for real

The Tablelands is one of the only areas on earth where the earth’s mantle is exposed.  It make quite a photo op to see the mountains on one side of the road barren while on the other side, they are covered in forest.  There was a threat of rain so we suited up for wet weather but fortunately, there was just a very mild sprinkle until we got back to the Jeep – then it rained and hard.

Ready for rain

Quite a few of these tasty berries on the path

The next day we headed up towards Gros Morne, again in the pouring rain.  We found a spot at Flower’s Cove, a little further than we had planned, but it looked great for a couple of nights as the next day was promising sunshine.  Right on Mr. Weatherman.   The evening was beautiful so we took as stroll and saw some Thrombolytes which are actually living rocks.

We drove to the northern tip to see a couple of things – ice bergs (as reported by Iceberg Finder), and L’Anse Aux Meadows.  There was one iceberg fairly close to shore and what a beauty.  We did see several more but they were off in the distance, and best seen with binoculars.

L’Anse Aux Meadows is an area that has been recreated from when the Vikings first landed in North America over 1,000 years ago and is the only authenticated Norse site inn North America. 

Along the way, we take photos of many things at random - here is a sampling.

Irises are everywhere in the wild

Windswept trees along the coast

A creative way to create patio lights

Wood is a common source of heat - particularly in the northwest.  There are massive piles of wood similar to this everywhere

Work continues regardless the weather

Sprucing up both sides of a building

 

An uncommon sight - we have seen very little farming evidence - any fields were very small

Little garden plots such as these are in the ditches in the northwest as that must be where there is a lot of accessible peat moss.

I guess I have been a bit long-winded today but we have just seen so much.  I hope everyone has a great week.