Back to Gros Morne and Points East (July 19 & 20)

 Of course, there was no easy route to get to our next destination. We had to backtrack to Gros Morne National Park so we could continue east! Bob and I didn't stay in the park, we opted to stay at a Harvest Host near the park...Gros Morne Farm and Market. It was a tight turn to get into the parking lot so we passed the entrance and drove to a place we could unhook the car, then we each drove a vehicle into the market area. The turn was much easier for Bob without the added length of the car behind Sol. 

Once set up, I shopped the farm stand. I purchased garlic scapes, mixed greens, snow peas, and a few small bok choy.  After I made my purchases, it was time to explore more of Gros Morne. This time we were on the east side of the park. As it was late in the day we chose to visit Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse.

 After looking around in the lighthouse, we walked the trails around the lighthouse.

 One trail took us to steps down to the water. Bob chose to stay at the top of the stairs.

 I walked down to see what the tide left when it went out!

 I didn't see much. One thing I have noticed on the shores of Newfoundland is that there are no shells like we have on Florida shores. There are just rocks and more rocks!

We only spent one night near Gros Morne and it was time to move on to Thunder Brook. This was a one night stop at a popular swimming area near Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland. There were two waterfalls at this stop! I walked to the first one with Connie the day we arrived.  There were young men jumping from the rocks into the water. I have to say, they scared me....no pictures!

The following morning, Bob and I walked to both falls. This was the first falls.

 About  a hundred yards up the trail was the second falls.

 We enjoyed our stopover at the falls, but once again it was time to move on to another area.

L'Anse aux Meadows and St. Anthony (July 17-18)

We traveled to the far north in western Newfoundland to visit L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site and St. Anthony. After setting up at our boondocking site, Bob and I visited L'Anse aux Meadows.

L'Anse aux Meadows was the site of a Viking encampment over 1000 years ago. Using carbon dating, it was discovered that the Vikings used this area for about 10 years, so it wasn't a permanent settlement. 

There is a mock-up of what is believed to have been the encampment. The buildings are made of sod.

There are 'skylights,' but the interiors are still dark on a sunny day.

In the sleeping area, these doors hid the bed.

After touring the encampment, Bob and I set off to find a few geocaches and to walk the trail  (2 miles) around the site. The first part of the trail had an area called Harry Yodden's Cove. Nestled in the rocks and small bushes we found small figures and houses.

These are just a few of the examples we saw. And yes, we found the geocaches near these.

We then continued around the trail. I found the red chairs facing the north.

And yes, I still like to climb rocks!

The following day we drove into St. Anthony with Larry and Connie. We ate lunch at a seafood restaurant, looked in a few shops. Of course, there was a lighthouse...Fox Point Lighthouse.

 In one of the shops there was a small museum. This polar bear was on of many that float over from Labrador on ice floes in the spring.

 

 On our return to our rigs, we drove to the northernmost point of the peninsula to see the Leif Erickson statue.

It was a foggy, cold day as most have been in northern Newfoundland. We are enjoying exploring the different areas. Who knows what tomorrow's discoveries will be!

Port aux Choix, St. Barbe, and Labrador (July 15 and 16)

 From Arches Provincial Park we continued north toward St. Barbe. It was not a long drive, so we took our time and made a stop along the way. Port aux Choix is a Canadian National Historic Site. Indigenous people lived here many years ago. The museum was interesting, but small. The area included a lighthouse and several trails along the shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This lighthouse was one of the few tall ones we have seen on this trip. Yes, it was a cloudy, wet day.

 All Canada National Parks have red adirondack chairs placed where there is a good view. I like to sit in them and take in my surroundings, but these were just too wet!

 As we walked along the trail, we saw many small plants growing in very rocky conditions. The harebells were growing in the rocks everywhere we looked.

 

 My favorites were these white wispy plants, mountain avens. They appear to be little moustaches for Yosemite Sam or miniature wigs for Einstein! This is their seed form, prior to seeding, they look like small very small daisies.

 

 As we continued our hike along the shore, I spotted a Minke whale! It surfaced several times, but neither Bob nor I could get a picture!

From Port aux Choix we continued to St. Barbe. Since we arrived early in the afternoon, we drove around exploring the area. 

We found a trail named White Rocks Trail. True to its name, the area was covered with white rocks!

As we were driving back to the campground, we spotted a light house so we made a detour to get close to it. Unfortunately, it was on an island and we only saw it from afar...Flowers Cove Lighthouse.

The following morning, we left Sol in the campground and drove the car to catch the ferry to Labrador, well, technically, the ferry landed in Quebec...

 

...and THEN we drove north into Labrador.

 

 It was a very foggy day, so we couldn't see much and our time was limited. We drove north to Red Bay National Historic Site. There was a small museum filled with information about early settlers. There was a boat trip to an island with a trail, but the boat only operated on the hour and we didn't have enough time to do that before we had to be back at the ferry.

 And then as we were looking for a geocache, we spotted Connie! She and Larry arrived in Labrador the previous evening and were returning on the same ferry as us. We decided to meet them fora quick lunch before boarding the ferry. Long story short, lunch was not quick., our waitress was very slow....No, it wasn't due to the crowd in the restaurant, we were the only diners for quite a while after we arrived. The clock was ticking and we didn't want to be late for the ferry. After eating, we quickly paid our bill and left. When we arrived, at the ferry we got in the wrong lane.....when we realized our mistake, we changed to the correct lane where we were turned away because we were late...2 minutes! It was back to the office to be put on standby...we were number 58 (Larry and Connie were also late)! Since there were fires near Labrador City everyone there was being evacuated to L'Anse au Clair, Labrador and Sabon Blanc, Quebec, so no hotel rooms were available . Plan B, sleep in the car, hoping to get on the ferry the next morning.. We were told that it could be 4 days before we got on the ferry

~~ SIGH ~~

..Fortunately, after about two hours of waiting, another ferry was added to the schedule for that night! Everyone who was on standby, plus some truckers who waiting for the morning ferry were able to board the ferry back to Newfoundland. What a FIASCO, but one with a happy ending!

Heading North in Western Newfoundland

 From Gros Morne we went north on the Viking Trail...our next stop was Arches Provincial Park. There we boondocked overnight. The area has arches carved by the sea. Eventually, these rocks will return to the sea.

 

 While parked at Arches, we drove back to Cow Head to see the lighthouse. On the hike up to the lighthouse, we passed this rock. There was no reason for its name, just a big rock...

The lighthouse is no longer in use...good thing since it is surrounded by trees! I wonder how many times the light keeper banged his head on the door while tending the light.

 

 

We first saw the arches at low tide, but since we spent the night, we also got to see them as the tide was coming in.. In case you are wondering, the water is part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

 Arches Provincial Park was our 28th stop since we left home on April 29th. There are many more stops to come on this trip.

Continued Updates

The ferry was scheduled to leave at 11 p.m. and we were supposed to arrive 2 hours early. Not liking to be late, we were there much before that and there were already lines for boarding. After checking in, we left Sol to  walk around the area. First stop was the ticket counter to inquire about sleeping berths for our return trip August 10th. Unfortunately, there was a waiting list for the waiting list. We will check again closer to our sailing date. Loading began about 9:30 and Bob expertly drove Sol into the very tight space with guidance from the load master.

 The load masters filled the belly of the ferry with ease and we continued upstairs to our sleeping 'chairs'

It was a long night, but when time came to unload in the morning, we were quickly on our way! Our first stop was the Newfoundland Visitor Centre. We talked with the hostess and got many tips for the first leg of our Newfoundland adventure.

Our second stop was Wreckhouse Rest Area. We thought Larry and Connie would be there as they arrived two days before us and spent 2 nights in the rest area. But, alas, they got an early start and we just missed them. We had no idea where they were headed. We, however, had reservations at Water's Edge in Woody Point near Gros Morne National Park. Our site was on the waterfront and we enjoyed watching the fish, birds, and boaters.

We spent three days exploring the western portion of Gros Morne. At the Discovery Centre I enjoyed artists renditions of jobs necessary to learn about animal behavior

 and a botanist identifying new species of plants.

 Then we hiked The Lookouts which was a steep trail,

 but well worth the view.

 Next we hiked The Tablelands. It reminded us of hiking in the desert with the rocks and little vegetation.

But, it wasn't the desert and there were waterfalls

 and marshy areas with plants trying to make a go of it in this strange environment which was an ocean floor millions of years ago.

We took the water taxi to Bonne Bay and hiked Burnt Hill and Neddy Head Loop. It was another steep trail,

with great views of the surrounding area.

We explored the Trout River area and had some great seafood during our short stay. It was time to move on and explore more of Newfoundland.

Time to Review Our Travels

If you have been following our travels, you might think we have stopped in one place for a long period of time....nope that didn't happen. We are still on the move. Since the last post, we have been to Graves Island Provincial Park, Laurie Provincial Park, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, ridden the ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, and much more. Here are some of the highlights.

Our campsite at Graves Island

From Graves Island, we explored Chester and Lunenberg. Lunenberg was a very touristy town, but Chester was a quiet small seaside town with interesting houses and shops. There was a great bike trail in Chester, but parts of it were being repaired and were difficult to ride.

Campsite at Laurie Provincial Park

Laurie Provincial Park was our base to explore Halifax and Peggy's Cove. It was also where our friends Larry and Connie caught up with us. 

Connie and Larry

Royal Tattoo

Peggy's Cove

Bob and I stayed at Below the Salt Distillery, a Harvest Host on the way to Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

Our host and sipping spirits

It was a pleasant stop to break up a long drive. While here we picked up an Adventure Lab gecoache in Port Hawkesbury.

 On our drive to Cape Breton Highlands NP, we stopped at Alexander Graham Bell's National Historic Site. It was amazing to see all that Alexander G. Bell was involved in developing.

Cross-section of Hydrofoil AGB helped develop

Broad Cove Campground at Cape Breton Highlands was our base to explore the park which encompasses the entire northern part of the island. It was the first campsite that had 50 amp electrical hook-ups for us! Bob and I did quite a few hikes.

White Point Lookout

Beulach Ban Falls

Unfortunately, we didn't get to hike the famous Skyline Trail as the coast was fogged in and we wouldn't have been able to see anything except where to put our feet on the boardwalk!

From Cape Breton Highlands, it was time to head to North Sydney to catch the ferry to Newfoundland. We stayed at a Harvest Host, Bras D'Or Wharf, to wait for our departure time.

 Since our ferry didn't depart until 11 p.m., we spent the early part of the day exploring Louisbourg Fortress Historic Site. Yes, it was a foggy day, making the trip seem more like a step back in time in this reconstructed fortress.

 

This was a great trip back in history. We wished we could have stayed longer, but we needed to get some supplies before heading back to Sol and catching the ferry.

No, there is more before you are caught up....another post coming soon (maybe)!