Monday, August 14, 2017

Last Stop, Saint John's Newfoundland

Well, we're back in the USA after a very nice 3 weeks on the rugged and beautiful island of Newfoundland.  We're currently in Maine, headed for Vermont, to stay in the cool for a few days while we figure out our next move.

After Twillingate, we stayed with Loretta's first cousin Philamina (Phil) and her husband Jerome.  They live on a pond outside the provincial capital city of Saint John's with plenty of room for a couple motorhomes to invade.  Some people are so courteous like that, having homes where we can park for free.  We stayed a few nights and had a good visit, including a trip into the city to see the sites.  Fred got a call from the medical folks and his turn came for an appointment all the way back in Corner Brook, so they left on Monday, while we hit the ferry on Thursday.  We stayed a few nights at a cliffside campground called the Celtic Rendezvous on the east coast.  It was very scenic and relaxing, with humpbacks playing in the cove right below the campsite.

Jerome took me cod fishing near the house.  We caught a few, and saw some bald eagles to boot.

Lakefront parking for two, please.

Our rig and the flag of Newfoundland and Labrador alongside the Canadian flag.  I think we see more Canadian flags at people's homes than US flags back in the States.

The group, Fred and Loretta at left and Phil and Jerome at right.

Laurie coming back in from the deck "oooh Phil, what a lovely table!"

We actually got a window in our cabin for the overnight journey from Saint John's (Argentia, technically) back to Port aux Basque, where we crossed over into Newfoundland.  It's a lot further from the east coast.

Intrepid travelers at Signal Hill, overlooking the Saint John's narrows leading into the harbor.

This was a pretty lucky shot.  At first glance, this just looks like a normal sailboat with 2 masts, just a normal ketch coming back in from a day sail, right?  It's actually a 186 foot long mega yacht called the Mondango III.  If you zoom in, you can see tiny people on the deck.  For a mere $200,000 a week, you can charter her for a cruise.  Room for 5 couples, so split 5 ways that's only $40K a week.  What a bargain!

Our view from Celtic Rendezvous

Whales playing all over the place

Really hard to get a clear tail fluke shot

That's a good dog.  Missy would jump in and try to catch a whale.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Twillingate

After the west coast, we headed east on the Trans Canada Highway (TCH) toward Saint John's.  We stopped for a couple nights just past Gander to see the small town of Twillingate and its associated islands and lighthouses.  It's a really pretty area and we had wonderful weather for sight seeing.  One of Twillingate's big attractions is iceberg tours earlier in the year.  They break off from the Greenland ice sheet and wash up on Newfoundland's northern shore every spring.  By August, they were virtually all melted.  We saw one grounded across the bay using binoculars, but too far away to appreciate.  No commentary on the pictures, just really pretty coastal scenery from northern Newfoundland on a warm, sunny day in August!







Sunday, August 6, 2017

Western Peninsula, Newfoundland

The west coast of Newfoundland is really rugged and remote, but very beautiful.  We only made it as far north as Port aux Chois, for those following on the Don and Laurie's Travels interactive map and guide.  While on the coast, Fred took us around his home town of Corner Brook, a pretty large port city for Newfoundland, with all the comforts of home.  Especially hills.  Lots of hills.  We stayed two nights in the city park before moving up north.  The tall ships were making their way into Corner Brook for the weekend, so I got a couple nice pictures.  After Corner Brook, we went up north a bit, staying north of Cow Head, then back down for a lovely evening cliff side in Parson's Pond before arriving in Rocky Harbour to tour Gros Morne National Park.  Here are some pictures:

Loretta, Fred and me.  Laurie wasn't feeling well, so she passed on a beautiful, but chilly boat tour in Corner Brook.  There were two gents playing traditional Irish and Newfoundland folk music in the cabin below, but it was such a lovely evening everybody was up on the top deck.

Yeah Canada!

We don't get nice clear skies for sunset pictures every day.

The lumber mill in Corner Brook, lots of raw material in the yard.

One of 4 we saw making their way up river to Corner Brook.

Nice right?  Like something out of a pirate movie.  If you zoom in, you can see people working the square sail in the foremast.

Corner Brook from Captain Cook's point.  I didn't realize he mapped Newfoundland before heading out to the Pacific.  The Cook Islands are named for him, and he was killed in Hawaii.

Town from the boat, headed out to see the sea
Arches Provincial Park, these were carved by the sea

Missy is getting really adventurous.  She didn't mind scampering over all these big smooth rocks.  I would have thought it would hurt her feet.  She doesn't like sea water though, so she learned it doesn't taste so good...

The rain socked us in at Port aux Chois, but still got a lighthouse photo

Our cliff side camp spot in Parson's Pond

What a view, sunset was awesome

Nice, eh?

We took a boat tour in Gros Morne National Park, in Western Brook Pond.  Pretty big lake actually, use to be a river leading to the sea but the stream got cut off and it filled in with fresh water over the eons.

Interesting how this tree must have gotten started, all alone and exposed on top of this rock, but it showed the rock who's boss!

One of many waterfalls in Western Brook Pond

Wet, intrepid travelers.  The weather for our Gros Morne boat tour was a little...gross.

Western Brook Pond is about 400 feet deep.  I was watching the depth sounder, and right off one of these cliffs it was still over 100 feet deep.

The gray weather had a beauty all its own

End of the line, where Western Brook feeds into the pond.  They'll drop you off at the dock for hiking if you have a back country pass.  Way back...