Sounds Of The Sea

The Final Day on the Island

This post is a little behind, as we had limited access to internet connection over the past two days.

We spent our final full day in Newfoundland touring the shores of Conception Bay and Trinity Bay.  It was a beautiful day for the drive and we had plenty of time to travel into many of the communities along the way, beginning with Brigus, which is a historic site and was home to Captain Robert Bartlett, a renowned navigator whose career spanned from the late 1800’s until approximately 1930.  We visited Hawthorne Cottage, which had been his family home and in which his youngest sister, Eleanor, resided in until her death in 1971.

We saw some stunning new homes on the shores of Conception Bay, stark contrast to so many of the quaint saltbox style houses we had become accustomed to seeing.

We traveled to the very tip of the peninsula that separates the two Bays, stopping at Caplin Cove where Nelson finally got some tail – whale tail that is.  We were treated to a show by no less than four whales frolicking off the coast.  Unfortunately despite Nelson’s extreme off-roading (leaving my knuckles white) we weren’t able to get as close as we would have liked.  Still, Nelson managed to capture that elusive “tail” shot that he had been so relentlessly pursuing.

We visited Bay de Verde, which literally translates to green bay and found that the description was very accurate.  We rounded the tip of the peninsula and took in Heart’s Content, Heart’s Desire and Heart’s Delight which sounded far more picturesque than they turned out to be.

It was great relaxing day and a perfect way to finish our time on the Island.  The following day we did a few final errands and found a wonderful place for lunch in St. John’s – The Hungry Heart Cafe – the food was unbelievable and I am hopeful I will yet be able to convince the Chef to surrender up her recipe for the vegetarian crepe lasagne, which currently holds the title of the best thing I’ve ever tasted (and I’ve tasted a lot of things).

Four hours on an odd little shuttle bus with a driver whose accent was the thickest we’d heard in our travels (we just smiled and nodded in response to most of his comments on the drive), followed by 18 hours on a pretty rough ferry ride and we arrived in Sydney, where we enjoyed the second-to-none hospitality of Warren and Katheryn for a day before checking into our hotel for the duration of our time here.

Woefully Without Whales

Continuing on his ongoing quest to get “up close and personal” with a whale, Nelson boarded his third boat tour of the week, this time in Bay Bulls.  I, on the other hand am quite satisfied with having seen whales from a distance, so I set out further south, checking out some art galleries and venturing as far as Ferryland.

Two and a half hours later I returned to pick up a rather dejected Nelson.  Not only did he not get the photo opportunity he was hoping for, he didn’t see even a single trace of a whale.  What he did see were more lighthouses and puffins – lots of puffins.  According to the tour guide, as many as 80,000 puffins reside in the area they visited.  I think it would be safe to say that Nelson is “puffined out” at this point.

I quite enjoyed my solo travel, picking up a piece of sculpture by a Witless Bay potter and touring the archeological  dig site at Ferryland.  An entire 17th century community has been unearthed and the display of artifacts was quite fascinating – everything from boots, buckles and buttons to currency and glass pieces from bottles that were clearly stamped with the names and dates of those who had them made.  Apparently it was the tradition to have your own name or initials imprinted directly into the glass when you had bottles made “back in the day”.  Entire cobblestone streets have been uncovered.  I could go on, but if you’re at all like Nelson, you’d probably prefer I didn’t.

After the disappointing whale watching tour we travelled to Cape Spear, just outside St. John’s.  Cape Spear holds the distinction of being the most Eastern point in North America and is also the site of a World War II battery.  We enjoyed the rugged coastline and the lighthouses, before the weather determined that it was time for us to call it day.

Our Room With A View

Today we spent the day in St. John’s or “Town” as it is referred to throughout the rest of the province.  We’re so enjoying our apartment, and started the day with the view we’re sharing below.

We headed up to Signal Hill, which can also be seen from our deck, but unfortunately as we reached the top of the lookout, the fog rolled in and we could barely see what was right in front of us, let alone the view from this historic landmark.

The weather provided us with the perfect excuse to just enjoy the city streets and do some shopping.  The Buskers’ Festival is taking place downtown so we encountered some very interesting individuals in our travels.  We stopped for a traditional Atlantic lunch of fish & chips (OK, I’m the only one who eats fish – Nelson had a very non-Atlantic pizza) at the Yellow Belly Pub.

We ended our day with sushi (OK, again I’m the only one who had sushi – Nelson had some sort of soup) and then headed back to relax and read in the comfort of our home away from home.  

Touring the Bonavista Peninsula

We set out from our B&B in the morning in search of what we were told was the best puffin viewing site in North America.  To get there we had to pass through Dungeon Provincial Park.  We almost looked for an alternate route, as when we had driven through the previous day we were driving through pastures on what was a pretty poor excuse for a road – I kept hearing the voice of “Sarah” at the car rental kiosk reminding us that there was to be “off-roading”.   We’re so glad we didn’t find another route, as this time we actually located “the dungeon” – a remarkable rock formation that essentially creates two caves leading out to sea.  It made for some spectacular photo opportunities.

The rest of our day was spent touring the southern shore of the Bonvista peninsula, taking time to drive through the many fishing communities, Catalina, Port Union, Trinity, Old and New Bonavista.  We stopped for lunch in Trinity and I had wonderful homemade fish cakes – so far my favorite Newfoundland meal.

We pulled into St. John’s in the early evening and settled in to the small apartment we have rented for the next four days.  Once again, we’re on the top floor of a traditional St. John’s row house, but well worth the stairs as the entire back wall of the living room is floor-to-ceiling windows leading out to a deck that is almost the size of the apartment itself and provides a stunning and private view of the harbour.  We are looking forward to a warm evening to enjoy it with a glass of wine.

Heaven on Earth, Thy Name is Bonavista

It seems each place we visit is more stunning than the last.  Everything you’ve seen in the Newfoundland tourism ads – it’s all true.

We started our day headed out from Gros Morne, Nelson feeling a little dejected that he’d not seen a moose in the great wilderness of western Newfoundland.  Almost as if on cue, 25 minutes from our cottage we came upon a female moose grazing at the side of the road.  Nelson was on the shoulder of the road with camera in hand in no time.  I wasn’t too sure that the moose was going to be thrilled with Nelson invading her space, but she didn’t seem to object.

From Gros Morne on the western shores we crossed the island to the Bonavista peninsula, right to the tip which is Cape Bonavista – the spot that John Cabot landed in 1497.  This is the most easterly point in North America.  While at the tip we checked out the lighthouse and fell in love with the puffins.  They are every bit as animated as you could imagine.  Puffins are only about 8 inches long, but have a very short wing span.  They are actually much better swimmers than aviators and are known to “fly” under water at speeds up to 40 km/hour and at depths of 400 ft below the water’s surface!

Before heading back to our B&B for the night, we drove through Dungeon Provincial Park, which is really just an enormous area of pasture land with free roaming cattle, horses and sheep.  While the cattle and horses maintain a respectable distance, the sheep seem to be of the belief that they own the road and were in no hurry to let us pass.

We look forward to more time tomorrow to further explore the peninsula.

Hey! What's with the long face?

Another Gros Morne Day

Our day began with another boat tour.  Well, actually it began with a beautiful 3 km hike through a bog to get to Western Brook Pond where we boarded our boat.  Funny to think that a body of water 574 ft deep and an hour’s cruising length in each direction can be called a “pond”, but that’s Newfoundland for you….

The cruise took us through fjords and sparkling clean water.  In fact, the water in this “pond” is so clean that it sustains very little life and cannot conduct electricity because of the lack of ions present.  It is refreshing to know that there are still places on this planet not yet corrupted by man’s presence.

We spent a lazy afternoon in the cottage and then set out for Lobster Head Cove to photograph the lighthouse.  At nightfall we took in a show at the Oceanview Hotel in Rocky Harbour, a local band and comedy act called Anchors Aweigh – they were a hoot, and great musicians to boot!  All in all, our visit to Gros Morne was a success and one that won’t be forgotten.

Gros Morne National Park – Bonne Bay

Today we arrived in Gros Morne National Park – WOW!  What a beautiful location!  Mountains and coastline everywhere.  We set out for a drive after checking into our cabin and headed to Norris Point, where, quite by accident, came upon a boat tour of Bonne Bay.  The “I’s the By” tour boat was scheduled to depart from the dock at Bonne Bay within minutes.  Although the tour was full, I was able to add our names as numbers 23 and 24 on the waiting list.  Luckily for us, there were reservations that didn’t arrive and we managed to be the last two to get onboard.

We had an amazing evening cruise of Bonne Bay, and were thoroughly entertained by a whale who moved from one side of the boat to the other for a full 20 minutes for our viewing pleasure.  The evening ended with a screech-in, and yes, Nelson and I are now officially  honorary Newfoundlanders, which according to Captain Reg who did the honours, means we can expect to receive our tax notice from the province soon after we return to Woodstock.

Our evening on Bonne Bay would have to be considered a highlight of the trip to this point.

Farewell to Fogo

On our third morning we headed out from our B&B in Twillingate and drove to Farewell, where we took a 45 minute ferry ride to the remote Island of – you guessed it – Fogo.  Fogo Island is Newfoundland’s largest Island and has a population of 3000 spread over 11 communities, including Little Seldom, Seldom Come By, Joe Batt’s Arm and Tilting.  The entire Island is dependent upon the fisheries for its livelihood, and in fact, an attempt by the Newfoundland government to “resettle” the Islanders to a larger centre on the main island of Newfoundland in the 1960’s resulted in the formation of the Fisherman’s Co-operative of Fogo.  The residents of the Island banded together and rallied to build their own fishing fleet in order to remain on the Island and make themselves financially self-sufficient.  In fact the first site that greeted us as the F.U. Trading Co., which we learned afterwards actually stands for Fisherman’s Union Trading Company.

Much of the Island has been untouched by man and the few roads that do exist skirt the far east and west sides of the Island only.  We took many a road only to find it come to an abrupt end in someone’s laneway or yard.  In the Northwestern corner of the Island we hiked to Brimstone Head, which holds the honour of being one of the four corners of the earth, according to the Flat Earth Society.  On the Northeastern side of the Island, we visited Tilting, which was a step back in time.  The residents of Tilting hold tightly to their Irish heritage and this is evident in the names of the streets and lanes, as well as from the shamrocks painted on all kinds of surfaces.

The Island is dotted with indigenous plants, such as lupine, blueberries, and bakeapple (which has absolutely no resemblance to an apple at all), but very little wildlife.  There is a large caribou population, however they didn’t show themselves during our visit.  We did learn that there are only 14 species of animals native to Newfoundland, and that even the moose population which numbers in excess of 125,000 originated with the importing of 2 bulls and 2 cows from Cape Breton in 1904.  We have yet to see one, although with the moose to car collision rate for 2009 sitting at 606 as of yesterday, I’m hoping it won’t be while we’re on the road.

Twillingate – New World Island

After our night in Gower House, we headed out for Twillingate with little information about our destination other than that I really thought it had a romantic name.  What we did know was that it was a pretty remote location and is known to be the iceberg capital of the world.  We arrived only to find that the last of this season’s icebergs had passed by a week earlier.  It was a beautiful spot nonetheless.