Newfoundland - Days 13-17

The drive home began in earnest....so of course after all that rain and fog, it was sunny, dry and 26 C as we drove towards the ferry! We set ourselves up for another long day behind the wheel, with about a nine-hour run from Port Union to Port-aux-Basques. We ate leftovers, listened to the audiobook, and checked the oil a few times during fuel stops. 

As usual, we were very early for the night crossing, so we added yet more driving to tour the scenic Route 470 along the south coast to Isle-aux-Morts and Rose Blanche, one of our favourites. We had planned to stop for dinner in Isle-aux-Morts, but nothing was open - we ended up back in Port-aux-Basques for a great takeout meal (and conversation with the owner) at Rosie's Burger Barn.

We checked into the ferry, this time an 11:45pm crossing on the MV Highlanders. Before long, we were boarding....and even though there was no specific "small car" lane for this boat, we still ended up down in the bowels on Deck 1. At least the ramp was a little wider and bigger cars and trucks were sent down there too. Alas though, any plans for a quick disembarkation in the morning went out the window. 

Our cabin was great again, and we watched an interesting show on exploring wrecks on Lake Superior. After a good night's sleep, we docked in North Sydney in the morning, and after a quick coffee stop headed west. An even longer day was in store, not helped by roadwork in Cape Breton, but we did about a thirteen hour run to get from the ferry to the lovely Motel Blanchet in Drummondville, Quebec.

By then we were silly tired, even after gaining an hour and a half in time zones - it doesn't mean you drove any less! After checking in, we grabbed dinner to go from the on-site restaurant and ate in the room. We also woke up early enough to have a nice sit-down breakfast in the morning, before heading out for the relatively short five-hour leg to visit family in eastern Ontario.

After a nice two day visit, we headed home early on Sunday morning for the six-hour run through the GTA. We were on the next audiobook by now, "The Chrysalids", ironically set in a futuristic Labrador and island of "Newf". We opted for the scenic route along Lake Erie for the last half-hour, mainly to add a stop at Pardo's for fresh strawberries. Arriving by early afternoon, we released the happy/angry cats, cracked a few windows, surveyed the tall weeds, and unpacked.

In the end, we drove 8,404 km and saw 85 icebergs, along with moose, deer, foxes, puffins and a whale. It had been far too long since we had been to The Rock, and we vowed to not let a whole decade go by again before going back!

Driving in to the Rose Blanche lighthouse

One of our favourite villages!

Rose Blanche

Scenic Route 470

Boarding the MV Highlanders

Our chariot for the crossing

The view from of Port-aux-Basques from our cabin

Arriving in North Sydney at dawn

Cormorants and trailers welcome us back to Cape Breton

Jane used Google Translate (Lens) to translate the menu!

A quick stop at Pardo's on the way home!

Home Sweet Home!

Newfoundland - Day 12

The Day of Bad Roads began innocently enough. After a lovely breakfast at the motel, we took the short Route 237 connector across the width of the peninsula, in search of icebergs rumoured to be in King's Cove and Knight's Cove. The "paved" road was horrible, with potholes and general erosion, so thankfully there was nobody else on it (they likely knew better) and it was only about 10 km long.

Hooking up with  Route 235 on the west side of the peninsula, we meandered in the fog and rain down to King's Cove - not only was there an iceberg off shore, but it was a lovely little village, worth a visit in its own right.

Heading northeast, we followed an often sketchy 235 along the shore to Bonavista, a larger town at the tip. We visited the iconic lighthouse and interpretation centre, but the extreme wind and rain kept us from doing much more than that. We skipped the dirt road into scenic Dungeon Provincial Park, again due to poor weather....luckily I had been there before at least. We were surprised by an unexpected puffin colony on an island next to the lighthouse. 

On our way back down the peninsula, we did a grocery and beer run before leaving town, and stopped at the motel to drop off supplies and scarf down ham sandwiches. Heading out again, we went south this time and explored the lovely little town of Trinity, before carrying on further down Route 239 to Old Bonaventure and New Bonaventure, used in the The Shipping News and also the film set location for CBC mini-series Random Passage. 

At first the road was good, actually better than many other more important roads....leading us to wonder if filming projects in the area had led to some improvements. But then then "good road" stopped abruptly, and the ensuing "bad" road was very, very bad. We took a much-needed break at the end for a nice hike into the Random Passage set, and we got about an hour of actual sunshine as well.

Re-tracing our way back, slowly, we regained the main road and then explored another arm a little further north, into the villages of Champney's East and English Harbour, before returning to the motel for a relaxing evening of Greco's pizza and Umbrella Academy, while packing the Juke to go during infrequent breaks in the rain.

King's Cove and its iceberg

More lovely King's Cove

Bonavista Lighthouse....

...and neighbouring puffin colony!

Bonavista shoreline

Trinity is an old community

Well-kept homes in Trinity

More coastal scenery

Random Passage set

New Bonaventure

The view from English Harbour

Some crappy roads!

Crappy Roads, Part II!

Newfoundland - Day 11

The next day was another driving day, as we moved from the Twillingate area over to the Bonavista peninsula. With an eye on the worsening weather forecast, we cancelled plans to camp for two more nights near Clarenville, and instead booked a sweet little room at the Seaport Inn in Port Union. While further to drive today, it was much better situated anyway for the sights to see in the days following.

After grabbing coffee and some colourful local culture at the Summerford gas station, we headed back down the 340 before cutting east, to follow Route 330 along the shore and around through Musgrave Harbour, Lumsden and New-Wes-Valley. We stopped to tour the scenic village of Newtown, dubbed the "Venice of Newfoundland".

We drove through proper "RDF" (Rain-Drizzle-Fog) all day, regaining the Trans-Canada at Gambo. We skipped plans to visit scenic Salvage, since we wouldn't have seen much anyway.  After a foggy but beautiful run through Terra Nova National Park, we took Route 230 and cut across the Bonavista peninsula to Port Union.

Along the way, a woman in an SUV made a nearly ill-fated decision to pass several RV's as they laboured up a steep hill - when there was clearly not the time and space to do so. As I slammed on the breaks and headed for the right shoulder to avoid a head-on collision.....Jane offered the woman an emphatic "double bird" displayed prominently in the windshield. At least we could laugh about it after!

After checking in to our room early, we grabbed sandwiches to go for lunch from the on-site restaurant, Carl's Fireside Lounge. With a bit of a break in the weather, we drove the short distance to nearby Elliston to check out a puffin colony. The road got a little rough towards the end, but it was worth it. Not only is it the "Root Cellar Capital of the World", but there is a large puffin colony easily accessible after a short but wet walk.

The main colony was on an island just off the end of the point, and even more birds were bobbing in the waters around. Once the other people left, we stood back a bit, quietly - and several pairs of puffins fluttered over to our side of the divide and started checking out the cliffs for nesting sites right in front of us.

Walking back in the "misting" rain, we opted for the "scenic loop" to Maberly, a little further up the road, where we had to wait for two young fox pups to get off the "road", which had deteriorated significantly by the end of the line. Returning to Elliston, we stopped at the gift shop and grabbed some Mummers and a puffin for the wall.

Wet and tired, we called it a day early to enjoy the motel room, and got hooked on Umbrella Academy on Netflix. We checked in on the cats using the home cameras, and also returned to the Inn restaurant for dinner, Jane opting for pan fried cod with scrunchions, while I went for the pork chop dinner.  

Scenic Newtown

The Oldest building in Newtown?

Seaport Inn - Port Union

Elliston root cellars

Puffin colony at Elliston

Thar be Puffins!

Then...they came to us!

Nesting on the cliff

Scenic walk back to the car

Newfoundland - Day 10

We were again up early in the tent, and given the light rain we headed into town for coffee rather than making our own at the campsite. Returning to the Blue Barrel, we again ran into Arthur and Sarah for the 4th time - granted, they were staying there - but still! After another nice chat, we grabbed more coffee to go and headed over to wait for our boat tour.

We had booked an iceberg excursion with Adventure Tours, featuring a smaller boat with fewer people and that could get up closer to the bergs, when safe to do so. Waiting to board, we met some nice couples from Oakville and Grand Rapids, on either side of us back home. We had already bundled up for a chilly day out on the water (close to zero) in the open boat, plus they gave us extra gear to wear.

Everyone had also heard the media reports of a tourist couple caught camping on an iceberg in the area, so that became a common joke throughout the day.

Once we were all suited up, we headed out with Captain Chris and Guide Jeff, through a harbour filled with lots of ice chunks. We circled several good sized bergs in the bay, before heading further out where a few larger ones had grounded in the outer harbour. They also kindly circled each berg in both directions, so that everyone on each side had their chance for photographs.

As we circled a nice berg, we could hear the Long Point Lighthouse fog horn and feel the cliffs looming nearby, but in the fog we couldn't see either. Jeff also regaled us with aspects of local history and culture.

After surveying a few lovely icebergs, we headed out a bit further to the back side of Burnt Island, where rested the largest iceberg we (or they!) had ever seen - it was roughly a kilometer around (400 m long), and just kept going and going and going. There was no way to capture it all in one photo, at least not from up that close. 

As the two-hour tour wound down, we headed back to Twillingate, pausing for Jeff to net a bergy bit along the way to pass around the boat, which they also broke up back on shore for souvenirs - Jane had some in her pop as we enjoyed a beverage at on-site bar The Wharf!

After the boat tour, we paused to make our three Father's Day calls from the car to folks back home - given the time difference, we hadn't wanted to call too early......and then we were out on the boat.

We then drove up to the Top of Twillingate, another of the Rock Cut trails in the area. After a quick lunch of ham sandwiches at the parking area, we hiked up and over and around to several scenic overlooks....about half of which were fogged out, sadly the ones on the side facing the town and harbour. Views notwithstanding, the hiking was good too, in a gorgeous and rugged wooded setting.

We drove back to town and rewarded ourselves with wings and beer at Split Rock Brewing, then headed back up to Long Point for a third attempt to see....anything. The main viewing platforms were again fogged out, but a short hike down to the cliff past the lighthouse allowed us to glimpse one berg lodged on the rocky shore far below.

After grabbing takeout burgers and fries from R&J, we headed back to the campground where things were still wet but at least not getting any wetter. With impending departure in the morning, we also started packing up whatever was no longer needed for the night.

Adventure Tours in Twillingate - our ride for the morning

Some nice bergs lurking in Twillingate Harbour

You can get nice and close, especially if they aren't tall and top-heavy

I spy....

Beautiful blue streaks!

The far end of the monster berg...which took forever to get to!

A decent sized fishing vessel, for some scale

Bergy Bit for a pillow!

Sadly time to head back in

Hiking the Top of Twillingate Trail

Great views all around, except on the foggy sides!

Beautifully rugged trail too!

Long Point Lighthouse from below

Foggy view from the lighthouse cliff - we boated around that one earlier today!