18th
May 2016
Definitely a
black winegum day – FANTASTIC
Definitely a 5 WOW day !! Today was just
one of those amazing days, that started off so well, and then got steadily
better until by the time I stopped in the evening, I was breathless. What do they say ? Life isn’t measured by the breaths you take,
but by the moments that take your breath away.
I could hardly catch my breath all day – And then to finish it all off,
I had the most excellent steak, washed down with my favourite Chilean wine,
Casilera del Diablo, Devil’s Edition, Reserva.
And just to top it off, when I went in to the liquor store today to
replenish my stocks after they had got diminished in Cheticamp last week, they
had it on special ! How good can life
get sometimes ?????
I didn’t wake up
till 8.30 am ! Lulled by the music of
the rushing river beside me, I had almost slept 12 hours, and then when I
looked out of the window it was a clear blue sky with the sun shining down
through the fir trees. Woohoo –
Newfoundland was turning it on for Giles ! It was still cold, but when the sun
is shining, who cares about the cold ? I
breakfasted, got everything packed up, and hit the road out just before
9.30. Had a chat with the Park Ranger –
The park officially opened today so last night was the last free
camping there
– and then drove on the dirt road a few kms back to the main road, and turned
east, back towards Port aux Basques. The
road east along the southern coast is supposed to be beautiful, but one that
few people see because it is a dead end in the bottom corner of the Province. Past P aux B and suddenly my jaw dropped
further and further. This rugged coast
line (you can see why Newfoundland’s nickname is “The Rock” !) was just
breathtaking in the morning sun, with the sea down to my right, and blue blue
lakes beside the road everywhere. It looks as though a glacier just passed this
way yesterday, forming the rugged landscape.
I passed Burnt
Islands (planning to explore more on my way back) seeing quite a lot of snow
still remaining in the shadowed parts of the hills, and eventually reached the
3 combined townships of Rose Blanche, Harbor Le Cou, and Diamond Cove, that
have a combined population of 620. There
is a serious problem of people leaving and townships closing down round here
because it is such a remote and difficult area – In fact, beyond Rose Blanche
there are a number more townships along the coast that have no road – The only
access is by boat. Fishing is the
business down here, and in today’s sunshine all the little townships looked
absolutely glorious with their brightly painted houses and boatsheds nestled
around natural harbours.
I drove down
through Rose Blanche to the end, where there is a walk out to the old
lighthouse, built in 1871. I had spied
this from the road earlier, along with a miniature copy of the lighthouse
building, but I hadn’t realized I was going to be able to get close to it. While the sun may be out, the wind was
bitter, and very strong, so I had my fur hat on for the walk out to the
lighthouse and around the rocks. Not a
soul in sight – It was just the most beautiful and peaceful walk for about 40
minutes, imaging what it must be like here in the winter, or even when the sun
is not shining. This is a wild part of
the world.
After driving
around the little lanes of Rose Blanche, I paid a quick visit to Harbour Le Cou
(it only has one street that ends at the jetty !), and then detoured into
Diamond Cove. Once again, the most
delightfully picturesque little village nestling around its harbour – I spent
some time just sitting beside the harbour watching the crab boats and fishermen
coming and going. So peaceful.
Back on the main
road headed west again back towards Port aux Basques, I past a waterfall back
of the road, - Barachois Falls – And went for a quick 2 km hike there and back
– Very pleasant walk. Then on to Isla
aux Morts which , as those of you who speak French will know, means Island of
the Dead. Apparently there were so many
shipwrecks around here over some 400 years.
There is a trail here called the Harvey Trail that runs along the
cliffs, named after a family famous for many daring shipwreck rescues. Once
again, just the most picturesque little village, and I am so lucky to be able
to see all this on a beautiful day like today.
After leaving
Isle aux Morts I stopped to make some lunch with a view looking back down over
the village to the ocean. Perfect
spot. Then it was back into Port aux
Basques to the supermarket to replenish my food and booze stocks due to the
coming weekend being a long holiday weekend, and I am not sure what I will be
able to get. I am also heading up
tomorrow to see Robbie and Kristen who I met in S America, and this weekend we
plan to go up into the Gros Morne National Park. Hopefully Gavin will be off
the coast in his catamaran (great news, he got Water Dog in the water yesterday)
so if the weather holds, it should be a great weekend.
Once restocked, I
head up the west coast towards Stephenville.
I had heard that there was good camping out on Cape St George, and this
would leave me with an easy run up to Corner Brook tomorrow. While this main road is not quite as scenic
as this mornings route, it is still excellent, and I drove out past Table
Mountain (flat topped !) and Twin Peaks (obvious from the photo how they got
their name !), and then more blue lakes
beside the road. At about 4.15 I turned
off the main road and headed west towards the little peninsula that ends out at
Cape St
George. I first headed to a
supposed campsite on the north side, but found it was closed – On enquiring I was
told it opens this Friday ! This time
there was a big gate across the entrance, so no way of entering, so I headed on
round the coast with just spectacular views of St George’s Bay and later the
Gulf off St Lawrence to the west.
At a place called
Mainland the road suddenly left the coast (there were a couple of rather large
mountains in the way) and went steeply uphill and into forest. On the other side of the mountains the road
dropped back down, right at the tip of the Peninsula, at Cape St George. And there, right on the tip, on spectacular
cliffs overlooking the ocean, was a small wooded park where “Camping is
invited”. The views off the cliffs were
perfect in the evening sun,
and I found a little sheltered spot where there was
hardly any wind at all. To top off the
day I cooked a steak that was absolutely perfect (more to do with the quality
of the steak than with my cooking, I thing, but at least I didn’t ruin it !),
washed down with a glass of my favourite red.
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