Travel with Art

We begin this leg with another long drive, this time to Beachside (at the tip of a peninsula north of Springdale) which featured three icebergs on the horizon and broken wharfs in the fishing village. A very pleasant evening in Beachside just hanging out. Next morning under overcast skies we headed west again. A note on this section of Newfoundland… the forests were forests again with trees to expected heights and density to hide the moose. Through Corner Brook and on to the coast and Blow Me Down Provincial Park at Lark Harbour. A no frills park which allowed us to “park anywhere you like”. So we chose to be right at the waters edge. From our campground we did journey out to Bottle Cove for a couple of short walks. The Boardwalk walk and the hike out on South Head as far as the waterfall were great. I carried on trying for the lighthouse but turned back at the half way point as it was trees, trees, trees and Kerry and Donna were somewhere behind. Anyway on the return we walked out to ...

See Seabirds on the Seastack! The day dawned to fog but was clearing at breakfast. We headed out … up and around the bit of Avalon we were on and down another peninsula leg to Cape Saint Mary’s Ecological (Bird) Reserve.  The road there was very sparsely populated but had sections of gorgeous housing with a scattering of lesser dwellings. (The size and construction of homes here in Newfoundland has been a surprise on the “rich” front!). Along the way we encountered our first moose crossing hazard… a Moose was on the side of the road down a hill from us, contemplating crossing, as we slowed to get a better view. The moose choose to exit the way it came. Under a beautiful sunny sky we made the turn off on to what looks like a single lane road to get to the reserve. For the 13 kms there we encountered no one, but on the return we meet one car and it did prove there was enough room for both of us. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff greeted us at the interpretive centre and off we we...

Heading east… Onwards to Saint John’s in overcast and rainy skies. The wind was a fair bit up so it made driving the RV a bit of a challenge. We pulled into Saint John’s and stopped for lunch before heading over to Signal Hill. Unfortunately the fog was with us so not much could be seen of the Cabot Tower nor the ocean and city views. We did trek around the Signal Hill trail for a bit and explored Cabot Tower and its gift shop. Then we headed out to see if we had better visibility at Cape Spear. Nope… fog still with us, but the lighthouse area is only open Wednesday to Sunday so we’re taking our chances and parking it is parking lot overnight. I walked around the area in the fog for awhile. Not even realizing how close the lighthouses (old and new) were. But the fog dissipated as the late afternoon turned into evening. The cold remained. There are old battery ruins build into the hillside facing the open ocean from sheer drop offs. The waves crash against the coastline and can...

A whole slew of school kids were exiting the arriving ferry… things would be slow to get us underway. Scheduled departure from Fortune Newfoundland to Saint Pierre was 15:00. We actually set off at 15:30. Then there is a time difference - so close but still another 1/2 hour…. The crossing was choppy, foggy, and chilly. The arrival … the same!  The Tourist Information Centre was closed but one of the Ferry staff spotted us and assisted in selecting an hotel for the evening. Our digs for the evening, Hotel Robert, was drab on the outside but had a great room for us to stay with a bathroom almost the size of our RV. From check in it was out to explore a bit of the town under overcast skies and slight drizzle. We then checked out the top two restaurants - they were both booked solid for the evening (the gal at Le Feu de Braise was welcoming and apologetic that she could not seat us, the guy at L’Atelier Gourmand was haughty and rude and could care less  as he turned us away)....

The weather continued cold overnight and I needed to get my sarong out to provide exposed head protection! Next morning it had cleared up and warmed up and we headed out to Trinity East to do the Skerwink Coastal Trail. This 5.3 km trail is rated amongst the top 35 trails of North America and Europe.  It took us 2 hours but then we were stopping frequently for photo opportunities. Icebergs were on the horizon, a lighthouse settled next to a couple of out buildings on their own little island, the village nestled in the background. And then there was the fantastic craggy deep drop-off cliffs along which we hiked. Elevation changed, vegetation was mostly boggy with shrub trees and occasional more forested sections. Then at the end a moose calmly had its lunch with only a glance in our direction as we went on by. On and out along the Burin Peninsula to the town of Fortune. Fortune is where we catch the ferry to the French territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. We arrived after...

With an early morning start we headed out to catch the ferry to Fogo. But luck would not be with us. We arrived with an hour to spare before the 9:00am crossing but there were already in front of us a number of commercial large trucks that would occupy the centre boat capacity allocated to them and RVs. Further the annual safety inspection for the boat (the other 2 being out of commission) was to follow that crossing so our only hope would be on the 5:00pm crossing. We headed out! Along the drive further east we happened on an alley of icebergs all lined up in a row next to a rocky shore - only a single photo (taken through the window) as no pull over location for more.   On and on looking for a place to stop for brunch but restaurants were hard to come by. Finally in New-Wes-Valley we found an open kitchen and friendly staff. The waiter / chef mentioned that an open site was just off the highway around Greenspond turn off. We got there but the site was chock-o-block and in the mid...