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 went o

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