Maritimes Adventure and More

Juli - September 2019
Another long summer trip, this time with Sheryl who is celebrating her 60th. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are on her bucket list. We’re starting with a camping trip in beautiful Strathcona Park, then the Vancouver FolkFest and on to the Maritimes. Baca selengkapnya
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  • Hari 31

    Gros Morne, Newfoundland

    12 Agustus 2019, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    After 8 hours on a ferry, we arrived in Newfoundland and drove another 3 hours up to Gros Morne. The last hour we were on high moose alert. Signs are posted everywhere which we heeded with both of us scanning for these giants. We made it safely into our Old School House AirBnB. It is as it says, an old school house on Bonne Bay near the Tablelands. It seems that this is only one of two places on earth were a chunk of the earth’s mantle was squeezed up instead of down creating some stunning landscapes and haven for earth science lovers.

    Weather predictions meant we needed to get out on our first day before the thunderstorms hit. We took an easy hike along the Tablelands with the help of an iPad self-guided tour to interpret what we were seeing. The stark beauty of the rocks, small streams and falls plus lots of wildflowers including a carnivorous one were wonderful. We spent the afternoon hiking along Trout Pond - which should be called a lake - and got pretty damp with constant drizzle and vegetation up to our knees at the edges. It was pretty and not cold so... we enjoyed it.

    Thunder and lightning put on a loud and kinda scary show that night. Buckets and buckets of rain. Cool - while tucked in bed.

    A geologist’s heaven, we went up the Lookout trail to view the Tablelands, Gros Morne and mountains, Bonne Bay and Arms, and the wide open waters of St. Lawrence Bay. Goat trail. Straight up for 300 meters in a mile and a half. Like climbing up to Council Crest - fast. With the weather report looking dicey, we booked it pretty fast (for us). It was hot. Hot and humid. I was sweating like a pig. The views up there were totally worth it. Alpine meadows, more flowers, and a spectacular view of the whole area. The afternoon turned out to be warm and sunny. We went back to Trout Pond and took a dip. Nice.

    Our host offered moose stew with homemade dumplings for dinner. OMG that was delicious. Not gamey or sour. Like a tender beef only different. We also ate Partrigde Berry jam, seaweed-infused gin and an actual iceberg! Greg, our host had a chunk that he broke off (not sure where). It fizzles! Bubbles from thousands upon thousands of years ago trapped in the compacted ice. I called it dinosaur breath.

    We have been particularly lucky with the weather but didn’t want to test fate so we left the School House in the morning to set up our tent at Green Point - on the other side of Bonne Bay. We were rewarded with sunny or overcast skies and only a little drizzle during the days. Our first night camping proved the meddle of our tent with torrential rains and wind. We escaped with only a few wet spots.

    Camping in Nova Scotia and here in Newfoundland is a luxurious affair. Hot private showers and here with heat lamps, dishwashing sinks also with hot water, flush toilets, covered cook areas and picnic tables you don’t mind putting your things on top of. They even have recycling centers. I don’t know if you are seeing all the ads to come to Newfoundland but I think these upgraded facilities are a part of Canada’s plan to boost the economy here.

    The parks offer lots of free guided tours too. This morning we learned about the formation of rocks along the shore that are still a mystery to the scientists who try to figure these things out. In the afternoon, we spent time learning about the fishing families who harvested cod, salmon and lobster until the three brothers got too old to fish. One of their daughters donated all the old fishing equipment for the exhibit housed in their original fish house. She also gave furniture and such in the teeny cabin housing all three brothers, their wives and children. Each one of three bedrooms were just large enough for a small double bed. The main room had a two stackable twin beds for the older kids and shelves were built above the parents’ beds for the little ones. Tight quarters, indeed. The guy giving the tour had a delightful yet understandable Newfie accent dropping Hs and clipping his sentences.

    Tomorrow we head up to Labrador for a few days.
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  • Hari 34

    Labrador

    15 Agustus 2019, Kanada ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Labrador is beautiful. Different than Newfoundland with a landscape littered with boulders on low-land boggy expanses and small alpine-like short evergreen forests. I saw a brilliant blue-white iceberg floating around on our way up to Red Bay.

    The central question is , why would you live here? Fishing has mostly dried up. Trees are too slow-growing to sustainably harvest. It’s cold and windy - yesterday I wore a long sleeve shirt, sweater, fleece jacket, rain jacket, and gloves for our morning hike on the small island across the bay. In the afternoon the weather was a bit warmer and the wind died. That’s when these teeny tiny black flies came out. We took a drive to an amazing overlook. We were out of the car for maybe a minute and were overrun by the little bastards. We dashed back to the car and a good hundred of them followed us in. We smashed dozens and dozens of them into the windows. A few landed on the only exposed flesh on my neck and feasted. I have about five or six small welts and blood-strained smears on the windows as evidence of the attack.

    So the bugs rule.

    We drove around hunting for birds and were rewarded with a few. The Northern Gannets dove bomb for fish, and we are seeing Artic Terns, Common Murres, Black-legged Kittiwakes and this morning three beautiful loons.

    Next door to our hotel is a museum that talks about the history of whaling by the Basque. It sounded grim but a lucrative way for a man to make a living during the 8 month trip harvesting whale oil.

    The locals talk about all the changes they have seen with the record snow and lack of snow, fish and no fish, and now the three buses full of tourists every day that come to visit the museum and shop for souvenirs here in Red Bay.

    And the accents - two men were talking with each other on the ferry ride over, and we could hardly understand them. You could catch a word here and there but, wow! The fellow in the museum sounded like he was straight from Ireland. Everyone has been really nice and eager to share about this place they call home.

    Power was out this morning and the water is in a state of perpetual boil alert and smelled not so fresh. The tourist industry seems not quite... ready. With so many tourists like us venturing here it will change fast.
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  • Hari 38

    Twillingate

    19 Agustus 2019, Kanada ⋅ ☀️ 0 °C

    We divided up the drive over to Twillingate with a one night stay in Port au Choix. A nice fishing town. We stayed over a bakery. The smell was delicious. We walked over to the water. I love how the fishing boats are docked each night - you can tell a lot about the fisher folk who sail them. Some are tidy, scrubbed clean while others were filled with junk. All of them were rusty. These are some old boats.

    We got into Twillingate to our unbelievable deck and living room with a spectacular view of the bay over from the main part of town. We had three leisurely nights to spend here. Each morning we had our breakfast out on the deck and evenings too. It was nice to have a full kitchen, clean running water, along with the perfect location.

    Twillingate in particular being right out on the edge of the peninsula on Newfoundland has become quite popular with tourists. Everyone said to get out to the lighthouse for a hike. We weren’t sure it was going to be one of those crowded bus tour spot - which it is - but they only get out of the bus, take their photos and leave. We took the hike down, down, down from the lighthouse to the craggy rocks and cliffs below for some incredible views and swirling waves. There is a nice quiet beach where we had our lunch and climbed back up to the top.

    Twillingate is proud of its history. They had a pretty nice museum displaying items from the locals’ families that have been here for decades. We also took in a night of traditional Newfoundland music - think Irish, British and hard fishing stories. The guy also “Screeched In” three brave tourists. Being Screeched In is how you can become a bonafide Newfoundlander. You say some baudy statements about willingness to live by the Newfoundland code, kiss a cod (frozen, thankfully), and down a shot of really bad rum. Entertaining for sure.

    What’s nice about hiking, at least most of the places we have gone, it that they have boardwalks and stairs everywhere.
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