Green Gardens

Day thirteen.The morning was beautiful, coffee out on the porch is a gift from the airbnb gods. It is our last day here in Gros Morne, we have a ferry to catch late tonight that’s about a 4 hours drive away. So we wanted to fill in the time with as much as we could. Heleen suggested that Heather and I hike the Green Gardens trail alone, while the rest of the group check out the park’s Discovery center and then play at one of the local beaches for a time. We accepted.
The hike was a 6 miler round trip; so we packed a half a bottle of water and a banana and set off. To start the hike Heleen dropped us off at the trail head so they could use our car while we were gone for kid transport logistics. The beginning of the trail is very exposed on a rocky hill face that slowly winds you up to the top. Once there, it’s a slow decline into a very thick forested area with a lot of wooden steps needing repair. We were beginning to become skeptical about this hike and wondered if we made a mistake by not choosing a different one.
Soon the thick trees and underbrush opened up a bit giving us a glimpse of the sea and the craggy, dramatic coast line below. The trail then took us out of the woods and into a prairie of sorts...the grass was long but not overgrown due to the sheep that were roaming around. We had not expected sheep on the trail, but there they were, about two dozen some with lambs, all baaaaaing about as sheep do. It looked staged to the cynical hiker. This was just about as perfect of a landscape as you could ask for. The black cliffs merging with the black sand, the green grass in all it’s shades matching the blue of the sky just right; the off white of the lamb’s wool as it grazed next to a patch of wild purple lillies; all mixed to created a scene that was truly beautiful. And the best part...the part that made it all so wonderful, was for a time Heather and I were the only humans on this cliff prairie.
We explored the area like two children, each twist of the trail a new discovery of beauty. The cliffs were perfect observation platforms to view down the coast side and provide that little kick of thrill each time you stepped to the edge. The crashing of waves, the gulls with their calls, even the sheep, all played together creating nature’s version of Beethoven’s symphony #3 in E flat...
Ahh, but all good must come to an end, and our time on the cliffs of the Green Gardens was up. So back through the dense underbrush, back UP the steps in bad condition, back DOWN the rocky trail to the road parking lot to wait for Heleen to pick up back up; which she did, precisely at 3:00pm.
We rendezvoused with the rest of the family in the little fishing town of Trout River still in the park and prepared for the 4 1/2 hour drive to Port Aux Basques to catch the midnight ferry to Nova Scotia.
Traveling with kids just means that you’re gonna stop, and stop often...it’s a given. Traveling with a group of 9, three of which are kids, 2 of which are little kids means you’ll be lucky to accomplish 50 miles in 2 hours. Two cars trying to stay together in unfamiliar roads with funny numbers on signs is tricky...add crying, whining, fighting to the mix, throw in some hair pulling for good measure and brief moments of insanity and it’s a small miracle that we didn’t end up upside down in a ditch. After one such stretch, we pulled off the road at the only restaurant Google had in its brain that was nestled inside a gas station, and apparently the only “restaurant” in the area. When we walked in the small, cramped, busy I’ll admit but probably because there wasn’t another choice, dining room the place literally went quiet. We just discovered Newfoundland’s deliverance...
These people were related, you could tell...and not in the normal, “ you’re my sister I’m your brother” kinda related... more like “you’re my sister and my grandma and I’m your cousin and your uncle”. The “waitress” looked at us and sorta sneered, said something like “good luck” and scurried back into the dark recesses of what I presumed to be their kitchen.
So naturally everyone in our group is just tickled pink to be eating here and settled down in some tables that were free of people, but not free of the last 7 meals it looked like still sitting on plates and dirty napkins, with dirty forks still wet and shiny from something...all this mess just collecting flies and not a concern, not at all... to the friendly “waitresses” that were still casting looks of severe annoyance in our direction. The two young kids in our group, and with good reason I’ll add, picked this time to start making a lot of noise. James just wasn’t happy, he could sense I think, the deviant thoughts of child eating ogres, ogling his veal like shanks. I was not having it... Heather quickly took James and left, motherhood instincts in full bloom, and went back to the relative safely of our car. I told the rest of the group that we’re not eating here, because I enjoy my health, and left as well. Thank God they listened and agreed, otherwise I don’t think we would of left. That place had to have been a portal to the twilight zone.
The remaining drive was beautiful, the landscape turned desolate and dramatic. This part of Newfoundland is very sparse, not much here except amazing mountain ranges that when hit with the setting sun, glow gold and green. When we arrived in Port Aux Basques we found a simple seaside restaurant that catered to the ferry crowd. It was nice, because they mainly wanted us there and were normal. The food wasn’t bad either. After eating we drove a short distance to the ferry terminal and prepared to wait forever until we were allowed to board like last time. Thankfully that wasn’t the case, soon after we cued up we were told to drive aboard the ferry. We unloaded our bags and found our small, cozy, windowless cabin and settled in for the overnight ferry ride. Addie wasn’t satisfied yet until she explored the ship, we had to find the snack bar, the observation deck, and the gift shop before she was ready for bed.
The night was hot and stuffy in our small room; but it was our small room, we had privacy and our own space and the kids slept soundly.Read more