Puffin adventures

We left St John's this morning for Bonavista which is about a 3.5 hour drive away. We were blessed with another no rain day today which makes four days in a row. The drive from St John to Clarenville was somewhat tedious. There is nothing in Central Newfoundland other than rocks and stubby trees. Almost no human habitation. All of the communities are coastal given its maritime past. Our main adventure for the day was hiking the Skerwink trail which was billed as Newfoundland's most beautiful hiking trail. It was a 5 km trail meandering up and down overlooking enormous cliffs sea stacks and overlooking the village of Trinity and it's pretty lighthouse at the beginning of the walk. No guard rails which made parts a little dizzying. At one point we saw a Bald Eagle sitting on a rock spire of the mainland. The trailhead was the most touristy of the whole trip with 20 cars parked. I did notice that the majority of people hiking looked like retired affluent BabyBoomers. Cheryl had to listen to my rant that the benefits afforded to retired baby boomers are an unfair tax on the millennials and other generations who will never enjoy the baby boomers level of prosperity. Cheryl seemed to walk ahead of me out of talking distance for much of the hike.

The next adventure for the day was Elliston and the Puffin colony. Located about 1 km from the car park on a peninsula, there was a viewing area for a puffin colony. Located about 100 meters off the tip of the peninsula was an island covered in grass with very sharp cliffs. These islands are known as sea stacks. The Puffins have burying nests and live in them for 4 months of the year. Both parents raise the young. One could make out the Puffins on the top of the sea stack. They would stand for a few minutes before flying out to sea. Ever since reading Enid Blyton books as a child I have wanted to see a Puffin. I think some of her characters had a Puffin as a pet. We watched them come and go for 10 to 15 minutes. We used our binoculars of which only one eye piece works. Very frustrating for a pathologist. I don't think that I have seen as many large telescopic lenses as at the Puffins watching area. These people's pictures will turn out much better than my own. We walked back to the car and came across several root cellars. They could have shot Lord of the Rings in Newfoundland.

We continued on to Bona Vista where we will be staying for the next 3 nights exhausted by the driving and our Puffin adventures.Read more