Posted by: sunnyharvy | August 12, 2012

Bonavista Peninsula lives up to its name

We enjoyed an extremely quiet night and early morning without another soul in sight, unless you count those in the nearby cemetery. This morning I took a few more photos of the incredible scenery here in New Bonaventure because the fog had lifted, although it was still cloudy and overcast.

As we drove on, Al mentioned that all the evergreen trees (gazillions of them!) and countless lakes make him feel like he’s in the mountains until an ocean cove appears around the next corner.

Trinity proved to be a very charming restored 18th century village. It is a real community filled with historic homes and businesses open for the public to tour. In the last 2 days we have visited both the 17th and 18th centuries before returning to the 21st.

We packed a picnic lunch and headed out on the Skerwink Trail in East Trinity. This 5.3 km stretch was absolutely spectacular – well worth the fairly strenuous nearly 3-hour walk up and down stairs and hills. Travel and Leisure magazine named it one of the best hikes in the world and I would definitely concur. We are very happy we took the time to do it, especially since the fog and drizzle from this morning had cleared up.

We moved on to Elliston where we hiked out to view the antics of puffins and gulls. Later we boondocked in a nearby scenic overlook.

Elliston actually claims to be the “root cellar capital of the world!”

Dreary morning, gloriously sunny and warm afternoon. 51 miles

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Posted by: sunnyharvy | August 11, 2012

Dildo…really?

We couldn’t resist stopping in the town of Dildo. Who could, right? We went to the Dildo Interpretation Center where the $2 admission included a private guided tour of their little museum, which truly enriched our understanding of the area. Part of the tour did include some discussion on how the name came to be, but I’m not buying their hypothesis. Their exhibits include a display with photos of a German “flying ship,” with 12 engines, which had to make an emergency landing in their harbor for fuel in 1932, on its way to America. We also learned about various groups that settled in the area over the centuries.

Admiral Al with the original Captain Dildo

Then we were off on the Discovery Trail up the Bonavista Peninsula where we finally found some farm stands. There are not many vegetables grown here since the soil conditions (rock!) are so difficult. We purchased strawberries, blueberries, turnip greens, carrots, and cucumbers…yumm.

Turned down Route 329 toward Trinity, an historic village we hope to explore tomorrow. We kept going to the end of the road in search of a place to boondock. At the very end of the road we found a recreated 18th century village used as a set for a mini-series named “Random Passage” filmed in 2000. It is now an off-the-beaten-track tourist attraction. We arrived long after the visitor center had closed for the day so we wandered around on our own. Although we know absolutely nothing about the series, the village is interesting, but the natural setting surrounding it is stupendous. It was very foggy, which made it difficult to capture in photos, but it was magical to behold.

 

Some rain and fog, cooler. 151 miles

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Posted by: sunnyharvy | August 10, 2012

Cupids and hearts

I took another walk around this charming town this morning before heading out. Brigus is so RV friendly that they even provide two free stations for dump out and water fill-up. We have not seen this anywhere else we’ve traveled.

Along our way up the Northern Avalon Peninsula, we visited Cupids Harbour and Cove, the first English Settlement in Canada. The setting is quite striking as a massive rock formation looms above the harbor.

Terrible road conditions caused us to cut across the peninsula rather than explore the northern tip. Heart’s Content was at the other end of the cutoff. This is where the first transcontinental cable from Europe came ashore 146 years ago. Of course they have a museum about the cable and you can actually see the remnants of the rusty cable on the beach. The villages of Heart’s Desire and Heart’s Delight followed, but they are only notable for their names.

We called it a day relatively early at a campground near Whiteway. The site includes 2 large ponds as well as an ocean shore. We got the last site available, which is very private due to surrounding dense forest. We biked and hiked down to and along the shore before dinner.

Tomorrow we will head further west toward the center of “The Rock” and up the Bonavista Peninsula.

Cloudy, foggy, some sun and warm. 63 miles

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Posted by: sunnyharvy | August 9, 2012

From cod fish to blueberries

The view from our “upstairs” bedroom this morning

After a night of intermittent rain and gusty winds, the scent of the sea and the cries of seabirds woke us to a beautiful calm morning. We watched the fishing boats come and go and learned that they are catching cod for personal consumption only – 5 per day per person aboard up to a maximum of 15 fish a day. This restriction is set by the fisheries due to depletion of stock.

The scene in this harbor is lovely. We are nearly surrounded with water with the harbor on one side and the ocean on the other. I took a walk and too many photos before heading out on the road again. We were lucky to find a good (and friendly!) supermarket here so we replenished our provisions.

Our new (temporary) best friend

Anybody want to buy a lighthouse and a lot of land?

Heading down the Avalon Peninsula on Route 10, we drove through vast expanses of land accented by rocky rivers, numerous lakes, ponds and pretty harbors. The land became more barren the closer we got to the southern tip. There were lots of rock and low vegetation with hardly any trees and few signs of civilization.

At lunch time we ventured off the highway into Trepassey where a narrow causeway and signs pointing towards a historic site beckoned. Before lunch we took a hike to the site and were rewarded with astounding views and wild blueberries.

We proceeded to drive north on the other side of the peninsula. With no particular destination in mind we plugged the town of Brigus into the GPS. Upon arrival we fund the town preparing for their event of the season – the blueberry festival. Despite no parking signs posted all around town, we found a place to camp next to another RV. They told us that they often camp here for free. We shall see if that holds true for festival weekend. Brigus is a lovely little town. We took a walk around at sunset appreciating several stunning seascapes.

Warm and sunny (again!). 141 miles

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Posted by: sunnyharvy | August 7, 2012

South onto the Avalon Peninsula

Fishing boat staging at Pouch Cove

I took a walk around this campground this morning and learned from the owner’s mother that it had been a Provincial Park until 13 years ago when the government sold it to an enterprising young man who has been improving the camping facility while adding a water park. He has bought several used water slides and pools and is setting them up near the lake shore. It seems incongruous to me in this beautiful natural setting, but he says it’s popular with the seasonal campers as well as day visitors.

We drove back down the coast to St John’s to see Quidi Vidi Village. This historical fishing village is considered a “must see” and while parts of it are picturesque we did not find it too enthralling.

We then drove out to Cape Spear Lighthouse and did a bit of a hike there. When we were ready to leave, haRVy did another of his “start error” problems (explained in a previous post). Luckily Al now has the drill down and we were on our way again after just a few minutes. It is worrisome that this problem recurs, but we hope we can wait until we get home to get it fixed as it is not likely that we will find a mechanic around here that would even know how to begin. Keeping fingers crossed.

We then briefly visited Maddox Cove and Petty Harbor before finding a spot to boondock in Bay Bulls. This is the first time we’ve actually just pulled over to camp by the side of the road. Everyone says “you can just camp anywhere,” but finding a spot that is not intruding on personal property or right next to a busy road is not easy. Right now we are at the end of a dead-end residential street in a gravel clearing. It’s actually pretty nice as we are high above the harbor where the air is fresh and cool. We are surrounded by wild flowers and it is very quiet. We are hoping nobody takes offense to our being here and that they just leave us be.

Hot, sunny and windy. 76 miles

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Posted by: sunnyharvy | August 6, 2012

St. John’s to Pouch Cove

Today it was time to check out of Pippy Park Campground and return to our Newfoundland tour. We spent most of the day on the usual logistics – laundry, pump-out, water fill, internet, phone calls, food shopping, etc.

After lunch we headed to one of St. John’s major tourist attractions at Signal Hill where the first transatlantic wireless message was received in 1901 by Guglielmo Marconi. The hill rises 600 feet above the entrance to St. John’s Harbor and affords expansive views in all directions. At the top of the hill is Cabot Tower built in 1897, which houses displays about the historic site.

We then found our way out of town in a northerly direction to visit Pouch Cove where we are now camped for the night.

Sunny & warm. 51 miles

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