When we returned to our campground, we were able to change sites to #9 which was right on the water. Our day ended with popcorn and a campfire with added colors thanks to a packet of salts for "colored campfires"
Terra Nova to Puffins and Skerwink Trail
Day 23… Another bright sunny morning in Newfoundland, and time to pack up camp at Malady Head. Now it's off to the hamlet of Happy Adventures for a day of kayaking on open water. Excellent time followed by a great lunch of chowder at The Inn.
The tiny hamlet of Elliston is home to a large isolated rock spire where puffins nest.
It's close enough to see and hear them, and some of them come over to sit and sunbathe near the grassy viewing area.
People come from all lands to this place.
Exceptional again!
As the song goes..."From Bonavista to Vancouver Island - this land was made for you and me..."
I only just realized that it was almost 40 years ago to the day that my highschool friend Mark and I were on Vancouver Island on the beach of Pacific Rim National Park.
The next morning, wading into the surf with my $35 Zenit SLR camera over my head, I snapped the first of my all-time favorite images.
The Lighthouse beaming into the Atlantic Ocean from BonaVista Newfoundland.
Meanwhile it was easy to spot the continual distant whale spouts every few moments.
It would be a shame not to visit Bonavista at the tip of the land, so we did.
Vancouver Island 1977 near Tofino
Across from the lighthouse a young fox trots around looking for dinner in mouse hiding places.
Leaving BonaVista behind us, we start traveling south, back off this northeastern outcrop of The Rock.
Finding a place to camp for the night is the priority, and after scouting a promising roadside are, we pull in to an ideal grassy area in Stock Cove.
From the old stone fire ring, it's clearly a popular summer spot.
A timelapse image of our view out the VW side door.
Stock Cove the little blue dot on the map below, near Bonavista, on Hwy 235, just above the "61"
At the dawn of the telegraph and early telephone era, the first long term working transatlantic cable came to shore at Heart's Content. As a National Historic Place, it's worth the side trip, especially for Electrical Engineers.
We had made a reservation at Lockston Path Provincial Park for tonite, so we headed there first before more exploring.
Day 24...Under again sunny skies, we decamped from Lockston Path camp. After breakfast...first stop is a seacoast hike. The Skerwink Trail is all about hiking along cliff-tops and bluffs with views of the ocean.
From Toronto, Martin and wife Magda travel North America to watch and photograph birds in their natural settings.
We decided to hike clockwise around, and it was the right choices from a climbing and scenery perspective.
After a great hike, we stopped at the Two Whales Coffee Shop in Port Rexton- right off the highway- and got energy to hit our next stop,
Day 25...Aug 7...Today's travel will take us down to Witless Bay and la Manche campground, starting by blasting down the TransCanada past Trinity Bay to Highway 80 under leaden skies
. We turn north there for a special side trip up to Heart's Content, where sits a TransAtlantic Cable Station from the 1800's- another huge part of communication history, a predecessor of Marconi.
After our visit back in time to the world of dots and dashes, we are in another downpour just like the one we had clear across The Rock through Grand Falls-Windsor a few days ago. Better to have rain only on our driving days, which is pretty much the case so far.
Through Witless Bay, we make it to the La Manche area, which is basically the closest available campground for the area we want to explore...but more on that later.
We picked up a good dinner a few miles down the road at The Captain's Table, run by a very pleasant family.
Day 26...First thing we called Captain Wayne's to try arranging a whale watching tour on a smaller boat. He had time to give us a private tour so we headed immediatley for Bay Bulls and his dock. Along the way he called to enquire if we would mind having four extra people join us, still a tiny group, and share costs what's not to like about that?
Captain Wayne and his friend and First Mate photographer Debbie were very friendly, and clearly cared for their passengers and the whales. The boat was a labor of love for him and a friend to build it, all solid and well laid fiberglass over a really well done heavy duty plywood formwork. It was very stable through waves and swells, and so very maneuvrable and quiet. It seemed effortless to come to a respectful distance from whales and just suddenly be still and go quiet.
You could hear and feel the mist from the blows and spray from rollings and breechings. A particular rescue whale called Scrubby gave us a good show with corkscrew breechings nearby.
The second part of our tour was to visit the Witless Bay Ecological Preserve. Captain Wayne had such a license to visit it, so we left other assorted barges filled to the gills with people a the rail and went to **millions** of birds on the shore cliffs- Seagulls, Gannets galore, and swarms of Puffins who appear unlikely to fly (being short and squat) but had no troubles descending from the cliffs and flying casually over the idling boat as the zoomed and whizzed out of sight on a feeding run.
At the end of our trip, we all chatted on the dock. Our group on the tour consisted of an elderly and spirited lady in her 80's accompanied by her son, and two were teachers from Germany, for a total of 8 on board. A perfect size, and a great outing. Highly recommended!
NOT this....sardines anyone?
Nearby at a wharf...Now that's a big spool of cable!
