Thursday, July 10. The End.

We left Petty Harbour (quaint little town) and headed for St. john's airport. The car was returned to Practicar (cheapest car rental we could find) and they gave us a lift to the airport. The total mileage was 4,300 km in three weeks. We did not see all of NL but we gave it a fair shot. The flight home was fortunately uneventful. Thanks to Ed and Barb for meeting us at the airport with our car so we could go straight home. Now life gets back to normal; laundry, shopping, gardening and summer at the Slovenia Summer Camp. How WAS NL? It was fabulous. It is an outdoors experience mostly; scenery, hiking and history with a touch of icebergs, moose and whales thrown in for good measure. This is my last post for this trip. Catch you on our next adventure. Thanks for reading. Monica

Wednesday, July 9

Today is our last full day in NL. After bacon and eggs at The Claddagh Inn, we drove around St Marys to the battery where are canon remains but with the fog, there was almost no view. By BEAR COVE, we could see the ocean better. Driving through Ferryland, we spotted the lighthouse from the highway and decided to take a closer look. When we reached the top, we discovered that there was a "picnic" business there. You call ahead and then you get a blanket rental as well as a lunch that you can then take down to the cliffs and eat. What a great idea! On the east side of thr Irish Loop, the sun came out and it got warmer. As we drove through Petty Harbour, we noticed a bunch of cars and some excitement so we stopped to see what was going on. A whale was playing quite close to shore. We watched until it left and then continued to Cape Spears Historic Site. We got lucky and spotted some more whales. Some were just spouting water but some were breaaching. Now we can cross whales off our list of things to see. Luckily, we have not seen any moose on the highway. That is a close encounter you do not want to have.

Tuesday, July 8

Breakfast was amazing; the best so far. We got a yogurt parfait with a layer of wild blueberries, followed by a layer of wild partridge berries then granola, whip cream and strawberries served in large wine glass. After that, we were given a choice of the usual bacon and eggs or bacon with french toast flavoured with either strawberries, apple cinnamon or plain. The strawberry french toast was delicious and more than I could eat. We left the B&B with full tummies for our longish drive today.
Early in the afternoon, we stopped in Markland for a fruit winery tour from Rodrigues wines. The tour was interesting and the wines we tasted were better than the Auk Island wines we tasted earlier in our trip. The bake apple liquer was yummy.

Our journey continued until we reached our accomodations at The Claddagh Inn in St. Mary's. This place is very interesting and nice. Tonight, we are getting a four course dinner of homemade food.

Tomorrow, I hope we see whales. There have been sightings reported at 3 places on our drive. Home soon.

Monday, July 7

So, the hurricane was a non event yesterday. Departing from our lovely efficiency unit at Rivers End Motel, our journey back to St. john's has begun. Around the corner, a short hike in STEADYBROOK brought us to picturesque Steadybrook Falls.

Having bypassed Deer Lake on the way west, we stopped in to see Deer Lake.

There is a walking trail right next to sandy Deer Lake so we walked for a bit and then proceeded eastward to Bishops Falls. This town has the longest trestle bridge in NL. This former railway route has been converted to a trail system for hikers, atv's and of course, people.

As we approached Gander, we decided to check out the Thomas Howe Demonstration forest. This turned into a hike on a hot afternoon but we learned a lot from the storyboards along the way.

In Gander, we checked into the Inn on Bennett b&b. What a nice place! It will be interesting to see what is for breakfast since we have been served bacon and eggs every single morning.

Sunday, July 6

Hurricane Arthur Day.
Woke to a drastic change in the temperature; high of 14o forecast today. The day was cloudy and it began spitting around 10 o'clock. The dull day continued as we toured the NL Historic Train Site and Museum. Interesting that there is no longer any rail service anywhere in NL. There was a group of 3 yr olds having a birthday party at the time we were there; so cute with their little hats on. The RCMP have gathered some artifacts documenting early policing in NL in a very small museum. We popped in and had a look around. The rain was heavier now but still does not feel like a hurricane. See video. We plan to keep a low profile for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we head back in the direction of St. John's.

Things we learned about Newfoundland and its people

1. Bring cash. Many restaurants and B&B's take only cash.
2. When driving long distances, there are no rest stops or public bathrooms. In larger centres, head for Tim Hortons or McDonald's.
3. Signage /directions is lacking for some attractions or destinations. Stop and ask the locals.
4. One radio station. You might want to bring CD's.
5. Locals are super friendly. Don't hesitate to ask for directions like Monica did.
6. In the NorthEast, potholes are a worse than average problem.
7. Sometimes you are driving somewhere and you wonder whether what you will find is worth the drive; it usually is.
8. If the weather forecast calls for 25o, it will likely reach that temperature around 4 in the afternoon.
9. Wine bottles have 20¢ deposit; beer bottles 10¢; beer cans, pop cans, pop bottles(and any other plastic container) have 8¢ deposit. Liquor Express is the only place to buy wine and beer but LE does not take back empties unless they are at a gas station but, these locations will not take wine bottles, cans or plastic containers for deposit return and you have to purchase product to get your refund. The only place to return containers for deposit refund is the Green Depot where you will get 5¢ for a wine bottle, beer can, pop can or bottle, 5¢ for a beer bottle unless it is a 12 pack, then you get $1.00.
10. 95% of the time, you will be served bacon and eggs for breakfast at the B&B's. Sometimes you get a choice of how your eggs are cooked but mostly it just lands on a plate in front of you. Breakfast is served most everywhere at 8 am.
11. There is a boil water advisory in many towns. You may want to purchase some bottled water at a grocery store.
12. Don't be surprised to hear yourself asking someone to repeat themselves due to their accent, the speed at which they speak and whether or not they mumble.
13. Don't be fooled by the lack of Liquor Express signs at gas stations. Although they don't carry wind and spirits, every gas station we visited sold beer.
14. There is no place to buy good pizza in all of NL.

Saturday, July 5

We changed our plans and decided to stay in Corner Brook for tonight and tomorrow night. The overnight rain stopped and we set off for LARK HARBOUR where we found a viking ship on display. It was used in the movie Outlander, starring Jim Caveziel.

Around the corner was BOTTLE COVE which provided another amazing view. We got there at the same time as a tour bus.

On the return drive to Corner Brook, we did the short Copper Mine Trail to see a waterfall. Very pretty!

At the top of Corner Brook, is the Captain James Cook look out. This is a vantage point for the view of Bay of Islands.

In the center of Corner Brook lies Glynmill Pond with a variety of walking and hiking trails. It was a warm day but we did a few kilometres of walking.

Approaching dinner time, we headed back to our efficiency unit to decide where we were going to go for dinner.

Friday, July 4

We encountered all kinds of weather conditions on the 6 hour drive to Cornerbrook; fog, drizzle, heavier rain and then sunshine with heat and humidity. In STEADYBROOK, we stopped to look at the Newfoundland and Labrador heritage tree. This was a 417 yr old tree that now has 50 carvings in it depicting heritage scenes, icons, images, events and people. Our ears are constantly tuned to the radio and tv to get Hurricand Arthur updates. It seems Nl will miss the worst but there will still be winds and heavy rain. Should be interesting!

Thursday, July 3

The day began with a short drive to ST LUNAIRE where the Dark Tickle company makes jams, spreads, syrups and chocolates. We paid for a tour and the owner explained about the history of the business, gave us a boardwalk tour showing the different local berries habitat, and showed us how the jams are made by hand. Souvenir jars were purchased and we set off for L'anse aux Meadows Historic site. The key reason people drive to the top of the west coast is L'anse aux Meadows National Historic Park. Vikings have been documented to have lived here around 1000 AD. There are shallow indentations in the ground where the Viking encampment was. The Parks department has built a replica of one of their buildings and it comes complete with Vikings cooking dinner and sitting around inside. Was worth the drive. Of special note is the blackflies; they are very active right now and not particularly pleasant. Carl and I both are bitten up, especially around the hairline.

Wednesday, July 2

PORT AU CHOIX. The Four rooms cultural centre was next door to our B&B so we started our day there. We learned about the "Basque" people and their migration to NL. In addition, there was a film chronicalling the resettlement program, under Joey Smallwood, that started in thr 1950's. The film showed a house being relocated by towing it through the ocean. Unbelievable! The National Park Historic Site has exhibits about the different native peoples that have settled in the area over time. Included are many artifacts that have been dug up from archeological digs. FLOWER'S COVE detoured us for a hike along the Thrombolite Trail. These structures are rare, massive remnants of former primitive life forms. One and a half hours later, we drove through St. Anthony to see Goose Cove. There the Pumley Cove trail took us to the ocean and very high up on the hills where icebergs were waiting for us. Returning to St. Anthony we checked into Trailsend B&B. We will stay two nights here.

Tuesday, July 1

Left our lovely b&b after a satisfying breakfast and headed for NORRIS POINT. Just outside Norris Point, we stopped at the Jenniex House lookout point. The view was definately worth the drive. Continuing on up the Viking Trail, the ocean was at our left and the mountains were on our right. We nipped into COW HEAD thinking about lunch and there it was, a cafe selling moose burgers. Carl jokingly asked the cashier if she had personally killed the moose and she replied that she had. She loves hunting and is apparently good at it. We ordered her burgers and enjoyed them immensely. In order to wear off some lunch we hiked 45 minutes along the Lighthouse trail. Further along the highway, we were diverted by Arches Provincial Park. Here, tidal action had eroded some huge rock formations. What a site! The landscape changed, becoming more barren. Trail of Ponds is a substantial river that salmon use for spawning. The travel guide said there was a 3 km hike to watch salmon jumping but again no salmon in sight. Well, at least we had another goid walk. Finally ariving at our b&b in PORT AU CHOIX, we settled in. Canada Day was celebrated with having huge bon fires on the beach, followed by fireworks down the cove. It was quite well done.