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Published: July 10th 2006
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June 15, 2006
The first leg of our adventure started by driving to Montreal, our plan was to stay at the Holiday Inn close to the TCH (Trans-Canada Highway), some how we managed to go to the wrong Holiday Inn, got lost with all the detours and construction. Phew! We finally made it to our hotel.
June 16, 2006
The next leg of our drive to NFLD took us to Magnetic Hill. Not sure if it’s an optical illusion or real, but driving backwards in neutral up hill is a very cool experience and it was only $5.00. We also had our first encounter with a Moose, luckily for us he decided at that last minute NOT to cross the road; otherwise we would probably have been road kill. We also drove through the longest (1282 feet) covered bridge in the world. After 890km we arrived at Mactaquac Provincial Park to lay our weary heads.
June 17, 2006
We departed Mactaquac Provincial Park quite early, partly because of the black flies and partly to get on the road in good time. To our surprise today was a short drive of 600km. We drove along the north
shore of Nova Scotia (Sunset Trail) and camped in Whycocomagh Provincial Park in Cape Breton. Let me tell you I thought the bugs were bad in NB, they were worse here. We wore our bug shirts for the second time so far. The park was very nice. We camped overlooking Whycocomagh lake. When we asked to buy some wood we were surprised that it was only $3.50. We were even more surprised when we where encouraged to “Take all you need for a good fire. Don’t be shy!” Not what we’re used to in the parks we’ve visited previously. We took so much wood that even after a good fire we had to take some back.
June 18, 2006
Our Ferry to NFLD wasn’t scheduled to leave until June 19th. We took the opportunity to drive the Cabot Trail. We were extremely glad we did. Absolutely beautiful!!!! The weather was absolutely perfect. Clear skies, warm weather, apparently this is very unusual as it is often fogged in. After a delightful day touring the Cabot trail, Steve and I found a nice little beach and dipped our toes into the very cold Atlantic Ocean. Talk about having brain freeze
for your toes. Afterwards we found this wonderful BnB in North Sydney called the Heritage House ($70.00 per night).
June 19, 2006
Ferry Day! Up at 4:00am to be at the ferry for 5:00am. Steve did not suffer from any kind of motion sickness, I on the other hand felt woozy for a good portion of the 15hr trip. Once off the ferry we found our next accommodation at the Rosedale manor in Argentia, NFLD. This place was awesome. Highly recommend it. The food and accommodation were superb and only $70.00 bucks. When we arrived Lynda and Phillip were serving up a NFLD’s tradition - a mug up! The mug up consisted of tea and organic homemade gourmet cookies.
June 20, 2006
After a restful sleep, a hot shower, and breakfast we were inform that one of our tires had gone flat. Luckily there was a garage a few doors down that fixed it. Our plan for today was to go to St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve and then to LaManche Provincial Park. While Steve was getting the tire fixed, I asked Phillip about his packed lunches. WoW!! The lunch was fabulous!! Salmon, Crab, Swiss cheese on
raisin Molasses bread. Sounds unusual, but it was absolutely delicious. This was also accompanied by more cookies, fruit and water. The lunch was a little expensive at $12.00, but definitely worth it! When we arrived at St. Mary’s ecological reserve it was foggy and a bit drizzly. We had our raincoats on so we were not concerned. It was a 20 minute walk through the fog out to the outlook at the cliff edge. We thought that we wouldn’t be able to see a thing but the nesting area of the birds is so close that it was no problem to see the thousands of Garnets nesting along the cliff and on the huge rock pinnacle. On our walk back to the car the weather quickly changed to a driving rainstorm. Our pants ended up completely soaked through. This was our first taste of the rapidly changing NFLD weather. I guess we’ll remember to bring the rain pants next time. We drove for the rest of the day until arriving at our camp site in La Manche Provincial Park. The campsites in La Manche were a bit disappointing. All of the sites seemed to be geared towards RV campers as
all sites were gravel covered. Not the easiest stuff to drive your tent pegs into!
June 21, 2006
The area we are in now, just south of St. John’s is referred to as the “Irish Loop” referred to the travel guide as the “Home to Puffins, Whales, Caribou - and Irishmen”. We managed to see all but the Caribou! This morning we drove north to the town of Bay Bulls to try and find a boat tour of Witless Bay. We ended up booking with O’Brien’s Boat Tours. The price was $50 per person for a 2 1/2 hour trip but was easily worth twice what we paid. Our first stop was to see the Whales in Witless Bay. After a short trip we spotted a few whales spouting in the distance. The code of conduct of the tour operators does not allow them to directly cross paths with the Whales so we approached the Whales slowly from behind and maintained our distance. We were fortunate enough that a few of the Whales were curious enough to approach and swim alongside our boat. We could have stayed there all afternoon but another boat showed so to avoid overcrowding
the Whales we moved on to our next destination, the Islands of Witless Bay. The Islands are home to many hundreds of thousands of Murres, and Gulls and tens of thousands of Atlantic Puffins. The Puffins were so cute. It’s amazing that their little tiny wings can propel them so fast. After visiting the Islands we returned back to port. On the way people had an opportunity to get “Screeched In” a ceremony that involved Drinking the Screech, Kissing the Cod, Memorizing some traditional songs and ends with the person becoming an Honorary Newfoundlander complete with certificate. Very Official!
In the afternoon we drove down to the town of Ferryland, a small town that was originally settled by Lord Baltimore in the early 1600’s before later deciding to resettle further south in Maryland. The ruins of the original settlement were lost until re-discovered just a few decades ago. The settlement has still only been partially excavated and active excavating can be seen in many areas. On our way back to our campsite we stopped and hiked to the village of La Manche, an old abandoned fishing village. The trail to the village of La Manche is linked to the
East Coast Trail. This particular area has wonderful views of a suspension bridge, water falls, and the ocean.
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Michelle
non-member comment
Your picture of "Fishing Boats IN Witless Bay"...it's actually Bay Bulls, lol