http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , Canada , Newfoundland Labrador en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:47:54 BST Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:47:54 BST OK Folks...The most exciting adventure of this trip was a whale watch in a small boat and just enjoy the pictures that we were able to get This last stop has been the most beautiful and I'll include a few pictures of our view. Really special. We leave here on Saturday morning the 12th and will be back in Richmond on the 27th. Go to my picasa link that I sent in the last blog and see more http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/St--John--s/blog-298109.html June 28 St. Anthony to Corner BrookHow can it be the last day We're all sad that this great trip is ending. The day starts with seeing 15 moose in the first hour out of St. Anthony did our guide somehow stage this finale We even watched a cow with her calf and saw a fairly big bull plus lots of yearlings.We stopped at Port aux Choix a national historic site whose web site explains its import http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/Corner-Brook/blog-296815.html June 27 continued Icebergs and Dr. GrenfellVisiting L'Anse aux Meadows fulfilled a long time dream for me but the day wasn't over. Just minutes down the road we saw icebergs Mark our guide noted that it may take them three years to travel here from Greenland. Now if the puffins would just show up my check list would be complete. Actually we were about a week too early as the puffins aren' http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/Saint-Anthony/blog-296812.html June 27 2008 L'Anse aux Meadows Only Viking Site in North AmericaWe've got an exciting day ahead of us and I don't even mind the 640 AM departure time to catch the morning ferry back to St. Barbe because I know it's followed by our drive north to L'Anse aux Meadows LAM my prime reason for making this trip. Most of highway 430 is designated the Viking Trail good for marketing but also b http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/L--Anse-aux-Meadows/blog-296593.html Whales June 25 Point Amour and June 26 Red Bay and Point Amour Harold's new Canon Rebel got quite a work out on the trip. The result is many wonderful closeups impossible without a good zoom lens. Point Amour is known as a great whale watching spot and we saw several in the rain on June 25. To our utter delight and great good luck by the next day the capelin had arrived and the whales were in http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/L--Anse-Amour/blog-296257.html June 26 2008 Whaling in Red Bay Hunting and WatchingOur first stop as we explored southern Labrador was the Pinware River an exception place for trout fishing plus salmon is abundant here. We learned about whale hunting when we arrived at the village of Red Bay. Today itrsquos population is 211 but in the early 1500s when Boston and New York were still wilderness this part of the Labrad http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/Red-Bay/blog-296187.html June 25 2008 Ferry to Labrador Visiting Point AmourWe drove north 120 miles to St. Barbe had a quick lunch and proceeded to the ferry for our 90 minute crossing of the Strait of Belle Isle. It was a cold windy day so while the hardier souls Harold the Peters 2 and guide Mark headed to the outside decks Marilyn and I chose the warm lounge with it's big pictures windows across the entire front http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/L--Anse-Amour/blog-295874.html We came to the St. John's area on Sunday and have really enjoyed it. It is built on the sides of mountains and the houses are kind of stacked up. The historic downtown area is pretty cool but Bob and I both felt it wasn't a very clean city...lots of graffiti and crazy looking kids like Picadilly Square in London around. You can go up to Signal Hill and that is where the first transAtlantic http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/St--John--s/blog-295285.html June 24 2008Today our destination is Tablelands. First we visited the new interpretive center in Gros Morne and then drove through south and west along highway 431. What a contrast The north side of the road was lush and green with gently rolling hills plenty of trees. The south side was rocky barren and flat. Scientists think that this area originated in the earth's mantle and was forced up f http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/Gros-Morne-National-Park/blog-294693.html Afternoon June 23 2008The skies continued to darken and the drizzle began as we reached Western Brook Pond our afternoon destination. Ahead of us was a 2 hour boat ride on the pond just one catch there is a 2mile walk before you reach the boat. Drizzle turned to rain fog moved in and around the mountains but we bravely marched off anyway. The trail was good either wood chips or a board http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/Gros-Morne-National-Park/blog-294649.html Morning June 23Bright blue skies without a cloud in sight and warm sun greeted us as we walked the short distance to the resort dining room for breakfast around 8. By the way NL has its own time zone which is 2 hours later than central time thatrsquos right. When itrsquos 8 a.m. in NL it is 530 a.m. in Green Bay. Actually there are a couple of other time zones in the world with this http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/Gros-Morne-National-Park/blog-293768.html Sunday June 22 2008 Newfoundland and Labrador is the correct name of the province but most people refer to Newfoundland when speaking of the island and use Labrador to talk about the more northern area of the province. Wersquoll use the common abbreviations of NL for Newfoundland and Lab. for Labrador.We got an early start leaving home at 600 a.m. for our 720 Northwest Airlines flight t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/blog-293718.html We are in Grand FallsWindsor for this week and are driving up to Twillingate today...don't you love that name Last night was sooooo cold and we broke out the electric blanket and were we glad we had it This is Salmon Country and there are some Interpretive Centers which are fascinating and they have biologists staffing them who tell you all about how they are keeping the salmon population al http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/blog-292354.html Bob and I arrived in Newfoundland on Sunday June 17..The ferry was about a 9 hour trip and we were able to keep up with the fantastic finish of the U.S. Open during the trip. We spent the night and took off the next morning for Gros Morne National Park. What a beauty it is There were no cars on the highway so it is like we are the only people here. Bob has fished some but is planning alot mo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/Gros-Morne-National-Park/blog-290493.html Harold and I are getting ready for a weeklong trip which will take us 2500 miles north and east of home to Newfoundland NL Canada. We're going to help the Newfoundlanders celebrate the 1008th anniversary of the Vikings walking on their shores at L'Anse aux Meadows a Canadian.Other highlights include Gros Morne National Park whale watching birding and if we're lucky we'll see a few icebergs. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/L--Anse-aux-Meadows/blog-283890.html Cape Breton is well known for its spectacular scenery and hiking trails so thankfully the sun shone and the rain and snow stopped for the bulk of our stay. It was still cold in places and the large quantity of pack ice around Cape Breton was a constant reminder that summer is still a long way away. The weekend was spent at Elisa's house in Sydney Cape Breton. We had no trouble filling in our http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/St--John--s/blog-275122.html Hello I was having problems publishing this blog so if you've had ten billion emails I apologise. If you haven't well here you goIt's amazing how in the space of a few short days you can be on one side of Canada then the other then the other and then the other. The life of a flight attendant I suppose. This time however it was a mix of business and pleasure. A work trip saw me swer http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/St--John--s/blog-216633.html A few days of Toronto air was enough for me so it was time for some fresh air in the most easterly part of Canada Newfoundland which is located off the mainland on it's own little island.Newfoundland is gorgeous in the fall better than anywhere else I've been like say the lame Alberta fall which is basically pine and stick treesSo my first stop was St. John's which is pretty much the most east http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/Corner-Brook/blog-212088.html Ferryland lighthouse is located on a beautiful point with whales swimming along the shore gulls squacking and terns cavorting. You can order tea treats lunch etc in this old renovated lighthouse then head down to find your perfect picnic spot. The lighthouse gives you a blanket to sit on and a flag so they can find you. A healthy youth scours the land to find your flag and delivers the food http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/blog-190325.html Hurricane Chantal blustered through as we started our 11th day of cycling...needless to say some of us enjoyed the excuse of a major storm flooding and state of emergency in many towns in order to take a taxi for our very last 50km ride into St John's. I was looking forwards to those 7501100km tail winds...but apparently they can be unsafe.I said goodbye to this fascinating land that has a ca http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/St--John--s/blog-190303.html OldFashioned Baked Beans as eaten in Pouch Cove cafe for lunch on this very rainy windy day454 g 1 lb 2 cups Thompson's White Pea Beans5 cups cold water1 med onion sliced12 tbsp. salt2 tsp. cider vinegar1 tbsp. brown sugar12 tsp. prepared mustard14 cup Crosby'sGrandma Fancy Molasses12 cup tomato ketchup no salt added ketchupPinch black pepper14 lb. pork or bacon sliced lo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/St--John--s/blog-190176.html 10 days of cycling fun July 21 Aug 1...750km.great group of people via Gabriola Cycle Kayak www.gck.ca...lots of greasy fish chips and burgers...head winds...fog...tiny fishing villages...green green hills in fact lots of fricking steep hills...tasty beer...very friendly chatty local people etc. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/blog-189741.html Alison and I climbed to the top of Gros Morne a whopping 805 metres high in stifling heat and humidity...saw a Showshoe hare. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/Gros-Morne-National-Park/blog-189739.html Fantastic morning on the water watching Humpback whales breaching playing feeding and gliding alongside the boat. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/St--John--s/blog-189738.html Great CAOT 3 day conference...a bit like a live Facebook where you just keep meeting colleagues from across Canada no matter which corner you turn. 450 OTs took over St John's. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/St--John--s/blog-189736.html To StephenvilleBrad and Treena The amazing day of May 10 my birthday began with a ferry ride from Rencontre to Poolrsquos Cove. It was a much earlier start to a birthday than I would have wished for but we had a big day ahead. From Poolrsquos Cove we had to bike 50 short kms to Hermitage where we were to catch another ferry in the afternoon. The biking was fantastic for the first time on t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/Stephenville/blog-158761.html Day 14Brad and Treena The trip started almost as planned. We hadnt quite worked out all the kinks and had a late start to day 1 after we hacksawed some pieces of Treenas front rack on her bike. She was also battling a bit of a sore foot from a tumble on the hike. It tuned out to be no big deal though. We dipped our wheels in the water and rode about 70km and found a nice spot just off the hi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/Rencontre-East/blog-158443.html Treena has been in here in St johns for 3 days now and this is my second. Yesterday we finished putting our bikes together pumped up the tires Treena popped one of mine and went for a short but brilliant ride along the coast and up through some hills. The bikes worked great and the legs and lungs seem to be functioning pretty well. Today we set off for a beautiful 3 hour hike along the East http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland---Labrador/St--John--s/blog-155115.html