On the Cabot Trail
Early morning brought some drama, with Mitchell phoning from home to advise Spyder our cat was at the vets with a poor diagnosis. A repeat of an episode he had a few months back where he lost his use of back legs and obviously in pain.... vet is suggesting possible heart issues... makes for a concerning couple of days for us but we are realistic in that we can't do much from a distance.
Left at breakfast, saw bald eagles again, visited a beach suggested by our host then drove through Cape Breton Highlands National Park.
We did a couple of walks in the hope of seeing some moose... no luck.... lots of road works in progress however. The road around the National Park is known as the Cabot Trail and is hugely popular. Lots of motorcycles, cars, campers etc all enjoying the road and scenery. Quite a few cyclists as well, including some in tears as they are huge hills/climbs to be tackling in the hot temperatures present.
Our BnB was in the very small fishing village of White Point. Out to dinner at another small village, Neils Harbour, with fish and chips overlooking the sea. A walk in that area, before heading back to BnB and a walk out to White Point on dusk, where we spotted some Pilot Whales swimming off the point. Another very enjoyable, and very hot, day.
Thunder and lightning overnight, then drove to Bay St Lawrence wondering about a whale spotting tour. However the sea was rough following the overnight storm so none available... not too concerned... but it was a pretty village and drive.
Back into the National Park doing lots of little walks before doing the main, and most popular with many people, the Skyline Trail which had fantastic views over the sea... but no moose!
Parked by a roadside lake about 4.30pm, whilst there we saw a moose (cow) come into the lake at the far end and swim halfway towards us.... very cool!
We repeated a couple of yesterdays lake walks in search of further moose as it was getting near dusk, but unfortunately didn't spot more. A takeaway dinner on the beach at Dingwall finished off a big day.
Gonna catch us a boat...
Leaving about 8.30am we stopped at several lookouts and one walking track, spotted a few chipmunks darting here and there. A lovely drive and the coastal areas show why the province was named Nova Scotia or New Scotland ... very similar in places to the north west of Scotland.
A colder day with fog and a little rain. We visited the Fortress of Louisbourg, a recreated 1750's French fort. Quite interesting although our time was a little limited arriving only 2-3 hours before it closed for the day. To end each day they fire a rather large cannon... the day we visited a Canadian Navy vessel was in the harbour and "returned" fire, very impressive!
Back to North Sydney, a great meal and then checked in for our overnight ferry crossing to Newfoundland. The sailing was fine, aided by some sealegs and a booked cabin meant we both got reasonable sleep for the 7-8 hour crossing, to arrive around 7am. A local diner for breakfast and then drove north in heavy rain.
Unplanned family hunting
First stop as the rain cleared was the settlement of Noels Pond... not that impressive if one has to be honest... but it had a sign!
Not to be outdone, after perusing the map, Caro (nee Cox) directed us to Cox's Cove ... which had no sign once you arrived but was a bit more scenic! A fishing village and also summer holiday spot. After querying the local shop owner we tracked down, and chatted to Gordon Cox... who could be a long lost relative but that definitely requires some research, although by the end of the visit he was convinced Caro looked like his sister!
On Cox's Cove... both boats hand made by Gordon Cox
Entering Gros Morne National Park we did a short walk to a fast flowing waterfall (due to the overnight rain), and then arrived at Rocky Harbour. A lovely fishing village and main tourist stop bordered by the National Park. Laundry, dinner and a walk to see the sunset rounded off our day.
Any moose will do...
A lovely BnB with an outstanding and huge breakfast. We spent the day on the south side of Bonne Bay commencing with a guided walk by rangers on the Tablelands trail. Visited Trout River settlement and then back to Woody Point for a late lunch. A hike up the Lookout trail finished off a busy day of activities.
Our second day in the park we headed north to Western Brook Pond, a 45 minute walk in to the lake/pond to connect with our boat tour. The lake had been a sea fiord but then cut off with the earth movement... spectacular, and very similar to NZ's southern fiords in places.
After our tour we carried on to Cow Head for lunch, up to the Arches Provincial Park and then a visit to Cow Head lighthouse on our return south. Stopped at all the likely lakes on the way back looking for moose.... no luck, but spotted a beaver swimming back to his log dam in the distance. Stopped at Lobster Cove lighthouse for a much more pleasant walk than our first night as there had been a cool breeze that evening.
A day crossing a province
Left and drove via Norris Point before our journey across Newfoundland... hours of driving through trees.
The 7-8 hour drive saw us arriving at our English Harbour BnB, on the Bonavista peninsula near Trinity, around 6pm. Quite isolated, very pretty, and a few absentee property owners... a spectacular place to stay for a couple of nights. Found a restaurant 10 min's away, once back we walked up the nearby coastal point and could see the blows of Humpback whales just offshore. Our host informed us if it was calm we would likely hear the whales during the night... unfortunately there was a wind both nights so didn't get that experience.
What about that cat?
By now the news is back that Spyder is improving, and we find out in a couple of days that he is back home in Fran's (our wonderful house sitters) care. By the time we get home to Arrowtown the diagnosis has changed and vet doesn't believe it is heart.... all good (although our hearts jump at vet bill:))... so just as well the initial potential warning action of euthanasia didn't occur!
How can I stop that puffing....
Up early at 6am to try our luck again on walking up the point/hill but didn't see any whales/moose/fox but we had one bald eagle fly overhead quite close. During spring and early summer icebergs are spotted floating past, too late for that experience! After breakfast we headed north through Port Union which was a purpose built settlement of the early 1900's, built for the workers of the Fisherman's Union to protect their futures. One town which actually progressed a little during the great depression.
The next stop at Elliston had a monument to past sealing disasters including one where 78 perished when, through a breakdown in communication, no ship returned to collect them off the ice shelf, and a blizzard/storm struck. A little hard to believe that the ice is in this area given the hot temps we are experiencing.
On to a Puffin site, which was cool! The islands just offshore are major nesting spots for Puffins, you can watch them flying and also the odd one lands just in front of where people sit on the grass. Very cute...
Drove on to the town of Bonavista, had a wander and lunch before driving to Bonavista lighthouse and the surrounding Duggan park.
A spectacular coast with blowholes, more puffins and some whales which we sat and watched for a while. We made our way back to English Harbour slowly by travelling the north shore and then crossing over the peninsula. Lots of trees, lakes but not moose... by now we have decided the exceptionally hot summer is likely meaning they are not out and about much.... well that's our excuse for missing them!
Looking for a walking track we ended up in the wrong spot so instead explored the town of Trinity, which we had intended to do the following day. An extremely picturesque village and a major tourist draw card, but not crowded later in the day, very enjoyable.
Takeaway dinner, hamburger and beer, back at our BnB. A final walk to the ocean again. No animals but a lovely sunset.
The village of English Harbour
Onward to St John's
Up and away by 8.30 to drive to nearby Skerwink trail, which is a spectacular 2 hour loop around a point with dramatic sea views and harbour views over to Trinity. This trail is very highly rated and popular although our early start meant we avoided the crowds... the car park was overflowing when we got back to our car.
After driving through to St John's, via a visit to Cape Spear lighthouse, we checked into the University Halls of Residence for 2 nights... we felt like students again! Although our room had a double bed, don't think we had that in our day :)
Walked downtown, a 2.5km walk, which turned into a meander around streets seeing the rows of houses of various colours along with lots of large churches. A very pretty setting for an industrial port town. Had a meal and walked home, the downtown area has a party atmosphere and we passed a live local band playing to families... local "Newfie" (Newfoundland) music, quite a Celtic overtone but with local tales intertwined, which was great.
On our second day we walked to the port area again, not much going on in the party area at this time of day... a few tourist shops. Back to "The Rooms", which is St John's museum, to have lunch with Ruth and Graham... who we had travelled with on our Peru tour. Really great to have a catch up over a lovely lunch followed by a guided tour over a small part of the museum as they both volunteer there. Very interesting display on immigrants and their original countries, for example a display of current Newfoundland residents photos against Irish people of the same surname, spookily similar features although no proven relations.
The whole Newfoundland province has been fascinating to us as to the people and their language, habits etc. So very similar to the south of NZ residents who are also largely Scottish or Irish descent. It is quite amazing given after 150 years and such large geographical separation that people can be so similar.
We drove to Signal Hill just as heavy rain set in so we cancelled our walking plans of North Head trail, combined with the fog it would be limited visibility anyway. Then drove via Quidi Vidi, stopping briefly at this also cute small harbour, then back to the hostel. A meal at a close by restaurant and a wet walk home.
Day 3 was simply up and packed before heading to airport, returned our one way rental car, and boarded our flight to Toronto.
We highly recommend the maritime provinces of Canada, simply stunning and everywhere had friendly helpful folk. Easy travelling.... as long as you book in advance, a combination of short summer season and in places limited facilities means it would be a struggle to make it work at short notice. We had booked everything prior, but still struggled at times to find eating places... but never went hungry (or thirsty!!)
