Day 19 – Cabot Trail

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There were storms on the island of Cape Breton. Lightning lit up our hotel room all night long. Cynthia slept like a log but I watched from the window for a while. It was pretty to watch, but was dashing hopes for a good day on the trail.

We got up and had breakfast and got on the road. We immediately hit some fog and also road construction.

Fog On The Cabot Trail

As we drove we went in and out of the fog as we went up and down the mountains. It was not encouraging. But we kept driving. Eventually we did clear the fog and the rain stopped. And the view improved.

Cabot Trail

We kept driving and decided to go ahead and take the entire loop around the Cabot Trail. That’s over 200 miles in total so it was a full day.

We had a good time, stopping now and again to see what there was to see

Inukshuk On Cape Breton Island

And even to goof around

Cynthia Moose

Jay Moose

It turned into a beautiful day and we had a great time

Cabot Trail

When we finally returned to the hotel that afternoon we took a hike on the Middle Head Trail that is on the grounds behind our hotel.

Middle Head Trail (Ingonish)

Middle Head Trail (Ingonish)

Middle Head Trail (Ingonish)

It was beautiful, but we were pretty tired so we only walked for a mile or so before turning back. This was a find end to this fantastic journey. Tomorrow we drive back to the Halifax area so we can pack up and get ready to catch our flight home.

Day 11 – Newfoundland to Nova Scotia

After staying up past our bedtime last night we woke up at the crack of dawn to get packed and go to the airport to catch our flight from Deer Lake to Halifax. We were on the road by about 6 am.

As we drove out we encountered some sheep which always makes Cynthia happy. She was able to photograph these guys while I pulled over to the side of the road.

sheep2

sheep1

A little further down the road Cynthia began to shout “A MOOSE, A MOOSE! I SAW A MOOSE!” I made a u-turn and drove back and sure enough there was a young moose grazing by the side of the road. I pulled over and Cynthia took this photo.

moose1

Seeing a moose was something Cynthia really wanted to do and we had begun to think we would not see one before leaving Newfoundland.

We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Deer Lake is a small regional airport so it’s not very crowded. The flight was only an hour to Halifax.

We arrived and picked up our rental car and made our way to the hotel. We were too early to check in so we parked and did a little exploring. We were pretty tired and had dinner plans with some friends that evening so when we got checked in we just relaxed until time to meet up.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Newfoundland – Day 9 & 10 – Back To Gros Morne

Today we made the 4 1/2 hour drive back to Gros Morne. We didn’t do much on this day other than get back to our accommodations. It was important to get a little rest for the trip out to Western Brook Pond.

When visiting Western Brook Pond you have to drive to a parking lot and then hike in 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) to the pier to meet the boat.

We got an early start with the sun shining and blue skies blazing, but by the time we made the hike a bit of fog and gloom had settled in.

Western Brook Pond - Gros Morne

Undaunted, we boarded the boat and proceeded on a 2 hour tour of the fjord lake. It was impressive to see, but not the most photogenic outing of the journey due to the inclimate weather.

Western Brook Pond - Gros Morne

Toward the end the sun made an effort to come out, but it was ultimately too late to be of much photographic benefit.

Western Brook Pond - Gros Morne

We hiked out the 3 kilometers back to the car and then made our way back to the hotel. We needed to get organized for our flight to Halifax the next day so we took the rest of the afternoon to do that and then treated ourselves to a show by the Anchors Aweigh band who play Newfoundland folk music as well as some traditional Irish tunes. The show was amazing and we stayed for the whole thing, even though that meant that we were out pretty late and having to get up very early to make our flight.

Anchors Aweigh

Anchors Aweigh

Newfoundland – Day 8 – St. Anthony – Icebergs And Vikings

Icebergs In St. Anthony, Newfoundland

In St. Anthony our main goal was icebergs so we booked a reservation with a local tour company and boarded a boat and headed out on the North Atlantic.

Icebergs In St. Anthony, Newfoundland

Icebergs In St. Anthony, Newfoundland

Icebergs In St. Anthony, Newfoundland

Icebergs In St. Anthony, Newfoundland

Icebergs In St. Anthony, Newfoundland

Icebergs In St. Anthony, Newfoundland

After the boat tour we went to L’Anse aux Meadows, site of a viking settlement. The archeological site itself was rather unremarkable, but there was a reconstruction of the dwellings and there were reenactors who told the tale of what it was like in those times.

L'Anse aux Meadows

L'Anse aux Meadows

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All in all, a fantastic day. Tomorrow we drive back to Gros Morne National Park, a 4 1/2 hour drive, and take a boat out on Western Brook Pond which is not a pond, but a fjord.

Newfoundland – Day 6 – Twillingate To Gros Morne

We left Twillingate pretty early, mostly because we’re old and we wake up pretty early, but also because it was going to be a long day of driving. Before getting out of town we took advanatage of the morning light to get a few parting shots of this charming little town.

Twillingate

Twillingate

Twillingate

The drive across this part of Newfoundland was pretty uneventful.

We arrived in the Gros Morne area and were greated by an interesting batch of fog that was coming in over the harbor.

Fog On Neddie's Harbor

Fog On Neddie's Harbor

Fog On Neddie's Harbor

Fog On Neddie's Harbor

It has been a long day. We had a nice dinner and are looking forward to a relaxing evening before heading north to St. Anthony, a town on the northern reaches of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland.

Newfoundland – Day 4 – Bonavista Peninsula

Bonavista Harbor

We really managed to hit the high spots on day 1 in Bonavista yesterday. So today was very casual. We got up very early and walked about the harbor and then went back to Elliston to see if there might be more puffin activity in the early morning. Turns out, this was a VERY good time to see them as they had not gone out to sea just yet and there were dozens of them near the viewing cliff.

Puffins In Elliston

Puffins In Elliston

Puffins In Elliston

We cam back to town and drive around a bit to see the icebergs that were floating around the peninsula.

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Bonavista Iceberg

Bonavista Iceberg

Bonavista Iceberg

Bonavista Iceberg

Later in the day we took a drive out to Trinity to see the small historical town, but the day began to turn a bit overcast and the drive, while pleasant, was not very photogenic with all the fog. We had some lunch and drove back to Bonavista and called it a day. Tomorrow, Twillingate for more icebergs!

Fog

Newfoundland – Day 3 – St. John’s to Bonavista

Cynthia In Binavista

This morning we got up an drive to Bonavista. On the way we stopped in the unfortunately named town of Dildo

dildo

Dildo is a very cute little fishing village and was a great place to stop for some coffee and some photos.

Dildo Newfoundland

Dildo Newfoundland

We drive on and stopped in Port Rexton for another short phto break

Port Rexton Anglican Church

It was a fairly easy drive on into Bonavista and we checked into the hotel. While in Bonavista we wanted to see two things. The Bonavista Lighthouse. We ended up having fantastic light when we drive to the top of the peninsula

Bontavista Lighthouse

And the other thing we wanted to see was the puffins. There’s a place in Elliston where you can hike out and stand on the edge of a cliff next to a small island where they have their nests.

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Puffin - Elliston Newfoundland

Puffin - Elliston Newfoundland

There’s about 6-8 icebergs floating around the peninsula, some are very close to land, but not always easy to get to the piece of land that they are close to due to the terrain.

Iceberg Near Bonavista

Tonight we rest and prepare to do some exploring in Bonavista and the surrounding area tomorrow.