Rock On

So off on a hike we went. Gros Morne still beckoned, so we headed there and started hiking, even though there was again a bit of light rain and mist - no plans to climb the mountain (too rugged for my knees and Linda's back, and weather not too conducive). We hiked as far as the base of the steep part of the mountain, where the hike becomes a climb up a 60 degree slope on skree, and around boulders. We managed to spot one moose on the hike, and by the time we'd returned to our car, we'd hiked 9 Km., and were soaking wet. So back to the camp for a hot shower and a change of clothes, and a bite to eat, and we were ready to visit the Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse, where the locals were advertising a party to celebrate the lighthouse's 112th birthday. It was still raining, but lots of people showed up for the party, which had local musicians, dancers, homemade food, tea, coffee, and soft drinks. In fact, I think they were stunned so many people had showed up - they were planning on about 30, and got about 150! But they just threw up some tarps, and the party was fine.....in Newfoundland a get-together like that is a "Time" and we had a lovely time clapping and stomping our feet to the fiddle/accordian tunes, and watched the dancing going on.



Having a "Time"










We called it a night at about 2100, and headed back into the camp, under our big blue tarp for another night of cool and rain. We figured out that so far we'd spent 43 nights tenting, 9 in a cabin, 2 in a motel, and the rest with friends/relatives. So not too bad for the halfway point of our trip.


Linda's new tarp in action








By morning, the rain had stopped again (temporarily). We decided on a quiet day of just driving around checking out some of the points we'd missed, and then an evening of entertainment at a local pub. We drove out to Woody Point on the South Arm of Bonne Bay, walking around the village and stopping for a chowder lunch. We were also in the market for a coffee filter system, as our coffee bodum cracked on us yesterday morning, and I'm now starting to feel the jitters from the thought of doing without coffee! (Actually, we did "Camp Coffee" today, and it wasn't bad!). The stores around are combination grocery/hardware/beer/knickknack stores, but alas - no coffee filter funnels or bodums are to be found. Perhaps we'll find some when we get to the Cornerbrook area tomorrow. After supper, we drove into Rocky Harbour to attend a show at the local pub, the Oceanview Motel, where a group, "Anchors Aweigh", were said to put on a good show.....and they lived up to their reputation. We had a fine time, enjoyed the musical talents and repertoire of the group, and it turned out to be so popular that it is always standing-room-only when they do this show. Our table seated four, so we were joined by a couple, Maryann and Jim, from Michigan, who spend a great deal of their retired life in an RV, travelling a great deal. At midnight (very late for us!) we left for our campsite. As we exited the motel, a very heavy rainshower greeted us, and as we drove back to the camp about 8 km. away, we had to drive at an extremely sedate 15 Km. per hour, as the rain was so heavy that we could barely make out the road, even with our wipers going as fast as they could. Our tent was still dry, however, and stayed that way through the night of lightning, thunder, and very heavy rain. Sure was a good thing I'd given Linda a nice big tarp for her birthday! We didn't sleep well that night, however, due to the noise of the rain on the tarp, and wondering if/when we may have to abandon to the car with a flood or landslide. By morning, the showers became a bit more intermittent, and we were able to take the tent down and keep things dry under the tarp until getting it all put away. It was still raining, however, so we availed ourselves of the KOA cooking cabin to make our breakfast and check on emails, then headed South, past Deer Lake, to Cornerbrook, which is the second largest city in Newfoundland (40,000 people). It also has shopping, and we were able to find a Canadian Tire store with a coffee filter that will meet our needs for the rest of the trip. We continued through CornerBrook on the Captain Cooks Trail, which runs along the south side of the Humber River. There was some spectacular scenery with big waterfalls flowing over craggy cliffs, and some very lovely protected harbours in nooks along the way.




One of many Cascades, along S. side of the Humber













In one of the harbours was a fishboat named "Gallant Lady", which made us think of our friends Al and Donna back home.


Little Harbour, a quiet fishing harbour










We stopped for the night at a beautiful Provincial Park. "Blow The Man Down" Park, in spite of being quite beautiful, was almost empty, and we had our choice of sites for the night. It has a boardwalk/stairway trail leading up a hill to a viewpoint, which I hiked, and was rewarded with some more beautiful views of the area.



Blow the Man Down Park









The name is appropriate for the park, as it is overlooked by a mountain of the same name, and it was indeed quite breezy (the campsites have good tree protection, however, so not a big problem). The clouds which had followed us around all day decided to return, and we had rain and drizzle overnight, again saved by the birthday tarp.
Being a Tuesday, it was also a day of reckoning. So here are our totals for week 10:
Distance travelled: 1375.4 Km. Gas: $ 178.19 Food: $ 210.54 Accommodation: $ 134.86 Other: $ 140.26 Total for week 10: $663.85 - over $46.00 under our $700.00 budget!!

Monday night had been tiring, so we slept in, and didn't get moving out of camp until 1100 the next morning, by which time the weather had cleared - finally it's summer again! On the way back through Cornerbrook, we stopped to visit the Captain Cook monument - that man really did get around! He honed his skills in cartography here, and mapped the Island of Newfoundland, as well as much of the St. Lawrence River, before proceeding to the South Pacific and our own West Coast. Then it was southbound again, passing Stephenville to circle the next peninsula to the south. Again we saw some beautiful scenery, stopping at Cape St. George for lunch, and then proceeding across the Port au Port Peninsula to the north side and back to Stephenville.

We were intrigued by several homes sporting lawn ornaments like these, at the end of Port au Port Peninsula.





It was still early afternoon, so we continued on to be in easy reach of the next big peninsula further south, at CodRoy, just north of Port aux Basques, where we are to get our ferry on Saturday.




Cape Anguille Light, end of CodRoy





At River Brook we found a campsite which met our budget ($12.00/night - one of our cheapest yet!). It did have a few drawbacks, however, as the blackflies here are as thick as we've seen them anywhere on the Island! The Barbecue was acting up, so we had to pan-fry our steaks for dinner. And we just heard on the news that there was a fire on the ferry we are supposed to be taking back, and that there will be delays over the next few days. Perhaps we will end up in Newfoundland even longer than we'd planned! A quiet night in the tent, under clear skies, and we were ready to continue on to Port Aux Basques area. As we drove onto the Codroy Peninsula area, the fog closed in, and the clouds did too. With a forecast for heavy rain/thundershowers for the afternoon and night, we decided to go for a roof, and got a housekeeping suite on Ile au Mort, a few Km. South of Port Aux Basques. With a free laundry, and kitchen included, we are able to maintin budget (just!), and have a nice dry place for the day, and start out with clean laundry as we proceed into Nova Scotia. We may have to Rock on, on the Rock for a little bit of extra time!