Saturday, 22August:
Although the drive to North Sidney is only about 5 hours from our Lr. Five Islands cottage, we left at 9:30 a.m. so we could have a visit with Judy Schulein at her studio on the Sunrise Trail near Antigonish. Judy has been planning her project for sometime and we were very interested to see how it was progressing. After admiring the progress so far, we walked down to the beach for a pot luck lunch and Bill even had a swim—the water is much warmer in the Northumberland Straight than the Minas Basin!
We left at 2 p.m. and drove around to Cape George hoping to find Tom Hanway but learned he had moved to Halifax. We did find Lois’ gravesite. We had a lot of time to spare before we had to be at the ferry terminal by 9:45 p.m. and we were lucky to get a table at the Lobster Suppers at Baddeck. Bill had lobster which was pretty good but not as good as the ones we had earlier at Lr 5. I had a strip loin just in case we had a rough sailing.
We got to the terminal in good time—not a long wait although the loading process was a slow go. Our splurge for a cabin was money well spent in my mind and having our own shower a real bonus after a hot, muggy day travelling. We got a reasonable amount of sleep—more than I thought we would and definitely more than we would have had in “steerage”.
Sunday, 23 August:
We were awake at 6:15 so beat the rush to breakfast at 7 although it wasn’t wonderful. We were on land just after 9 and started driving in the drizzle interspersed with fairly heavy rains—not a good sign, but by the time we got to Corner Brook, it was mostly cleared. We were in our rooms at the Meeting Place in Rocky Harbour shortly after 1 p.m.: A nice spot overlooking Bonnie Baie. We had enough stuff with us for lunch and after a nap we explored the town and the Visitors’ Centre for Gros Morne. We scheduled a 10 a.m. sailing tour of the Western Brook Pond which involves a 3K walk on a board walk and gravel to the land locked fiord. I was hoping I would not embarrass myself. (My right knee was extremely painful and heavily braced and a full year prior to surgery)
We explored the town more and checked out a few of the restaurants for dinner, finally deciding on Earle’s where Bill had panfried Cod and I had moose meat pie. We learned later from our host that a hunter with the proper license can sell ¼ of the moose he shoots (max. 2) to a restauranteur with the proper license.
Monday, 24 August:
We left our cabin in lots of time for me to walk to the boat launch at Western Brook Pond although I was a little anxious about it. The 2-hour tour was well done and very enjoyable. Very relaxing being on the water. We were back at the dock at 12 noon so had a nice sausage dog before the trek back to the parking lot—not as arduous as the in-bound trip. We drove north to Cow Head to see what it was all about and to see if we want to stop over on the way back on Thursday. We don’t.
Stopped at Broom Cove and a few other coves.
Tuesday, 25 August:
We left Rocky Harbour at 9 a.m. and pretty much drove all the way to our B&B Wildberry County Lodge. The Web Designer is a f**ing genius as it is quite rustic to say the least and not at all what I had imagined but Lyn who runs it is very nice and in the end it turned out fine. We drove to St. Anthony to see what there was to see. After a nap back at the “Lodge”, we drove to L’Anse aux Meadows for dinner at The Norseman, a small unassuming vibrant green building with a very high scale menu. We both had roasted cod with a reduced balsamic sauce, a cilantro salsa and pureed garlic potato. Very good! Only one glass of wine because this is moose country and there are constant reminders to was for them. After 3 days we think we may be the only people to visit the island and not see a moose, but we did spot 2 young moose off in a field and fortunately not on the highway.
Wednesday, 26August:
After breakfast we drove, once again, to L’Anse aux Meadows just in time for the 10 a.m. tour. The guide (Parks Canada) is a local boy and did a very good tour. We are blessed with perfect weather which is not always the case here.
Bill did a one hour hike up and over the hill then we drove to the end of the village where we chatted with a local fisherman who was during his cod in the sun.
Heading back, we stopped for a latte and date square and watched the birds, and made a few side trips—one to Quirpon and then Cape Onion where we found a perfect picnic spot.
Thursday, 27 August:
We left the Wildberry Country Lodge at 8 and drove for quite awhile in search of coffee. We stopped at Port aux Choix and bought lunch supplies and steak and a baking potato and salad for dinner when we get back to Rocky Harbour. We stopped at Eddies Cove West for a revisit. We were pretty pooped but were given a 2 bedroom unit for the cost of a 1 bedroom—quite a nice comfy spot. Dinner with a bottle of Amaretto was very good. I had also looked at the Bonnie Baie tour tor tomorrow at ten but there is a forecast for rain: we are the only hearty souls on the list. We will see what tomorrow brings.
Friday 28 August:
We were on the road shortly after 9. It was not raining but no one else showed up so the tour was off. We had some time on our hands so we drove to Woody Point on the far side of the Bay as we think that is where Bill’s tour ship stopped in September 2000.
It is a nice little port and somewhat more polished that his first visit. There is a tour ship in and a smattering of people milling about. The cruise started out in Copenhagen and so for has visited Iceland and Greenland. We met a young girl from Edmonton who is one of the entertainers on board—a flautist who does the opener for the evening entertainment. She boarded in Iceland and disembarks in Montreal. A tour bus arrived and beat me to the restaurant I had in mind so we went into a small coffee shop Bill remembered. We had a really good beef & barley homemade soup and a tuna sandwich which we could have done without.
We stopped at the small town of Curling where one of Bill’s friends comes from. His grandfather had been a minster who preached up and down the coast. Not certain we found the right church but took a picture anyway.
At last, we reached Cape St. George, hoping all along the way that it was a step up from the Wildberry Country Lodge. And it is.
Cape George is as far west as you can go and it is beautiful. We have a lovely corner room at the Inn at the Cape with a balcony and a superb view. We are here for 2 nights so will spend tomorrow being lazy, I hope. Breakfast and dinner are included. Dinner is a buffet with a fairly large selection including lasagna, shepherds pie, a beef number, curried chicken, potato, vegetables and desserts. There are 16 people here so I think they have only 1 room empty.
Saturday 29 August:
This is a lazy day just driving around the peninsula—checking out a few capes and beaches.
We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at Picadilly. Back at the Inn we watched the World track and field from Beijing and rested for the afternoon. Dinner was much the same as last night, but the price is right. We met a nice couple from Brantford, Richard and Suzie.
We have discovered our host, Peter, was head of NL Hydro c. 2002-2008. In the 90s, he was involved with a hot house tomato project.
Sunday 30 August:
It is raining—time to go home.
We had a nice breakfast and spent the day lolling about Codroy Valley putting in time before heading for the ferry. We had a great dinner at Margarie which was close to the ferry terminal.
Good crossing.
