OH CANADA PARTIE TROIS

June 2018

Wasn’t sure at the time, but when we mentioned to folks we met along the way that we were heading to Newfoundland they referred to the place as “The Rock.”  No, not Dwayne Johnson – way cooler.  There were also lots of tips about do this and do that, don’t do this and don’t miss that no matter what, eat lots of seafood, and keep you’re ears open because the locals have a language all their own, but no explanation as to why Newfoundland is referred to affectionately (?) as “The Rock.”  Guess we’d have to figure that out ourselves.  Our new friends Patti and Faye made us promise to call them if we got in trouble because they both had lived in Newfoundland and had friends that could help us out (is that the Canadian equivalent of “I know a guy?”).

We had toyed with the idea of taking Aimee on the ferry to Newfoundland, but all-in-all it made sense to make The Rock a true vacation destination, drive TransCanadian Highway One from the Channel Port aux Basque ferry terminal to the Agentia ferry terminal, stay in small hotels and just treat ourselves.  Did I mention that TransCanadian Highway One from port to port without any side distractions is 860 km?

But what to do with our home and constant companion?  An easy 30 miles from the Newfoundland Ferry terminal is the town of Baddeck, and it looked to be a great place to hang for a few days when we returned to the mainland since the Cabot Trail, fossil fields, and the Alexander Graham Bell museum were close by.  Bras d’Or Campground looked ideal for our purposes, and since I was talking to the owner about a reservation for camping, well, it never hurts to ask if we could park Aimee for a week or so.  Since the campground wasn’t scheduled to open until a couple of days before we returned, and it’s not quite summer this far north, they said they’d be glad to look after Aimee for us.  Problem solved!

Long story to get to this point.  We left Truro early and headed to Baddeck to drop off Aimee.  As we drove into the campground, a bald eagle flew over us.  We smiled and felt a spiritual connection with this special place.

After bidding Aimee a fond farewell, we travelled to North Sydney to catch the ferry.  The ferry ride to The Rock is akin to taking the “red eye” from LAX to JFK; departure was scheduled for 11:45pm with disembarkment at 7am.  The ferry is an ocean-going craft with 150 staterooms, snack bar, restaurant, lounge and movie room, and it is large enough to accommodate 16-wheelers, construction vehicles and the largest motorhomes as well as a large number of passenger vehicles (including our Jeep).  It was a bit unnerving and slightly claustrophobic to be driving onto this huge vessel to then be directed to drive down into the belly of the ship.  Once parked, we hauled our belongings to the elevator, and we were soon in our “stateroom” on the 8th deck of this magnificent vessel. The room had four berths: two top and two bottom. We couldn’t imagine four people trying to maneuver in those tight quarters, but as cramped as it might have seemed we were happy to have a place to lay our weary heads.

We were startled out of sleep by rather loud musical bongs and an announcement that we would be docking in one hour.  We dressed and gathered our belongings and wished we had thought to bring food with us.  Coffee was available, but the snack bar food offerings this early in the morning were not particularly appealing.  We entertained ourselves looking at the uniquely beautiful coastline as the ship sailed into the harbor. Excitedly we returned to our car, drove off the ship and were on our way to Gros Morne National Park.

Trans-Canada Highway One took us up and down and around some of the most unusual landscape.  Travelling through the Maritime Provinces we had become used to being “walled-in” by trees – deciduous and evergreens of many varieties – like tall soldiers standing watch over the miles and miles of highway throughout Canada.  Here the scenery was rocky and sparse (The Rock-get it?).  Around this corner you might see the Atlantic Ocean; around the next nothing but acres and acres of sometimes flat and always rocky undulating hillsides with few trees and little vegetation.  The next turn might bring you close to St. George’s Bay.  The missing element?  People and houses – yeah miles and miles of nothingness.  There were cautionary signs that warned of “Moose in Roadway”, but we didn’t see any living creatures.  And forget about it if you have to pee or get gas!  Occasionally we would encounter another vehicle, but for the most part we felt isolated and alone on this seemingly endless highway.

Friends told us to be patient, and 2.5 hours later it paid off.  We arrived in Corner Brook and we were able to stretch our legs and refresh ourselves.  Despite our pledge to avoid (ubiquitous) Tim Horton donuts for our entire stay in Canada, we caved, and ate a half dozen as we drove to our next stop:  the Discovery Centre in Gros Morne National Park.

 

Gros Morne National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its unusual and incredible geology.  The brochure stated that “the rocks on this island have forever altered our understanding of the Earth’s history and the theory of plate tectonics helping to prove that continents really do collide and mountains do move.”  The park is also working to establish itself as a Dark Sky Preserve.  We had seen so many amazing photographs of the night skies in Newfoundland, including the Aurora Borealis, and we were eager to have our own experience to share on our blog.  Unfortunately, the night skies were so cloud-filled that we were only able to see Venus and Mars.  It did not diminish our overall experience in the least.

The Discovery Center is just on the outskirts of The Tablelands, and the displays do a really nice job of describing what it is you’ll be seeing in visiting the area.  We learned that The Tablelands is one of only two places in the world where you can walk on the mantle or middle layer of the earth.  Park documents stated: “pushed in place as continents collided almost half a billions years ago, it’s orange weathered rock is from the middle layer of the earth.” Crazy, right?  We couldn’t wait to experience it and instantly were on a mission to see The Tablelands before we called it a day.

The gravel path from the parking lot is easy to travel, and we appreciated the opportunity to get in our 10,000 steps.  The Tablelands is just as advertised.  There is an eerie beauty to the area with melting snowcaps creating miniature waterfalls, wild rose bushes, lower creeping plants like strawberry, short grasses and weedy blooming plants adding life to the otherwise barren terrain.  The fast-flowing river at the end of the walk is the result of melting snow and rain fall, and will be gone by the middle of July.  The hike ends in a magnificent canyon view.

From The Tablelands our next stop was at the Visitors Center.  In talking with the Rangers we learned that the two “must sees” in the park were The Tablelands and a boat tour of Western Brook Pond.   We set up the boat tour for the next day.  Exhausted from the ferry ride and our adventures of the day, we headed to our motel in Cow Head.

We drove to Rocky Harbour for breakfast at a delightful place called the Treasure Box. Rocky Harbour is a sweet little sea coast village, with many salt box homes not too far from the beach.  We were greeted by the owners, Boyd and Joyce, who immediately engaged us in conversation about our visit, where we were from, their feelings about US tariffs, and their occasional visits to the States.  Half of the building is devoted to the restaurant; the other half is filled with knick knacks and Newfoundland T-shirts, magnets, the usual.  However in the back room, there was an incredible array of felt hats, knit hats, scarves, gloves and sweaters, many of them made by Joyce. We were impressed! Reminded us of how Elyssa spent the long cold winters in Vermont making quilts.

After a delightful breakfast, some good conversation, and sandwiches to go for lunch, we headed out to the light house at Lobster Cove, and a walk around the well-worn paths, taking in all the sights.  We began to notice that most every place we went there were two red Cape Cod Muskoka chairs facing the water.  Turns out there was a challenge dating back to 2012 that wasn’t completed until 2015 involving the placement of 18 pairs of wooden red chairs scattered throughout Gros Morne Park.  The challenge was to find and identify all 18 chairs.  The chairs remain as a curiosity and as a gentle reminder to visitors to slow down and to take time to just sit and enjoy this incredible park, the beautiful bays and the gentle people who live in and around Gros Morne.

We also stopped at Martins Point to see what remained of the wreck of the S.S. Ethie. Apparently the Captain intentionally ran the Ethie aground during a terrible storm in December, 1919 saving all aboard including an infant.

On the way to our boat ride on Western Brook Pond we stopped briefly to look for the Green Pointe Geological Site.  Turns out we were in the wrong place, but we did find some interesting tracks during our hike.

We were advised to arrive 45 minutes early for our boat ride because we had to hike from the parking lot to the boat dock.  One of the curious things we learned is that this is a fresh water lake once connected to the ocean.  The billion-year-old cliffs formed fjords in their day, the moose and caribou frequented the shores for fresh water, and the first nation peoples used the pond as a source of fish.  But the water no longer flows to the ocean and the fjords are now just deep inlets.  There are 2 more curious things about Western Brook Pond:  the water in the lake completely replenishes itself every 15 years through rainfall and snowmelt only, and millennia have past since the pond was connected to the ocean causing the waters to have become void of any minerals or other nutrients that support life.  It is one of those very rare bodies of water in which there are no fish or aquatic plant life.  We were treated to several cascading waterfalls that feed the lake as well as towering cliffs standing like sentries watching over our visit to their land.  The trip was magnificent and we thoroughly enjoyed the humor of the crew and their knowledge of this beautiful landscape.

We had one more site that we wanted to see before we called it a day.  This was our last day in Gros Morne, and we had been told at breakfast by a couple that Green Point Geological Site was not to be missed.  Green Point is a unique landscape like no other that we had seen so far on The Rock.  Scientists believe that the rocks at the geological site were formed on the bottom of an ancient ocean almost 500 million years ago. For all of our rock nerd family and friends (Kea, Jordan, Jaimee, Ben S.), geologists have identified some fossil graptolites and conodonts  that apparently define the boundary between the Cambrian and Ordovician periods.   Your eyes can’t believe what they are seeing!  It was as if some mighty force took the earth and turned it sideways. Plate tectonics in action?  We were timid about walking on some of the rock strata but it would be impossible to erect a wooden walkway to protect these seemingly fragile rock forms and fossils because when the tide rolls in, the site can only be viewed from the cliff above.  Green Point was a perfect ending to our amazing stay in Gros Morne National Park.

We barely touched the beginning of all that can be explored and discovered at Gros Morne National Park.  This is one of those places we truly would like to visit again!

Barbara and Brian