A log about those Silly Folks and their Escapades

July 11th and we are off to St. Anthony.

But first it is a day of discovery at the Viking Village National Park visitor centre.
After a short video we headed out on a guided tour of the entire area including an area that they have recreated to the best of their knowledge based on known Viking settlements in Norway.  The recreated buildings include living areas, wood workshops, metal/forging shops, etc. it was all very interesting. All the buildings were made from the peat bog surrounding this area. The inside walls were all made of small logs and/or branches/sticks. The walls on the larger buildings are 6 ft thick, once inside it was quite warm even though it was a wet rainy and windy morning.
Probably the best part was that our guide who was in his early 60’s grew up in L’anse aux Meadows and as a child he played in this area and they always thought that these were native indian settlements. It was not until the early 1960’s that a Danish archeologist discovered this site with help from a local fisherman. So, as a child he said they had “front row seats” to watching the archeological dig take place. Then as a young man he helped reconstruct all the buildings and the settlement to where it is today.
Finally on the way out of the area we came across a cow moose and her calf, unfortunately the calf was hidden too well to get a good picture.
After this we headed back to St. Anthony, hoping to see the large iceberg in the harbour. Well when we arrived there was noting but a bunch of small chunks and some remnants of it floating around the harbour. When we asked around folks said it had broken up the previous afternoon, after we had left. Fortunately someone caught it on YouTube and posted it, take a look https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtlholi6qYU.

We did see other large icebergs on our way into town so we backtracked to see if we could get closer to them. No real luck getting much closer than the one from the harbour but we did get to see more large icebergs from a distance.

July 10th we left Cowhead and headed for L’Anse aux Meadows.
As we left Cowhead we headed over to Shallow Bay beach which is very impressive as to the size of the beach and the sand dunes.

After this we hit the road and our next stop was at “The Arches” which are part of a Provincial Park. These are really neat as to how the sea and winds have washed away the rock formation to form the arches.

Once back the road our next stop was at a small place called Flower Cove where they have Thrombolites. Thrombolites are microbial structures – living organisms that look like rocks. You can see from the pictures that the larger ones are about 3′ high and about 15′ in diameter.  These are only found in two places in the world. Here in Newfoundland and Hamelin Pool in Shark Bay Western Australia.

Now back on the long coastal drive up to L’anse aux Meadows. Look at this for beautiful scenery.

However before driving to L’Anse aux Meadows we took a bit of a side trip to St. Anthony and are we glad we did.
First off there is a Tim Hortons in St. Anthony with the only Iceberg Donut in Canada.

But even better than that there was a very large iceberg right in the middle channel of the harbour and wow was it huge. 
We found a spot to park and headed out on a short hike to get a closer look. We estimated that the iceberg was probably about 100 ft tall at it’s peak. So, after lots of pictures and talking with some local folks who felt that this one would be here for a couple weeks we headed to L’anse aux Meadows for the night.
L’anse aux Meadows is where the Vikings first landed with Leif Erickson about 1000 years ago. There is a National Park here but it was late in the day so we checked into our B&B and would visit the site tomorrow.
After dinner at a local cafe we took a short walk in the are of Hay Cove and found a fair size iceberg grounded on the rocks. 

July 9th and it is off to Cowhead with hiking excursions in Gros Morne National Park.
We drove for a couple hours through Deer Lake and then headed into Gros Morne National Park. We talked with the Park Guide at the visitor centre and we decided to do a hike called The Tablelands.
The Tablelands are really interesting as it is an area of the world where the Mantle or centre core of the world has been pushed to the surface and you can actually see the change in the colour of rocks surrounding this area compared to other areas nearby. The hike is fairly easy with a slight grade but the vegetation is very interesting. We also saw the Provincial Flower of Newfoundland, which is called the Pitcher Plant.
From here we were back on the road to do a hike into an area called Western Brook Pond and to view the Fiords from a distance.

The walk in to the Western Brook Pond is across a bog and beside the river, so lots of walkways and supports paths. Once at the head of the pond there are tour boats to take you up the fiords but it was later in the day and we missed the last tour.
Oh well, it is off to Cowhead for the night and a musical performance at the Gros Morne Theatre. Our B&B was right on the ocean and the sunset was spectacular. This is also where we discovered Iceberg Beer in the Blue Bottle……… good stuff.

July 8th we left Twillingate headed for Springdale.
Leaving Twillingate we decided to go on a hike called The Top of Twillingate. The road map and the GPS were not that good at getting us to the start of the trail, so we ended up stopping and asking a local for directions.
Prior to going to the main part of Springdale we drove over to Kings Point, as we had heard that there was a large iceberg grounded in the bay and we were not disappointed. It had been the size of a house and was still quite large, plus there were lots of chunks that had fallen off  and were drifting nearby.

While in Springdale we did a hike on a walkway along the Indian Brook River, it was amazing the amount of hiking trails they had built along the river and across the peat bogs to allow people to access this area.
Kings Point was so nice that we returned here for dinner after checking in to our B&B.
Tonight we stayed at the Indian River Brook B&B which was a lot of fun. The lady who cooks breakfast was very entertaining and she played the Ugly Stick and the Spoons and sang us some traditional Newfoundland songs.

July 7th we went from Port Blandford and the Serendipity B&B up to Twillingate.
Now Twillingate is supposed to be the place to see icebergs. However, it was so windy and stormy while we were there that all the ice berg boat tours had stopped and no one had not gone out for the past 3 days.
So, we visited the Twillingate Lighthouse and as we arrived the fog rolled in. So, where in the previous hour there was unlimited visibility it was now down to the distance of about 1/4 mile or less. Oh well, part of the experience.
Twillingate was a beautiful quaint little seaside town and we stayed the night at the Toulinguet B&B. Plus this is the first night we had Cod Tongues and Scrunchions for dinner.

July 6th we were on the road again from Clarenville up to Elliston. Elliston…… Where the heck is Elliston and what the heck is there to see in Elliston? Well, there are Puffins, lots of them.
We stopped in at the local Tourist Information office and craft shop for directions to see the Puffins. Well as luck would have it a local gentleman who was in his 80’s was there to give us detailed directions to The Puffin viewing spot. We think he hangs around there and mostly bothers the ladies that work in the tourism/craft shop, but he does help out with inquiring tourists.
Anyways, we headed off to the Puffin viewing site. Now, there is something you should know about Puffins as our tour director informed us. Puffins love windy, rainy, cold and wet days……. well keeping in the spirit of enjoying all parts of this Province we were not going to be disappointed today. The rain was pouring the wind was howling and the Puffins were having the time of there lives.
Us on the other hand were soaking wet after this adventure and we required the car seat heaters to dry out on the road to Bonavista.
Yes, Bonavista. You know “This Land is Your Land” – Canadian Version, this land is my land from Bonavista to Vancouver Island. Yes, we stopped at Cape Bonavista lighthouse to sing this song with ukulele accompaniment. Check out this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIOK3aaPnY8&feature=youtu.be

Also, while at Cape Bonavista we saw our first large iceberg fairly close to shore. Wow!
From Cape Bonavista we headed in to the town of Bonavista and had the best bowl of seafood chowder we have ever had at Mifflins Tea House.
Then it was off to Port Blandford for the evening, but first we passed through the Community of Princeton NL; not Princeton B.C..

July 5th we left St. John’s headed for Clarenville. However before getting to Clarenville we had a days adventure ahead which started by driving out to Cape Spear which is the most easterly point in North America. We joined up with a tour group which was interesting as the guide had a bunch of information about the area, geology and he took the time to point out the various plants that will have berries in August along the hike. Guess who was in the middle of the berry discussion?

However, we found out later that this was a private tour folks had paid big bucks to see all of Newfoundland and Cape Spear was their first stop…. Oops Ha Ha Ha!
From Cape Spear we headed towards the small village Harbour Grace. It is where Amelia Earhart started her cross Atlantic flight to Ireland. 

After this we drove through the towns of  of Hearts Content, Hearts Desire and Hearts Delight.

Then down through the communities of Dildo and past Come By Chance….. We are not making this stuff up folks!

In fact here is a sign listing a lot of the funny names of towns in Newfoundland.
Later in the day we finally arrived at the Wave Hotel in Clarenville.

July 3rd and July 4th
Sunday morning was cool and wet and foggy but we decided to hike to Signal Hill no matter what the weather was. We headed down the city walking path and then started the climb up to the top of Signal Hill. Signal Hill is where Marconi sent the first wireless transmissions across the Atlantic Ocean to England.
Once we got to the top it was fogged right in and from 50 yards you could not see the Tower. So a bit of a downer as normally you can see all the main harbour of St. John’s and all the way to Cape Spear. Anyway we decided to take the hiking trail down and it was much better because at a certain point we got out of the fog and could see the harbour lighthouse and the rest of the harbour basin.
Monday morning we woke up and the sky was clear as could be and visibility was unlimited so we decided to hike to the top of Signal Hill once more. This time we were going to take the trail up and then come down the main road.  
The only difference besides the fog was that now the wind was blowing at 60+ km’s so we were getting blown all over the place walking the trail and you had to make sure you were holding on at certain points and had secure footing.
The interesting thing about this hiking trail is that it is part of the Trans-Canada Trail system and probably the only place that part of the trail crosses a persons home deck near the end. Oh and it is probably the only part of the trail in Canada where you have to hang on to a chain secured to the mountain because the ledge in narrow and it’s a 300 ft drop to the ocean.

Finally, not too far from where the trail comes back into the City is the Memorial of Mile “0” where Terry Fox started his Marathon of Hope.

July 2nd and it is time to head to St. John’s Newfoundland. After a couple flights and a bit of a long layover in Halifax we ended up in St. John’s and it was time for dinner.
So, off we headed to George Street as we had heard from the Hotel front desk that they were having a Canada Day celebration which included a street party and concert by a local band and the Maritimes best band “The Fables”.
The organizers had blocked off 2 city blocks and you could wander from bar to restaurant to pub with drink in hand and enjoy the festivities. The first band was the Derina Harvey Band a Celtic Rock Band, they were very good and they got the smallish crowd warmed up and dancing on a cool evening.
Then on time at 9:30 The Fables started playing and the crowd tripled in size and excitement and dancing, etc. etc. Check out this You Tube link to a short bit of their song “Heave Away”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkfYRy3oj4M

The Fables played all their standard songs plus a few other local ditties that had the crowd jumping for 1 1/2 hrs. We had a great time there and danced and stomped the night away. What a fun evening.

July 1st and it is Canada Day
The festivities and ceremonies are schedule to start at 9:00 a.m. So we headed over to Parliament Hill around 8:30 a.m………. bad decision and a little late. Lined up outside were about 50,000 people so, we stood in one of the many line-ups at the various gates and waited for the gates to open at 9:00. We forgot to mention that they were performing body scan and bag searches and security measures.
Well on schedule the gates opened and the Pageantry started on time, so we got to see the Bands and Pipers and Guards go by to begin the ceremonies. Now a key learning and a note for the future. The changing of the guard etc occurs on the east side of the lawn and that delays the people getting allowed into this area. In the future we would line up down near the gates into the west lawn area.
We finally made it inside and somewhere along the way we got a few pictures and saw the Snow Birds, sang O Canada. After about 1 1/2 hrs or so we left the Parliament Hill area and headed over to Major Hill Park for the other Canada Day festivities. Well, in our opinion Kamloops has as good, if not better vendor displays, food concessions, etc as they have in Ottawa.
This is when we learned another tip for Canada Day in Ottawa. We thought we would head back over to Parliament Hill to get back into the lawn area to watch the entertainment……. Wrong. They closed the gates when they estimate that there are about 50,000 on site. So there we are with probably now about 80,000 people standing in lines trying to get in and going nowhere.
However, the real surprising thing is that by about 2:00 p.m. they wrap up the entertainment until later in the evening when they repeat the show they did in the morning. Once again we believe the variety and scope of entertainment that we have in Kamloops easily beats what they had going on in Ottawa.

The evening finished with a great fireworks display, which they thought was going to be canceled as there was a lightning storm headed towards the City, but it fizzed out and the show went on!