July and August 2014 Newfoundland and Labrador

Elysia, Aymon, Jason and Priya

With Uncle Frank and Aunt Catherine

Hal and Aunt Catherine

Our ferry landed in the fog at Argentina, home of the US Naval Base during WWII. My father was stationed here during the war and my mother worked at the base. This is where they met. It had been five years since our last trip here and we wanted to see different areas, so we skipped the lower Avalon Peninsula and headed to St. John’s to see family.  We had a great dinner with my Aunt Catherine, her husband, Hal, and Catherine’s daughter, Elysia and her family.  We enjoyed their hospitality for a week and attended a dinner theater (“Spirit of Newfoundland”) in St John’s with lots of local music. We went out to the family home in Conception Harbor and met Uncle Frank there. He was doing well and enjoyed feeding the ducks at his assisted living facility.

Whale Watching from the cheap seats

Iceberg 

Sundews

Trinity

Trinity Pageant Performers

Pat and I caught the ferry to Belle Island to take a tour of Mine #2. The ore in this mine is 50% pure iron, the highest concentration of iron in the world. This mine closed because it was cheaper to surface mine in Labrador.  Our mine tour was given by a man who had two grandfathers who worked in the mine. He shared many interesting stories.  

After a week in St John’s we went to the Bonavista Peninsula. We started to see whales and icebergs in every bay. The capelin were running and the whales were following them. We didn’t need to pay $80 pp to go out in a boat to see whales when we could see them from shore for free! We did pay to see the Trinity Pageant again. It covers the history of this fishing community as you walk through the town with the actors.  We hiked many trails in this area and in Terra Nova NP. 

Puffin

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse

Blue Flag Iris
July set a record for the hottest month ever in Newfoundland. Soon we were hunting out local swimming holes to cool off. Most buildings in NL don’t have air conditioning. One night we had planned to go to a dinner theater near Twillingate. As we were getting ready to leave for dinner, Pat closed the RV door on her right thumb, almost severing the end off. Luckily we were only 5 minutes from the hospital. Pat got X-Rays and stitches. Her thumb seems to be recovering well. We heard later that it was 100 degrees inside the dinner theater, but the hospital was air conditioned!  I guess Pat will do anything to stay out of the heat. The next day Pat’s foot got stung twice and her ankle swelled up. Not a good week.

I feel at home here

Where pretzels cone from

Western Brook Pond

Cow Moose

We spent a few days in Gros Morne NP, hiking and looking for moose. We finally saw three. The moose population, particularly in the park, had become too large and was doing extensive damage to the trees. Several years ago, the Park began a culling program to bring the number of moose down to a sustainable level. We notice a significant reduction since our last visit five years ago. We took the boat trip down the spectacular Western Brook. 

Sea Arch at Tickle Cove

You will not find this guy at RED LOBSTER

Stairway to Heaven in Red Bay, Labrador

Despite five previous visits to Newfoundland, I had never been to Labrador. We took our RV on the 90 minute ferry ride across the Strait of Belle Isle and landed in English speaking Quebec! After lunch in Quebec, we drove into Labrador. We spent two days exploring the coastal area up to Red Bay, the end of the paved road. My camera went for a fatal swim as I was crossing below Overfalls Brook. This provided a good excuse to upgrade to a better, lighter and smaller camera for our next trip. We relied on Pat’s i-Phone for the rest of this trip.  We were surprised how different the terrain was from Newfoundland. It is possible to drive from the coast of Labrador to Montreal, if you don’t mind 500 miles of dusty gravel roads.  In 4-6 years the road will be paved and Labrador will never be the same. Fortunately, there are plenty of biting flies in July and August to help control the inflow of visitors.

At Baker Brook Falls

Bunchberry ready for Christmas

Bull Moose

Bottle Cove

Fossil

 Returning to Newfoundland, we enjoyed several nights of live Newfoundland music and more hiking in Gros Morne. We also sent some time exploring around Lark Harbor and Stephenville. During WWII, Stephenville had the largest US air base outside the US. The Space Shuttle could land on its huge runway. After six weeks in Newfoundland, we took the ferry back to Nova Scotia.

Coast near Stephenville

Good bye Newfoundland