Mile 6747

 We leave Placentia, NL with blue skies and very pleasant, almost summerly temperatures, and follow the Rt-100, then Rt-101, and then Rt-202 to return to the TCH, to turn West.  Leaving the Avalon Peninsula brings us from the ocean barrens to the central forested areas and going further west to the transition of the Southwestern to the Northern barrens.  All day we are followed by a strong wind, and it shows us why the trees on the Rock are not that tall.  We also see that since the two weeks which have passed since we came along this stretch that the birch trees are now shining with their young green leaves and have turned the landscape from a brownish-gray to an invigorating green aura.  It's a pity that we are using this sun filled day to drive, but we want to be on the west coast for some hikes in Gros Morne N.P. before the rain moves in on Sunday for some days.

Placentia, NL Bridge and Fort Frederick Guns

Placentia Bay Northeast Arm

... looks almost like an Alpine Lake in Europe

Deer Lake, NL

 We stop for the day in Deer Lake, NL, nicely located on the south side of the Gros Morne N.P. and enjoy the last sun rays as they shine on us at the lake.

 Today we get a nice surprise as the forecasted rain is a blue sky.  We have a good breakfast as we want to take on some hikes in the Gros Morne N.P.  Unfortunately is the hike to the top of Gros Morne mountain summit closed till June 27 for wildlife reproduction and growth, so we take some smaller ones and end up at the Western Brook Pond trail.  We are lucky and can get a place on the tour boat and can enjoy the former Fjord, now turned lake and the cliff walls and waterfalls.  The 'fjord' is the creation of glacial activities some 500 million years ago, and the then pushed up rocks and sediments separating the melting glaciers from the ocean forming the lake in the 'fjord', in places some 600ft deep.  Hard to believe but true, those mountains and fjord walls, the Low Range Mountains, are part of the Appalachian Orogen stretching from Alabama in the US all the way to western Newfoundland and Labrador and are about 1.2 billion years old.  After the boots tour we see some dark clouds driving up from the Southwest, and we just make a last stop at Martin's Point near Sally's Cove, NL to pay a visit to the site where on December 11, 1919 the S.S. Ethie ran aground in a violent storm.  All passengers and crew were rescued by locals with a boson's chair and rope, and a baby was sent ashore in a mail bag.  Then it's time to run back to Deer Lake before the supermarket closes to get our groceries restocked.

Morning at the Bonne Bay Pond and the Gulf of St. Lawrence

Gros Morne N.P., Jerry's Pond and viewing the Inlet to Western Brook Pond

Coastal Lowland at Gros Morne N.P.

Western Brook Pond (Fjord), Gros Morne N.P.

Waterfalls in the Fjord

A face in the rock

Leaving Western Brook Pond, Gros Morne N.P.

.... and yes, it was a chilly afternoon

'We still don't know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us."  -  Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist, 1879-1955

Mile 6255

 Today we are up bright and early as we leave St. John's, NL and travel South on the Avalon Peninsula.  We have a quick breakfast at the place with the mermaid in the logo and then picking up Rt-10 to follow the east coast of the peninsula to Portugal Cove South to the Mistaken Point UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Mistaken Point because sailors repeatably mistaking it for Cape Race in foggy weather and turn North, expecting to find Cape Race Harbour, instead hitting rocks and leading to shipwreck.  There have been more than 50 shipwrecks in this area.  

 But that is not the reason we have come to Mistaken Point, but to see the 565 million year old fossil sites.  Those are the oldest, large, complex life forms found anywhere on Earth.  Known to scientist as the 'Ediacara biota', these creatures lived when all life was still in the sea.  The organisms whose fossils now form the Mistaken Point assemblage lived about 565 million years ago on the bottom of a deep ocean, considerably below the depth that waves or light could reach.  Those soft bodied creatures lived millions of years before animals developed skeletons, but the imprints of their soft tissues were preserved in place on the muddy sea floor when they were suddenly buried by repeated influxes of volcanic ash-rich sediment.  The volcanic ash layers contain crystals of the mineral zircon, which enable geologists to accurately date them.

Rock formation at the fossil site showing the movement of the tectonic plates

One of the two accessible fossil plateaus

Bradgatia linfordensis (left) and Fractofusus misrai (right)

Pectinifrons abyssalis (left) and Beothukis mistakensis (right)

Charniodiscus procerus (left) and Charniodiscus spinosus (right)

Ivesheadiomorphs (left) and Thectardis avalonensis (right)

Primocandelabrum sp., the teacher and her student

 We then continued  from the fossil site to Cape Race and its lighthouse.  Besides the fact that this lighthouse has one of the world's largest hyperradiant Fresnel lens made by Chance Brothers in England (only 33 were made, only 12 are still in operation, only 1 in Canada) and floating on 7 gallons of mercury, it is also the first or the last lighthouse depending of the direction of travel sailors will see when crossing the Atlantic between Europe and North America.  Cape Race also played a critical role on April 14, 1912 when the Marconi wireless station received the distress signal from the RMS Titanic.  From there the signal was relayed to other ships and the world, and Cape Race became the central point for communication and rescue efforts.  The Marconi station is today a 'wireless interpretation center', but was unfortunately still closed for the season.

Cape Race with lighthouse and Marconi station to the left

The immense Fresnel lens, one of only a dozen still in operation today

After so much knowledge gain we return to Rt-10 and go North on the western side of the peninsula, which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful coastal sections of Newfoundland.  It reminds us very much to the Western Cape region in South Africa, perhaps that's where the liking comes from.  In St. Catherine's, NL we pick up Rt-91 and cross over to Placentia, NL and call it the day.

Beach at St. Vincent's, NL

Not beach glass today, but rocks

"Sometime in the first billion years, life appeared on the earth's surface.  Slowly, the fossil record indicates, living organisms climbed the ladder simple to more advanced forms."  -  Robert Jastrow, American astronomer and planetary physicist, 1925-2008

Mile 6046

 We have been very much lazy the last two days.  Waking up and being kissed by the sun we drive to Bay Bulls, NL south of St. John's, NL to take a boots tour to the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve in the hope to see some whales and the ever amazing Puffins amongst other bird life.  It is pretty cold out at sea, and it didn't take long until the first one shouts out "whale" and we see the back of a humpback whale.  And sure enough a bit later there are some minke whales floating through the waters.  Minke whales very seldom breach, so they look more like huge dolphins gliding though the water, even though they are much larger.

Minke Whales out at Bay Bulls

After that we continue to sail to Gull Island to pay a visit to the vast bird population of Atlantic Puffins, Black-legged Kittiwakes, and other gulls and seabirds.  Gull Island is part of the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve and known for its hundred of thousands of birds inhabiting this rock.

Kittiwakes and Puffins on Gull Island

After a couple of hours at sea we are happy to return to land and to warm our bones again.  We take the long way back and make a stop at Quidi Vidi, and artist village in the North of St. John's.  Unfortunately the village / artist studios are still closed today and we decide to return tomorrow again.  Our friends Elaine and Jim are picking us up early evening and we spend some good time again together over some fish and chips and Elaine's to die for cake.  Then it is time to say our good-bye to them and we hope it will not take another two years to meet again.

Quidi Vidi Brewery and Ian Gillies' & Marc Fiset's sculpture "The Fishery"

"The Fishery" by Ian Gillies and Marc Fiset in Quidi Vidi was originally created at the Burning Rock Festival on Fogo Island, NL in 2021 and then moved to Quidi Vidi as part of the Art Search.  It uses recycled steel from the fishery and comments on the important role fishing plays in Newfoundland's history and culture.

"Moratorium Cod Drying" by Kevin-Barry Martin

"Moratorium Cod Drying" by Kevin-Barry Martin at The Inn by Mallard Cottage in Quidi Vidi is a conversation piece that explores the history and cultural heritage of this region.  It uses a combination of antique cod liver oil bottles necks and copper nails repurposed from boat building, as well as modern materials like those used for clothesline and wood.

It was a bit windy today

Today we run some errants around town first and then do some sightseeing by driving up to Pouch Cove, NL.  Unfortunately today is again a gray day with some drizzle, so we limit our outdoor activities but return to Quidi Vidi and strolled a little around.  Once again only a few artist shops are open, most of them are still in the process of setting up for the season.  So the Quidi Vidi brewery becomes very attractive and sitting on the deck overlooking the harbour with a good pint and a seafood chowder compensates for the lack of art viewing.  On the way back to our hotel we stop for some needed maintenance to the car, getting the tires rotated and an oil change done.  Now we are ready for another 10,000 miles.

 Tomorrow our time here in St. John's will come to an end and we will tour South on the Avalon Peninsula to pay a visit to the Mistaken Point UNESCO World Heritage Site.

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."  -  Aristoteles, Greek philosopher and polymath, 384-322 BC