NEWFOUNDLAND – SOUTHWEST CROUSE & CONCHE
Day 36 – We went to bed a little late (for us) last night (probably due to all our napping yesterday), and therefore got up later this morning (after the girls were leaping from the cat shelf near the ceiling onto the bed several times, they succesfully ended up getting us out of bed). It was 37 degrees and overcast again. It had rained fairly hard all night. With this weather, we certainly won’t have campers joining us at this Park.
We left after lunch when it warmed up to a whopping 41 degrees; at least it wasn’t too windy. Our consolation was that it was forecasted to be sunny tomorrow. Still very cloudy with some fog, we knew that pictures wouldn’t be as good without the light, but hey, we’re thinking that clouds & fog show the real Newfoundland, and a sunny day is a rarity. As we get to summer – someday – we’ll see if that’s true.
When we got in the car, we discovered we had a flat tire. These are the new tires we got before we left home. Looking online, we found the nearest tire center was located in Corner Brook, 240 miles from here. There was a garage in Roddickton, not far from us, but no signal on the phone when I called to see if they were open on a Saturday afternoon. Rob switched out the spare tire & the flat tire, and we drove into town. We both doubted they’d be open; towns are so small here. Following Google’s directions, we located what used to be the garage. It was not a garage anymore. Hmmm, maybe we won’t be going sightseeing today.
We drove to the gas station thinking maybe they had a garage. Nope. But they did recommend a garage farther up the road. We drove that way and found the garage we’d been looking for; they had moved and not alerted Google. They were not open, but they very graciously agreed to take a look at the tire. They found a VERY small hole in the tire, fixed it, didn’t charge us anything, and off we went. Today’s count: Moose 1, Icebergs in the foggy distance 4, Red Fox 1.
Not far north of Roddickton, we went east on Route 434, a dirt road to two fishing towns. We eventually found the road to be paved and the going got easier. This was an extremely beautiful drive. There was still lots of snow on the ground. There were many lakes and streams with parts of them still frozen. The water was crystal-clear and the mountains, snow, and trees reflected in the water were a breathtaking site. We knew that if it is really was sunny tomorrow, we’d make this drive again. The first town, Southwest Crouse, was wonderful. It was tiny & picturesque. In the distance the mountains came straight down to the water and icebergs could barely be seen in the fog. Across the bay at the bottom of the mountain across from Southwest Crouse, we could barely see the extremely tiny town of Northeast Crouse, accessible only by water. On Sunday, when it was more clear out, Rob got a picture of Northeast Crouse, from the banks of its sister village across the bay. Talk about living remotely & being out of touch! I really liked Southwest Crouse.
Click on any picture below to see a slideshow.
Conche wasn’t far from Southwest Crouse. It was a bigger town, a really nice little village. We’d been told by several people and seen in brochures that Conche was beautiful and it was recommended that we stop at the French Shore Interpretation Centre there to see the historical museum and in particular, see the tapestry that depicts the history of the French Shore area here in Newfoundland. As we approached Conche, we came around a bend, heading downhill, and suddenly in front of us was this amazing view. Across the road was a turnout and some stairs that climbed up a mountain, culminating at the top with a scenic overlook of the bay & Conche. We almost drove off the cliff at this view. We stopped & Rob climbed the steps with his camera while I hobbled around on the road getting shots from there with my camera. There were a couple of icebergs in the distance, but it was very foggy & very cloudy. We knew we’d be back to take more pictures tomorrow. We both really liked Conche. We drove around, gawking at the scenery, and saw at one point, a pile of metal in the distance that resembled an airplane crash. Another Boeing 737 Max bites the dust? Ho ho. Rob walked to the site of the November 30, 1942 crash-landing of the Boston BZ-277 plane that was being ferried from Gander, NF to Greenland and ran out of fuel. The pilot circled around looking for some kind of open field amongst the hills & sea. He had the other members of the crew parachute out and the pilot crash-landed the plane in a small field below a mountain. No one was injured. After this stop, we decided that since it was by now, later in the afternoon, we’d come back to the Interpretation Centre tomorrow, also.
As we were driving back to the RV, the fog began to lift and we could see a patch or two of blue sky. A good sign for tomorrow. Near the campground we saw a Moose. It was quick though and we barely got a picture. When we got back to the RV, Rob checked the tire pressure and it appeared that the tire fix was successful, so far. Tomorrow the tire will be tested further as we drive on more dirt roads. At sunset, the sun made a brief appearance, offering us a very nice sunset over Bide Arm bay. It was almost dark, and as Rob stumbled down the pathway to the water, he came across the Red Fox. The Fox ran away when he saw Rob. Never a dull moment.
Sunset over Bide Arm, NF