NEWFOUNDLAND – PORTUGAL COVE SOUTH, CAPE RACE, & TREPASSEY.
Day 52 – It was 42 degrees this morning around 7:30 a.m., and again very foggy. So wet out, with the fog and the rain we got last night. We packed our lunches & left at 10:40 a.m., hoping that the fog would lessen as we drove further south.
We arrived at Portugal Cove South at around 11:45 a.m. We’d finally reached the end of where Route 10 goes south and were now heading west near the bottom of the peninsula. The claim-to-fame of this small fishing village is that it is the gateway to the incredibly beautiful road to Cape Race, the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve, and the Interpretation Centre there gives guided tours out to craggy, barren rocks in the Reverve where visitors can see fossils found in abundance within these rocks. (The fossil area is off-limits unless you are accompanied by a guide.)
We arrived just after the guided tour left, and we opted to take the road to Cape Race, the lighthouse, and the Atlantic Ocean. This is the most southeastern point in Newfoundland. It was extremely foggy. We didn’t know what to expect, but soon found that this was one of the most beautiful coastlines we’d ever seen, even in the dense fog. We vowed to come back during our stay in NF if it was ever a sunny day. It was so foggy that we were driving along and suddenly a giant lighthouse loomed directly in front of us. We almost ran into it! We stopped and got out to walk around. We couldn’t see much, but it was incredible. The air was thick and wet with fog and we couldn’t see the Ocean, but we could see incredible rocks below us on the edge of the cliffs with gorgeous turquoise-colored water racing in with the waves between the cliff walls.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
At this place which felt like the end of the world, the only sound we heard was the water crashing below us and the foghorn warning boats away from the rocks. There was a display about life in this desolate place long ago. We were the only ones there; it was starkly beautiful. We ate our lunch in awe of our surroundings.
Cape race lighthouse in the fog
We drove back to Route 10 and headed west by the small village of Biscay Bay to the larger town of Trepassey. Trepassey had a decent-sized harbour and they even had a gas station with one pump. This was an interesting area. On one side of Route 10 there were several small bays with old, immaculate (of course) homes overlooking the water. On the other side of Route 10, there were fields of long grasses. A sign at a pull-out talked about the herds of Caribou which fed there during the summer. (There could’ve been Caribou standing right next to the car and we wouldn’t have seen them thru the fog.) At one of these bays, there were tall walls built, sea walls to keep the Ocean from overflowing into the village, and where there were gaps in the wooden walls, large stones were piled up to prevent the water from getting through. Life must be tough during a big storm! Rob stopped at a turnout and climbed a steep hill to a military battery built to protect Trepassey Harbour from American privateers during the Revolutionary War. In Trepassey we passed a colorful house decorated with painted stones around it. No stone was the same color as the stones next to it. A perfectionist lives here. Grin.
It was around 3 p.m. and we turned around and headed back to the RV, We were already at least an hour and a half away, so we knew we couldn’t go further along the peninsula today. If the weather is okay tomorrow and we feel like driving more, we’ll go farther around to see more. The high today was 53 degrees. The girls were happy to see us when we got back.