HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO ALL YOU DADS OUT THERE!
NEWFOUNDLAND – FERRYLAND TO CHANCE COVE PROVINCIAL PARK.
Day 51 – We were up by 7 a.m. It was 40 degrees and extremely foggy. Rob took a hike from our campsite to a waterfall. He’d seen a sign pointing out the Waterfall Trail and he wanted to check it out.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
We packed our lunches & headed out about 11 a.m. We took a drive in spite of the fog because yesterday the fog lifted somewhat in places. It can be foggy in some areas & not in others so you really don’t know what to expect. We drove south to Ferryland, hoping to get some pictures of the Icebergs we’d seen there yesterday afternoon. It was much more foggy today, so that was out of the question. But there is a wonderful museum at the Colony of Avalon Interpretation Centre. We ended up spending over an hour there. Below, you can read about the history & the ongoing archeological digs.
From Ferryland we continued driving south, going to every cove & fishing village that had a road that would take us there. We drove through towns & villages with names like Aquaforte, Fermeuse, Port Kirwan, Kingman’s, Renews, and Cappahayden. Many of these places were located off the main road (Route 10) on a narrow, winding road that went to the Ocean. Most of them had ports to tie up their fishing boats. Aquaforte had a nice harbour. Port Kirwan was charming, an old village near the mouth of Fermeuse Harbour. At the head of the harbour was the town of Fermeuse with its dry dock. On the other side of the harbour, was the village of Kingman’s, much smaller but just as lovely. Renews was also a larger town with old houses stretched out on both sides of that bay. Surprisingly, at Renews, we passed by a sign for the place where the Mayflower stopped in 1620 to gather water & replenish their supplies before stopping at Plymouth Rock, or so the story goes. When the fog allowed us some visibility, we got Iceberg pictures at nearly every place we stopped. There was a turnout at beautiful Bear Cove, off Route 10, which offered nice views of Icebergs & the rocky coast below.
We kept going south on Route 10 until we reached Chance Cove Provincial Park. The literature had said you could see whales, seabirds, and icebergs from the Park road where it ends at the Atlantic Ocean. Also, even though they are not advertised as a Park that has a campground, it does say in the literature that camping is allowed in the parking lot. We wanted to check that out for the future, just in case. We turned in to the Park and started down the long dirt road towards the Ocean. The road was so bad with potholes, pointed rocks, and bumps, that we didn’t even want to drive the Honda down it, let alone the RV. So we turned around and went back to Route 10 without getting to the end of the road. At this point we had less than ¼ tank of gas and gas stations are few & far between out here in the boondocks. The closest one we knew about for sure was about halfway back up the coast, so we turned around and headed back.
A couple of things to mention: the real estate for sale signs we saw yesterday ended completely after Renews. Once you get far enough from St. John’s, I guess no one wants to buy. It’s too far out there in the middle of nowhere. And second, we mentioned early on that the people keep their homes well-maintained. We wanted to say also that this has continued no matter where we’ve gone. It appears not to matter what their economic state is, wealthy or poor, it looks like the priority here is home & family. Almost EVERY home, even the really old ones, are freshly painted from porch steps to the roof, evidently yearly, completely like brand new. Lawns are well cared for. People really seem to take pride in their communities. You do not see trash by the road. With this weather, they must spend a tremendous amount of time, money, and energy maintaining their homes. Landscaping, gardens, everything – all perfect. It is hard to tell the old houses from the new houses, it’s that amazing. If it weren’t for the style of house, you wouldn’t know the difference. It seems the main emphasis here is on tight-knit families & community and just plain surviving. And everyone seems so happy.