NEWFOUNDLAND – GOOD DAY SUNSHINE! MORE OF THE IRISH LOOP DRIVE.
Day 53 – The sun was shining & it was not foggy this morning! Rob took a hike to the La Manche village (or what is left of it). He didn’t know how long the hike was when we left, but when he dragged himself back in the door over an hour later, it had turned out to be about five miles up and down and around the switchbacks on a fire access road, then down a steep hill to the Ocean and the remnants of the small fishing village that was destroyed by a huge wave in 1966. This hike included portions of the Newfoundland East Coast Trail, a long hiking trail that extends up & down the east coast.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
We left the RV to enjoy the sunlight and the beautiful day at 10:45 a.m. Although we’d driven this same route south several days in a row, we were able to see the pretty coastline clearly for the first time. We stopped several times to photograph Icebergs at places like Bear Cove & vicinity. It was 48 degrees this morning when we got up; it rapidly warmed up to near 60 by noon. We knew that with a gorgeous day like today, we HAD to go back to see Cape Race in the sun. As we approached the lighthouse and the cliffs at the end of the road, we could see fog rolling in. We got there just in time. It was so beautiful!
After we ate our lunches, we drove on past Trepassey where we’d stopped yesterday. The fog kept threatening us, rolling in and out. At some points, it was clear and lovely. At other times, it was dense with the fog. After Trepassey we turned off Route 10 to a small road which took us to St. Shotts, a very isolated small village where the road ended at the Ocean. We couldn’t see much through the fog, but we could see big white caps on the sea and large waves crashing onto the rocks below the cliffs. The Atlantic storms here must be incredible. (The Titantic sank in the waters off this peninsula near Cape Race.)
We turned northwest on Route 10 after returning from St. Shotts. We had finished driving the bottom of the Avalon Peninsula, time to drive up the western side. Route 10 became Route 90. We passed through villages with names like Peter’s River, St. Stephens, St. Vincent’s, Gaskiers, Point La Haye, St. Mary’s, Riverhead & St. Joseph’s. (Obviously, Catholicism is big in NF.) St. Vincent’s is known for being a place you can spot Whales right from the shore. Certainly too foggy here today. Gaskiers, Point La Haye, and St. Mary’s were beautiful towns, St. Mary’s with a really nice beach. Riverhead had a Veteran’s Interpretation Centre overlooking the bay. And St. Joseph’s, further up the coast was right across from a peninsula looking out over another pretty, colorful village. We didn’t take all the small roads in these towns. It was getting later in the afternoon and we knew we didn’t have time to cover them all. That doesn’t mean we won’t come back to completely see everything another time when the fog isn’t on this side of the peninsula. We headed back to the RV after stopping for a few pictures near the campground of colorful boats. There is a very talented artist who makes boat models. Not little models to put on a fireplace mantle but bigger models that float. They are on display in a pond by the road near the Park. Also, there was a pretty (real-sized) boat at another pond that we took a picture of. Around the Park, there was no fog; it had just covered the west side of the peninsula today. There were big, fluffy, white clouds. Who knows what we’ll see tomorrow. We’ll be moving on to a different campground, not real far from here but closer to St. John’s. And Thursday, we have reservations for a couple of boat tours.
We got back to the RV close to 5 p.m. The high today was actually 67 degrees until we were close to the Ocean. It was warm enough for us to sit outside in the screened tent, protected from the biting black flies. Rob went out to unzip the tent, but came back in saying there was something out there. Something out there? I’m like, what are you talking about? He went outside while I stood inside, and he showed me a lump under the tent’s doormat. I said, “Is it moving?” (There was definitely a lump under the doormat.) I’m thinking, what if it’s a skunk? What if it’s a snake? What if it attacks Rob? He was trying to peek under the mat. I said, “Here, use my trusty cane to poke at it.” He grabbed his camera, and my cane. I stayed inside in case it was a bear or wolf or something, LOL. He poked at it with the cane. It did not move. I said, “Maybe it’s dead.” He flicked the doormat up. It still did not move. Everytime he poked at it, he jumped back. And I nearly had a heart attack each time. Finally with one big movement, at the biggest distance he could muster, he flipped the mat off the lump with the cane. It was a plant. A weed that wasn’t there when he pitched the tent four days ago. But evidently it didn’t mind the dark, moist conditions under the mat because it was growing like gangbusters. We howled with laughter.
What is that?! La Manche Provincial Park, Tors Cove, NF
Scary plant, La Manche Provincial Park, Tors Cove, NF
We sat outside after stepping over the plant to get into the tent. It was very nice out. A nice (and funny) way to end our visit at La Manche Provincial Park.
La Manche Provincial Park: Route 10, 53 km south of St. John’s; Park phone (709) 685-1823 or (709) 637-2040; e-mail nlcamping@gov.nl.ca; website www.nlcamping.ca; reservations 1-877-214-2267. This was a nice campground situated on the large & beautiful La Manche Pond, conveniently located near towns that offer boat tours for whale watching, icebergs, and puffins. It’s easily in driving distance to St. John’s, but not so close as to be effected by the city crowds. There are hiking trails, a swimming area, you can canoe or kayak on the pond, you can go fishing, and you are close to the Atlantic Ocean. The campground offers a dump station, a playground, picnic area, shower house, pit toilets, water taps, laundry, and four campsite loops. Two loops have electrical hook-ups; two have no hook-ups. There are 82 campsites total. Six electrical hook-up sites are by the pond; 15 sites without hook-ups are by the pond. The loop that had campsites #1-25 has larger, more private sites and most of those sites are good. The Park is open from mid-May to mid-September. We had campsite #7, right on the pond. Kayaks could easily be launched right from this site. They offer a 35% senior discount. We paid $13.10 per night, Canadian currency. Amazing! We would definitely come here again.