FAREWELL FOGO.
TRAVEL DAY
From: Brimstone Head RV Park, Fogo Island, NL.
To: Terra Nova National Park, Newman Sound Campground, Glovertown, NL.
Day 64 – At 5 a.m. this morning, it was 51 degrees and clear out. It was much warmer and it looked like it would be nice day again today. We were up early because we had to catch a ferry, and our time on Fogo Island was over. As Rob was hooking the Honda back up to the RV for our drive to the ferry terminal, a group of Northern Gannets flew into the cove and took turns diving for herring. As many as five Gannets dove straight down into the water at the same time, very close to each other, and not far from where we were parked. Because we were busy hitching up the car and getting ready to leave, we didn’t have the cameras ready. It was still amazing to see.
Last night there was a beautiful sunset. We’d already finished uploading the pictures into the Blog, so the sunset pix are below. Farewell, Fogo Island.
We’d done most of our packing up last night before bed, since we needed to leave this morning in a rush. We weren’t sure whether the larger ferry would be running today, so we needed to get to the ferry terminal as early as possible. We were fairly certain the early (7 a.m.) ferry departure would be full, whether it was the smaller or the larger ferry operating. The next ferry trip would be at 10 a.m. It is the most crowded departure time, even with the larger ferry. So we took the advice offered yesterday from the man behind the counter at Punch Buggy. We’d rush to get to the ferry terminal around the time the 7:00 ferry was leaving, putting us early in line for the 10 a.m. ferry. Another factor was the upcoming 4-day holiday weekend (beginning tomorrow – Canada Day – a big deal here in Canada). We knew a lot more people would be going somewhere for the weekend holiday.
We departed Brimstone Head RV Park at 5:55 a.m. It was a beautiful morning. We had to stop at the dump station in the village of Seldom since there was no place to dump tanks at the campground. We arrived at the ferry terminal at 6:25 a.m. It was 61 degrees and lightly overcast. The line-up for the 7:00 ferry was very long. At this point we could not see which ferry was in port getting ready to load vehicles.
They began to load the ferry and the line of vehicles moved forward down the hill to the water. We were almost at the end of the line; there were only two vehicles behind us. As we got closer, we could see that it was the larger ferry – back in commission. Still our chances of making this ferry were little to none. The ferry departed on time at 7 a.m. With us on it! We were so surprised. Now we’d be getting to our destination early, before the check-in time of 2 p.m.
The journey on the ferry was short since we did not stop at Change Islands to let people on and off the ferry. We arrived at Farewell at 7:40 a.m. It was 53 degrees and quite overcast. Guess we left the sun at Fogo! We headed southwest on Route 335, then southeast on Route 331, stopping at a pull-out at a town park to let the girls out and take a much-needed break. And we now had time to kill. The kitties had done so well with only a few beeps of protest now and then! Continuing on, we drove south on Route 330 to the city of Gander. We stopped again, this time to do some shopping at the large, well-stocked Dominion Supermarket. There won’t be many decent grocery stores where we’re going for 2 to 2 ½ weeks until we get closer to St. John’s. We did some stocking up, and stopped also at the NL Liquor Store. Managed to kill some more time. Back on the Trans Canada Highway 1, traveling east, we stopped for gas in Glovertown, north on Route 310. That took a little more time. It was approaching noon when we entered Terra Nova National Park, our destination for three nights. Shortly thereafter we arrived at Newman Sound Campground, one of several campgrounds within the national park.
We arrived at the ranger’s station at 12:10 p.m. They were nice enough to let us check in early. We had reservations, and were directed to Loop B, site #80. First we stopped to get fresh water and see where the dump site was for future reference. Site #80 was an excellent campsite, sitting by itself at the end of the loop with no one around us. We have dense trees on three sides. The girls settled in immediately while we made lunch. Then we unpacked and set up camp; Rob put the tent up. It was 77 degrees when we arrived, very overcast, a nice breeze. When we finished lunch and our chores, we went out to the tent and relaxed. It’s warmer here, farther away from the water, and the bugs are out. Having the screened tent up was helpful.
It was a long day. We were not accustomed to getting up so early. It had cooled off nicely by evening. But tomorrow is supposed to reach 89 degrees! What a change of pace.