BELL ISLAND.
Day 81 – Well, it turned out that the noisy neighbors had an argument and abruptly packed up and left the campground later yesterday. It was nicely quiet again. And late yesterday afternoon the sun was briefly out and it poured down rain. We were thinking, maybe there’s a rainbow, and sure enough……
It rained some last night and was cloudy and humid at 61 degrees this morning when we got up. Today we decided to drive north to Portugal Cove and take the ferry to Bell Island. Just off the west coast of the northern Avalon Peninsula, Bell Island is a 20-minute cruise from the “mainland”. A ferry runs approximately every 1-½ hours back and forth daily. While we were waiting in a line of cars for the noon ferry departure, we watched a fisherman clean his fresh catch near where his fishing boat was docked. When we got on the noon ferry; it was partly cloudy with some sun, and the sea was calm. We had a pleasant ride to the Island, which was quite impressive with its tall cliffs rising from the Ocean.
The first thing we did when we got off the ferry was have a delicious lunch at Dick’s Fish & Chips located conveniently near the ferry terminal. Fish n’ Chips is definitely the most-served dish in Newfoundland. Fried fish definitely gets old when you have it often, but the Cod here is so fresh and moist and tender, we find it hard to complain.
Next we drove to the end of the road to the “Bell Island Lighthouse, located at the north end of the Island. It is a well-preserved lighthouse in operation since 1939.” from the Newfoundland/Labrador Traveller’s Guide 2023. This was a beautiful site with excellent views of the large sea stack and sea cave off one side of the head. The fog was rolling in over the headlands at the mainland across from the Island. Wild flowers and wild berries were growing in the fields of grass. There were trails that led from the lighthouse parking lot to the edge of the cliffs.
We drove west and south through the town of Wabana taking pictures of a couple of murals on the sides of buildings. Wabana was an iron ore mining town in the mid 1800s-1900s.
“One of the many islands in Conception Bay, west of St. John’s, nine-kilometer-long Bell Island has a long history of mining. Number 2 Mine, which stopped operating in 1949, remains as one of the world’s most productive submarine (underground) iron ore mines. Underground the museum, the main shaft has been restored and is open for inspection. Guided tours include the use of a hard hat.” from Moon Handbooks, Atlantic Canada, 5th Edition, 2009. “The Theatre of the Mine is at the #4 Mine. Bell Island is believed to be the most haunted place in North America. There are 11 ghosts or demons in the play at the Theatre, including the infamous Fairy Queen.” from the Newfoundland/Labrador Traveller’s Guide 2023.
We headed south on the western side of the Island and took a couple of dirt roads to the edge of the cliffs overlooking the open ocean. The waters around the Island are full of shipwrecks and diving tours are offered. These cliffs are so wildly beautiful: they are dark colored and rise out of the deep blue sea, and they are topped with the greenest wild grass blowing in the wind, and this grass has many different wild flowers of various colors growing throughout. At the base of most of the rocky cliffs the waves crash and water rolls into natural sea caves. Just incredible!
Continuing to the south end of the Island, we headed east to Lance Cove, a very small village situated in a lovely location. There, we stopped at the little town wharf where a couple of small boats were coming in from the Bay. Several Ducks were hanging out at a small pond nearby. There were picnic tables and benches overlooking the Bay, and the Bell Island Seaman’s Memorial. The Memorial was erected in 1995 to commemorate sailors killed nearby during torpedo attacks on iron ore carriers by U-boats in World War II. Lance Cove on Bell Island was the only community in North America to take a direct hit from a torpedo fired by a Nazi U-boat in WWII. Two ships were sunk by the German U-boats, and the Memorial commemorates the efforts by local residents to aid the victims.
We headed back up north to the ferry terminal. It just happened to be only about 15 minutes before the 3:30 p.m. ferry was scheduled to being loading. Although the line of cars waiting was long, we decided to get in line, too, and see if we could get on this ferry. Otherwise, there were other things we could do on Bell Island to kill time until the next ferry was departing. It turned out that we made the ferry with only a little room left for vehicles, and we were heading back to Portugal Cove by 4 p.m. We enjoyed our visit to the Island; it was quite interesting and very pretty. You can’t beat that!
What a gorgeous rainbow photo!!