Raleigh, Ship Cove, Cape Onion, and Dark Tickle.
Day 129 – When we got up this morning, it was 52 degrees and cloudy. The weather forecast was for some sun in the morning and rain later in the day. We decided to head out and grab the decent weather while we could. It’s supposed to rain for the next couple of days.
We drove north from the campground on Route 437, stopping first in Raleigh, a small village on Pistolet Bay. From Raleigh we drove onto a very rough rocky road into Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve. When the road became impassable, we turned around and bumped along back into Raleigh and headed farther north to the end of the highway.
At the end of Route 437 at one of the three most northern points in Newfoundland, we drove through and stopped at both Ship Cove and Cape Onion. These two very small fishing villages were quaint and lovely, and since it was a pretty day, there were friendly people out and about. Driving in an ATV that was pulling a small boat on a trailer, a man smiled and waved. Another man driving the inevitable ATV, pulled right up next to us and said, “Lovely day, ay? And where are you folks from?” When we said, New York, he said the standard, “Long way from home, ay?” Then he said, “Well if I can tell you one thing it would be, you can’t get farther north than this.” He tipped his hat and drove away. After many smiles and waves, we turned around and drove back to the campground for a quick break before going out again.
The scenery today was beautiful. But it always is here. Isolated cottages sat overlooking the Northern Atlantic. It was low tide and the sea was calm. A family of ducks, one adult leading a group of babies, followed by the other adult, floated by. In the distance we saw two large cruise ships, glistening in the sun. There were many small islands, some covered with trees and some just rocks in all shapes and sizes. The fishing docks were busy – a good day for going out on the water. People were tending their gardens, working on the exterior of their homes, or just out taking walks.
It was close to lunch time. We drove east and north on Route 436 to St. Lunaire for our lunch. Just as you enter the town, you come to the Dark Tickle Store, which is a very nice gift store, a museum, and upstairs is Cafe Nymph. The Cafe is a great little restaurant with really good food. They were busy but everyone was waiting patiently in line to order their food at the counter. We ate there several times when we were in the area in 2019, and we were really glad they were still doing such a good business. We each had the Macaroni & Cheese, and it was still fabulous. It came with a small salad of fresh mixed greens and other vegetables that were obviously grown locally. We also split a Partridgeberry Milk Shake.
Dark Tickle’s specialty is local berries. Partridgeberries and Bake Apples are wild berries that are harvested in the bog behind the building. In fact, they offer tours of the berry-yielding bog and you can watch them make and process the berries. The berries are made into products they sell in the store, and in Newfoundland many dishes served in restaurants include the berries. We’ve mentioned before that we love Partridgeberries and that they are like a slightly sweeter cranberry. Partridgberries and Bake Apples are to Newfoundland what Blueberries and Cranberries are to Maine. The salad dressing on our salad at lunch was a Partridgeberry Vinegarette. At a neighboring table, the customers were raving about the Partridgeberry Relish that was served as a condiment with their Cod lunches.
After lunch, we went downstairs and shopped, buying a year’s worth of Partridgeberry products and several other items. We also signed up for a Whale Watching tour from the Dark Tickle company – another one of the things that Dark Tickle does. In 2019 we had a WONDERFUL tour. Tuesday morning (when the weather supposedly is good), we will be going out. There will be lots of pictures for sure.
Back at the RV, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the screened tent doing what we do best: reading and napping. The sky was getting darker with clouds; here comes the rain. The high temperature today was 73 degrees.