THE MOUNTAINS AND THE OCEAN.
TRAVEL DAY
From: Pistolet Bay Provincial Park, Raleigh, NL.
To:Oceanside RV Park, Port au Choix, NL.
Day 135 – The storm finally passed over some time last night, and we awoke to a much cooler day. The low temperature last night was 43 degrees. This morning it was sunny and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
Today we are driving west and south, back to Port au Choix. The wonderful bakery there is only open on Saturdays, so we must stop for another visit. Not really. We will definitely go to The Bakery tomorrow morning, but that’s not our main reason for coming back to this town. It is the perfect stopover point between Raleigh and Gros Morne National Park. Plus we really like camping right by the Ocean and having a herd of wild Caribou nearby.
We won’t be taking the same route as we did previously a couple of weeks ago, so we’re looking forward to new scenery. The initial part of the journey will be inland, traveling west towards the Ocean. The rest of the trip will be heading south right along the Ocean most of the time.
“The drive north of Gros Morne National Park to the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula is flanked by ancient mountains and coastal landscapes. Throughout the millennia, indigenous peoples thrived here on the sea’s bounty, and historic fishing communities are an ode to the more recent past. Breaching humpbacks, playful dolphins, and herds of caribou call this region home. Rare and endemic plants populate fragile limestone barrens.” from the Newfoundland/Labrador Traveller’s Guide 2023
We departed after dumping tanks at 9:40 a.m. It was 51 degrees and sunny with only a few billowy white clouds in the sky. Of course we looked for Moose, but we didn’t see any. You know what a “fish story” is? Where the fisherman tells a story about how big the fish was that he caught, and the fish just keeps getting bigger and harder to catch every time he tells the story? We think that the boat captain was telling a moose story. Like, he really saw 2 moose, not 22 moose!
Once we reached the Ocean (the Strait of Belle Isle is the body of water that lies between Labrador and Newfoundland), we turned south and stared at the scenery for the rest of the trip (while trying to dodge the potholes in the road). It was very clear out and we could easily see the coast of Labrador and the mountains beyond. On the Newfoundland side, the wind had picked up and the waves were crashing on the rocks spraying white foam. The sea was a beautiful deep blue. Awesome!
We saw a couple of large tour buses heading up the coast to L’Anse aux Meadows, such a popular attraction, and figured they all must be in awe of the scenery, too. There were several small and quaint fishing villages and a couple of larger towns that we passed on the way to Port au Choix.
We made no stops between leaving the Provincial Park and arriving at Oceanview RV Park in Port au Choix. We were hungry for lunch, so we were glad no one was in the office when we got there. The sign said to pick a campsite and call the host or wait for him to visit us. Cool. We found that there were only two others camping at the Park so far, so we picked a site, #22, at the end of the row of campsites. It was 12:35 p.m. and 59 degrees, sunny and quite windy. Before setting up camp, we let the girls out and we all took our lunch break.
The waves were really crashing on the rocks and the sea was rough, more than we’ve ever seen here. We set up camp, relaxed a little, then went to play hide & seek with the Caribou near the lighthouse. There was a group of Caribou in the field not too far from the lighthouse, 9 total. They were spread out, and the leader of the group was obviously the big male up front. Within camera range, there was also a pretty female and her calf plus a couple of other younger ones. We lucked out again!
We drove back to the campground and made dinner. A couple of other camper vehicles came in, but they are surprisingly empty for the Friday of a holiday weekend. The high today was 61 degrees.