NEWFOUNDLAND – CONNAIGRE PENINSULA DRIVE #2.
Day 97 – At 7:15 this morning it was 60 degrees and again, very foggy. We packed our lunches & headed out a little after 11 a.m. We drove on Route 360 north of the campground for about an hour before there was a break in the fog. That warmed it up a little.
We continued driving north until a turn-off for the small road to Conne River. The river town was at the end of the road. The fog had burned off and it was warm. It was a pretty drive, lots of trees & the River was large. This is the River that also borders the Jipujijkuei Kuespem Park, the campground we stopped at on our way to Harbour Breton. This is Indian country; the campground is run by the Miawpukek First Nation Indians, and the town of Conne River was definitely Indian, too. We saw a road with signs that said “PowWow”, pointing to a dirt road which led to a school, park, and playground. The wharf & dock where the fishing boats go out of had a processing plant with an Indian name. It was a fairly big town & it seemed to be thriving. We returned to the main road & drove a short distance north to another turn-off. At that junction there was a Mi’kmaq Discovery Center. It was a nice interpretive center all about Indian life. It turned out that the PowWow was on July 4-7. It is held annually and all the best Indian dancers & drummers come to compete. Of course, there are games and food and things like that, too. We would’ve liked to see the dancing & drummers.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
We took Route 361 west, taking its first turn-off south to visit the two small towns on this road, Milltown & Morrisville. We stopped for our lunch; it was around 80 degrees. There were lots of wild flowers growing in the fields and along the road. On both sides of the road there were tall, rolling hills, covered by bright green trees. The Conne River ran on one side, the Bay d’Espoir on the other. Very pretty. There was very little traffic, and it was very quiet.
By the time we got back to Route 361, it was getting late & we wanted to spend some time in the afternoon in the screened tent. We opted not to visit the final five towns on the longer road that was farther along. We got back on Route 360 & drove south to our campsite, arriving there at about 4 p.m. The high today was 83 degrees. (About halfway to the campground, we were once again enveloped in heavy fog. The temperature dropped 15 degrees.) Later, after dinner, buried in the fog, all we could hear was the Ocean and the Sea Gulls. Nice!