HARBOUR BRETON.
Day 105 – We slept in this morning; the kitties were very kind to let us do so. It was supposed to rain, and it was very cloudy. The temperature was 64 degrees and there was a nice breeze. You can hear the ocean waves from here. Love that sound.
We read our books in the screened tent and did a load of laundry while waiting for the rain that never came. We had a partial clearing after lunch, so we headed out to take a look at Harbour Breton.
“Harbour Breton is one of the oldest and largest communities on the south coast. This section of Newfoundland is called The Coast of Bays. First settled by French fishermen, and later by the English, its commerce was dominated for decades by the Newman family, famous for their port wine, which is still available today. There is a beautiful sand beach at Deadman’s Cove, and on a clear day, you can see the French islands of St. Pierre et Miquelon.” from the Newfoundland/Labrador Traveller’s Guide 2023
First we stopped at the beach not far from our campground at Deadman’s Cove. It was a little overcast, but the scenery was still beautiful. Then we headed into town and drove along the area known as the South Side and beyond to the Rocky Point Lighthouse, where we stopped and walked around.
We parked at the parking lot at the top of a hill overlooking the Lighthouse and Fortune Bay. There were fishing boats out in the Bay – the larger one fishing for Mackerel – it’s the season. Rob took the trail down to the Lighthouse; I walked around the parking area and beyond to cliff’s edge. I heard a whirring noise and turned around to see a woman on an electric bike taking her dog for a ride in the bike’s little basket. She stopped and said, “I see you’re from New York! Wow, that’s a long way from home! How did you find your way to this isolated place?” (You have no idea how many stop us and say the same thing. The Honda wears her NYS license plates proudly.) She said she was born and raised in Harbour Breton, then wanted to go somewhere else and left to live in Ontario. She said that when her parent’s died, she bought the old house she grew up in; it had been in the family for generations. Now she comes back every summer. The puppy watched her when she spoke and watched me when I answered, back and forth. So cute, I had to take a picture. They road off on the bike, and I continued my exploration. There was a beautiful old cemetery which was overgrown with many flowers. The view of the bay and the hills was great. Rob came back and he’d enjoyed his little hike. By then the parking lot was getting busy so we left. Next stop – in town near the town wharf.
We took a short road up a steep hill that overlooked the town – Newman’s Lookout. Then back down in town, we stopped at the Elliot Premises, an old building that now acts as a museum (they were closed). This Building was moved by boat to its current location at the town wharf. Adjacent to it was the cafe, which we checked out for lunch tomorrow; glad we did because we found out they would be closed tomorrow. (This changed our plan for tomorrow, and when we got back to the RV, we made up a batch of Lobster Salad to take with us on tomorrow’s drives.)
We drove around the rest of Harbour Breton, called the North Side and the Arm Area. These sections were newer with some fancy “St. John’s” houses mixed with older homes. There was a school and a church and on the main road, a few stores. We headed north out of town and stopped at a pull-out for pictures of the views. Beautiful.
Back at the campground, the tenters were still here, and another RV came in with an older couple and their very happy dog which came to our door to visit. We did another load of laundry, made our Lobster Salad, and baked a loaf of bread for our sandwiches. It was a nice day with the breeze and partial clouds and sun. The high was 71 degrees. Later, after we’d finished the blog, it was gorgeous out, so more pictures follow:
