Gros Morne to Port aux Basques

It was sad to say goodbye to Dot and Walter…felt like leaving family. For sure we will stay in touch. That’s the interesting thing about bed and breakfasts in Newfoundland….people really interact with you. So different from our time in Ireland’s B and B’s. We headed for the other area of Gros Morne Park…We travel to the opposite shore of the arm of the Bonne Bay, an hour around to Woody Point which we could see from Norris Point. You can take a water taxi and be there in 5 minutes but would have to leave the car behind.
The lower part of Gros Morne is the heart of why the park exists…it’s the geology not the beauty! Here the proof of the tectonic plate theory is evident (at least to the geologists). The ancient plates, before North America took shape, squeezed out the old Iapetus Ocean and pushed the ocean bottom up to form Newfoundland leaving evidence of fossils from Africa on the east coast near St John’s. The earth’s mantle Bubbled up through the gap in the plates and showed itself as The Tablelands in Gros Morne. This golden rocky area is full of heavy metals and is made up of periodite (sp?) a geologist’s lodestone. We took a boattrip on Trout River Pond (with a narration in French as we were the only English on board…and read the notes) to learn that one side of this fjord is the Tableland rock and the other side is the old ocean bottom from millions of years ago. Beautiful and windy! We finished up our Gros Morne adventure in Woody Point where we met 3 unusual rough looking bikers…from Indiana..hauling Jack Daniel’s kegs behind their bikes. Somehow they looked at a map and noticed a few islands off the coast of Canada…PEI and Cape Breton..and then noticed that a ferry went out to another island they didn’t recognize…decided to head out there…Newfoundland. They drove up to Gros Morne and stopped at a restaurant and asked if they could go fishing…before they knew it, they were set up to fish for cod with the owner's brother …and the fish were going to be cooked and shared at a big party at the owners house that night. In spite of hauling their clothes in Jack Daniel’s kegs, they said they didn’t drink much, so didn’t know how the party would be, but for sure they loved Newfoundland!. Didn't want us to tell anyone about it, as if all the Americans come it will be ruined.
Off toward Cornerbrook, where we stayed just north at a Bed and Breakfast in Steadybrook near the ski area of Marble Mountain. A corporate dropout from Ontario and her Newfie husband run an inn in his parents old house on the side of the Humber River. She skies everyday in the winter and he works at Voisey Bay for 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off. Again great hosts who spent time helping guests and enjoying great conversation. The mighty Humber River is one of the best salmon rivers in the world…according to the locals.
A quick look at Cornerbrook and then a beautiful trip up the south side of the Humber Arm of the Bay of Islands. Incredible beauty and vistas of small towns, big wooded hills and several gorgeous harbours at the end…Larks Harbour, Little Port and Bottle Cove. The names roll off your tongue.
A zip thru Stephenville where the American’s closed their big base 40 years ago and out to the French Area of Newfoundland. Port au Port peninsula, with few B and B’s and even fewer campsites. We spent the night at Cape St George in a beautiful park overlooking the sea…a few locals came to clamber down the cliffs and fish for mackerel and then we were along with our little van in a vast land. We discovered in the morning that there are even fewer restaurants than places to stay so we had breakfast back in Stephenville.
By now, we figured it would be a boring drive down to Port aux Basques…not so…stayed overnight in the beautiful Codroy Valley at Gerald MacLellan’s B and B. The Scotch moved here from Cape Breton when Nova Scotia put in a land tax 200 years ago…typical actions for both the Scotch and the future Canadians. We drove out to the end of the road at Cap Anguille…the most westerly point of Newfoundland…and once again found a lighthouse. Just beyond that we found a little fish stage and a capstan…must have been there 50 years ago …and a modern boat was still tied to it. Every newfie is still a fisherman at heart and they still catch fish as part of their personal food supply.
So now we sit in the Port aux Basques ferry terminal, waiting as the ferry is an hour and a half late. I chafe at the thought that we could have checked out a few more bays on the way down…but instead we enjoy the company of a couple from Penticton BC who are on their way home with their RV. Guess that is typical of Newfoundland, enjoy those around you and take your time.
We have left enough unexplored that we must come back and have made enough friends and contacts that it will be a pleasure. We leave with an understanding of why every Newfoundlander always wants to return to the Rock…aren’t we lucky that they voted in 1949 to let the rest of us join them.
Posted on the MV Lief Ericson where the wifi is free all the way to the Mainland!