johnboystravelblog

July 29, 2019 at 826pm Eastern Time

I am getting ready to make 4 posts about the activity I took part in on Saturday at Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, Canada.  I am posting mostly just photos in posts 2, 3 and 4 and will explain what you will be seeing in post 1.  I will load the posts in reverse order so that when viewed top to bottom they will be in the correct order.  If you want to view the photos in the sequence in which they were taken, wait until later when all 4 posts are complete.

Thank you!

 

July 29, 2019

I know I am a little behind again with my posts but I want to share yet another amusing JohnBoy story which happened this morning shortly after I got on the road.  I was driving east on TCH-1 and saw what looked like would make a nice photo in a lake just to the right of the road.  There was already a car parked where I pulled off the road (and I already had my Safety Sam vest on) and there were two people standing on the safe side of the guardrail with a camera on a tripod.

As I walked over the man was telling the young woman with him where to stand down next to the water.  He was going to get a tight shot of her with their camera and said it was ok for me to walk back the road a little ways to take a photo of what I had seen with my smartphone.

I doesn’t look quite as interesting now as it did this morning.  Actually, the better angle was looking into the sun and I know those photos get washed out on my smartphone.

Anyway, I walk back to the guy and when they take a break I ask him where they’re from.  He replied “Ottawa, Russia”.  Out of habit I immediately said “Welcome to America” and as I was realizing my error he said “Canada”.  I said “Yes, of course.  I live in the US and always use that line when traveling in our country and have only been in Canada a little over 2 weeks…”

Sometimes I can be such an idiot.  I can hear my friends out there saying “Sometimes???”

But wait, it gets funnier.  After they reviewed the photos he just took I said “I didn’t know there was an Ottawa in Russia”.  “No” he said, he pointed to himself and said “Ottawa” and to her and said “Russia”.  Oh, I get it now…

 

July 27, 2019

Saturday morning I left Deer Lake early and drove northwest deeper into Gros Morne National Park than I had been the day before.  I had an adventure waiting for me…..

Gros Morne, by the way, means “large mountain standing alone” in French and is pronounced “grow morn”.  There is a Gros Morne Mountain to the right of the highway I would be traveling on but I don’t seem to have taken a closeup of it.  It does, however,  appear in the background of a photo I posted earlier from Woody Point.  Gros Morne is the mountain on the left in the background.

And since I’ve been mentioning the variations in mountains since I’ve been in Newfoundland let me say that other than the obvious exception of the Tablelands (see previous post) the mountains in the southern part of Gros Morne NP are very much like the mountains in the eastern US.

But as you drive further north in the Park they become more rugged and majestic.

The mountain which would be next in line to the left in the photo above is Gros Morne.

These warning signs are everywhere up here.  Gros Morne has the densest population of moose of any area in the world – and they’re not even native to the island.  They were “introduced” here in 1904 and have apparently taken a liking to the place….

Hunting has now been authorized, however, so the herd is getting smaller in size and moose/vehicle collisions are down.  Wildlife officials are trying to get the right mix of moose to vegetation so they don’t eat themselves out of house and home.  It seems that what they like to eat off the island doesn’t appeal to them on the island and they are eating the “wrong” things.

I stopped at the Visitor Center for the Park to get a map and then drove to the office of the company running my “adventure” to pay for my ticket (they wanted cash onsite and while I have Canadian cash with me I am trying to use it conservatively so I don’t need to get more).  The young lady working there scolded me (very politely, as a Newfoundlander would) that I was late and wouldn’t make it to the site on time.  Seems that our hero stopped to take too many photos this morning and inadvertently put himself “on the clock”.  She very kindly changed my reservation to the next event of the day and I now had time to stop in Rocky Harbour to take even MORE photos!

This is the lighthouse at Lobster Cove Head:

Despite their large numbers I haven’t seen a real moose on this trip (yet) but back in Rocky Harbour was this huge moose sculpture:

Too bad they couldn’t build a backdrop to hide the utility wires and houses behind it….

Back out on the main road I saw this interesting split in the mountain range to my right and ducked in to the next parking area to walk back and take a photo:

The mountains appear dark because the sun is still rising behind them.  I started to exit the parking lot to be sure I got to the staging area before my activity started (and not be late AGAIN) and realized that I WAS in the parking lot for that activity.  What followed was amazing…

July 26, 2019

After driving through several small communities near Corner Brook I continued north on the TCH to Deer Lake, where I would be spending the night.  After checking in at my Airbnb and dropping off some of my stuff I hopped on Route 430 to drive northwest to Gros Morne (pronounced grow morn) National Park.  Today I would only be seeing the southern portion of the Park as I drive west of Route 431 to the town of Trout River.

The first large body of water I can to was the South Arm, one of two “arms” which branch off of Bonne Bay.

The photo below is from Woody Point.  You are now looking out over Bonne Bay.

The brown mountains you saw the snow on in an earlier post are called the Tablelands.  They are very unusual mountains, devoid of trees or grass.  The Tablelands are actually made of peridotite, thought to originate in the Earth’s mantle, and were forced up from the depths during a plate collision several hundred million years ago. Peridotite lacks some of the usual nutrients required to sustain most plant life and has a toxic quality, hence it’s barren appearance.  It has a high iron content, thus the brown color when exposed to air.  The unexposed rock beneath is actually green!

 

 

After taking a short sit-down break after passing Tablelands….

….. I continued on to Trout River:

Then it was back out to the main road and down to Deer Lake for the night.

I’d have a busy day on Saturday as I have an activity planned in Gros Morne and then a long drive up to the tippy-top of the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland.

 

 

 

July 26, 2019

Friday on my way north from St. Andrews to Deer Lake in southwest Newfoundland I made two side trips – one just past Corner Brook out through the little towns of Meadows, Gillams and McIver’s and the other further north at the southern end of Gros Morne National Park, which I will be visiting again and posting details about in the coming days.

This is Corner Brook, a fairly good sized town, as I drove past on the Trans Canada Highway.

I exited the TCH just past town to head west on Route 440.

This was just as I started out on Route 440:

The photo above is of the Humber River.

And yes, that is snow you see on the mountains in the distance (on July 26!).  More about those mountains later….

The body of water you are seeing in the two photos above is Bay of Islands which comes in off the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the west of Newfoundland.

 

 

July 26, 2019

 

When I arrived at my Airbnb in St. Andrews (about 1/2 hour north of Port aux Basques where the ferry dock is located) on Thursday I spent about 3 1/2 hours visiting and sharing stories with my hosts.  Friday morning I was hoping to get on the road early but ended up talking with them for another 3+ hours before departing at around 1030am local time.  They were VERY nice people – a perfect example of why I love using Airbnb!

I’m going to make this separate post about the mountains I saw upon entering Newfoundland, specifically the Long Mountain range I could see from their front yard Friday morning.  These looked different from other mountains I have seen in person, with very steep faces.  For some reason they made me think about movies I have seen which were filmed in Scotland or Ireland….

I will be seeing a variety of mountain types as I drive up the west coast of Newfoundland in the coming days.

This is a 3-shot panorama, left to right, standing in their front yard looking east:

These two were taken a little further up the road about 10 minutes later.  The mountain range was heading inland, away from the highway I was on so they appear further off in the distance.

July 27, 2019

POST UPDATED 8/3/19 to correct name of area – Wreckhouse (just like the sign says) and not The Wreckhouse as originally posted.

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After exiting the ferry I had ridden on over to Newfoundland from Nova Scotia on Thursday I headed north to where I would spend the first night on the island in the town St. Andrews. On my way there I drove through an area known as Wreckhouse.

(Photo credit: encounternewfoundland.com)

(Photo credit: islandnet.com)

This section of the Trans Canada Highway, just north of the town of Port aux Basques, can experience winds well exceeding hurricane force which come, not off the nearby ocean to the left (west) as you might suspect, but from down off the Long Mountains located to the east!! It is a flat, exposed stretch of road and these fierce winds have been known to knock tractor-trailer rigs (especially empty ones) on their sides:

(Photo credit: youtube.com)

As well as camper/trailers:

(Photo credit: cbncompass.ca)

And even narrow gauge trains!

(Photo credit: theovercast.ca)

My Airbnb hosts actually have hurricane shutters on their windows which face the Long Mountains (as do many of their neighbors) and the winds have even been known to destroy garages, sheds and even houses!

(Photo credit: thepacket.ca)

My host told me that a neighbor’s house had the shingles and siding ripped off by the winds. My hosts have a wooden fence in their backyard and there are angular support beams, not for appearance but to help hold the fence up. Before the angular supports were put in place he said the upright fence support beams snapped like twigs.

I also noticed as I was driving further north the next day that the utility poles next to the highway, in addition to having guy wires attached, also had their bases encased in a rock enclosure to help keep them upright.

July 27, 2019

In an earlier post (while I was in Granville Ferry and couldn’t post photos) I wrote some comments and general observations to try and hold your interest. I have thought of a few more things to share with you. I have now deleted that earlier post but moved the comments to end of this post in case you didn’t see it.

I have also inserted random photos, often unrelated to the written content, to amuse you as you read…

For example – Blue stick lady sez “Bonjour!”:

GAS PRICES

Gas prices are higher than I was anticipating. I had been monitoring prices using the GasBuddy website (and I recommend using their app when you travel , or even at home). I started keeping an eye on prices back in May when I made my Airbnb reservations. They started out kind of high but then dropped for several weeks. Well, they have gone up again. After converting liters to US gallons and the Canadian dollar to US dollars I have been paying in the neighborhood of $3.60/gal (USD).

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These folks make hooked rugs:

SALES TAX

Sales tax is steep, at 15%.

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This is a welcome sign for the town of Cheticamp, southwest of Cape Breton Highlands National Park:

MONEY

Canada’s approach to currency is interesting and their “paper” money is quite colorful. First of all, there is no $1 bill. Nothing less than a 5, in fact. They don’t use pennies either. Cash prices are rounded up or down to the nearest five or zero increment, so a total price ending in 1,2,6 and 7 goes down and 3,4,8 and 9 goes up. Credit card purchases remain at the “pennies” level.

Their coins are as follows:

 

Nickel, Dime, Quarter, Dollar coin (affectionately known as a “loonie” because there is a loon on the back), and a Two-dollar coin (some call it a “two-nie”).  While the image on the backs of coins varies, the face is always Queen Elizabeth II.

Their “paper” money isn’t made of paper at all but feels almost like plastic (it is, in fact, derived from polymer). I presume this is more durable and the bills also have a silver band with holographic images to prevent counterfeiting. Pretty clever, eh?

CRITTERS

Still no major critter sightings to report. No bald eagles yet, although there are supposed to be lots of them up here, and no moose. I got excited when I was driving home from Cape Breton Highlands Tuesday night and saw 3 large brown animals in a field ahead of where I was driving but they turned out to be horses.

My research seems to indicate that when I arrive in Newfoundland I may hit the moose motherlode. Actually “hit” may not be the best choice of words… let’s say encounter. I have no plans to hit a moose and am more worried about one hitting me. My only encounter (knocking on wood) with a white-tail deer was in Pennsylvania and it struck ME, not the other way around. I was driving my little blue Toyota Starlet out in the country on my way to visit a co-worker. I saw movement in my peripheral vision and when I realized something was running towards me it struck the left front quarter panel of my car, knocking it in quite a bit. The deer’s head struck the windshield but didn’t damage it. The was a little fur in the left headlight fixture but other than that, not too bad. I stopped and didn’t see the deer so hopefully it wasn’t seriously injured. I was greatly relieved that I wasn’t driving my boss’s BMW as I had been the week before (I can explain that)!

My Airbnb hosts in St. Andrews, NL did caution me to be extremely vigilant for moose during my time in Newfoundland.  Contrary to the advice I was given in New England a few years ago, they assure me than moose can enter the highway at high speed and there may not be much time to react to their sudden appearance.

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This wall hanging, made of feathers, was in the home of my Airbnb hosts down in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.

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MORE ON CRITTERS…

I have FINALLY seen a few Canadian geese after almost two full weeks up here. I was beginning to think maybe they were all down in the United States. And as I mentioned before, I am still surprised by the small number of seagulls and cormorants, especially considering how much water I have been around. When I was at the lake where people were canoeing and kayaking near Dartmouth I saw a cormorant display some behavior I have not seen before. Normally a cormorant (if that’s what it was) just dives under water for an extended period after having been floating on the surface. This one would flap it’s wings feverishly before diving. I know white pelicans do that to attract fish and maybe this cormorant has learned that trick.

I have seen one mystery bird. It ran across the road in front of me. It appeared to be quite tall and had a tail sticking straight back away from it’s body high off the ground. I have looked online and in some books at the Cape Breton Highlands gift shop but haven’t identified it. My first thought was some kind of pheasant.

I haven’t seen any whales but then I haven’t really been looking. I may see some near the coast of Newfoundland as they have about 15 varieties. I may go on a boat trip to see Atlantic Puffins but I haven’t checked to see if they will still have their colorful beaks and plumage.

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These two rescue cats also lived in the home with my Airbnb hosts in New Glasgow.  The brown one seemed to take a liking to me and frequently sought my attention (and we shared a nap on my bed).  The larger white one remained aloof, as cats often do.

Here are the comments from a previous post which has since been deleted. If you have already read it you may proceed to the next post!

Overall the weather has been great.  A little rain here and there, but only one day was rainy most of the day.  A mix of clouds and sun most days.  Not many bugs (I was afraid I might catch the end of black-fly season but it looks like I missed it).  Much cooler than back home.  Maine was upper 70’s/low 80’s but Canada has been upper 60’s/mid-70’s.  I just jinxed myself because I already heard that later today will be warmer than usual for up here.  I am near the water, and it was quite breezy yesterday, so hopefully that will help keep it comfortable.  Trust me, North Carolina, I’m not whining…

The primary roads (NB-1 and NS-101) are excellent, almost like they are new.  Speed limit on NB-1, a 4-lane highway, was 70mph (110kmh) and NS-101, which I was only on briefly yesterday and is only a 2-lane road, was a little lower.  Not much traffic at all.  The secondary roads, which I prefer, are pretty rough with lots of patched areas and bumps.

I haven’t seen any critters yet except for a skunk which shuffled across the road a ways in front of me yesterday.  I slowed down to make sure it wasn’t a “suicide skunk”.  It was actually quite nice looking – very clean with sharp black/white contrast.  I think it may be the first live skunk I’ve seen in my travels.  Surprisingly few seagulls and cormorants given how close I have been to large bodies of water (even in Maine).  I actually saw quite a few seagulls in North Dakota, of all places, last year, which I still haven’t figured out…

 

The photo above if of my AAA map.  I cleverly blocked out the other three Maritime provinces with the shadow of my smartphone (camera)!

Labrador (half of the “Newfoundland and Labrador” province) is a very large land-based area attached to Quebec province. It is the extreme eastern mainland portion of Canada. Labrador comprises 73% of the land size (of NL combined) but has only 8.6% of the population.

The indigenous Inuit people are largely gone from here.

Most of Labrador is very remote. Small villages along the coast are only serviced by boats (see dotted lines on the map above), ferries and small aircraft. The only roads are in extreme southern Labrador.

Torngat Mountains National Park, at the north end of Labrador, is extremely rugged and people are not advised to go there unless they are very experienced in surviving harsh, winter weather (and know how to deal with polar bears. Seriously – that is a requirement). Park rangers want you to register with them when you enter and notify them when you leave. They want you to let them know roughly where you are planning to go so they know where to look for the bodies if you don’t come out. This isn’t somewhere you run off to for a weekend getaway…

 

July 26, 2019

Thursday I took a large ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. Newfoundland is a huge island, the size of the State of North Carolina, northeast of Nova Scotia. The ferry ride was scheduled to take between 5 1/2 and 7 hours depending on weather. The seas were calm and we did it in 6 hours.

Newfoundland is one half of the Canadian province called “Newfoundland and Labrador,” the other half being Labrador as you probably guessed. They are one half in name only – Labrador is considerably larger in size (73% of their combined land area) but has a markedly smaller population (only 8.6% of their combined population).

A friend of mine in Pennsylvania lived with someone who raises and breeds Newfoundlands (the dog). They have 8 of them and this was the scene shortly after I arrived at their home for a visit last year. The 8 of them were very excited to meet me at the door but after about a half hour they were all asleep on the kitchen floor. They are very big so you are only seeing four:

The dog breed is generally pronounced NOOFIN-lind (at least that’s what my friend called them). Canadians prefer that you pronounce their province noofin-LAND and I’ve been told that that pronounciation is technically correct for both.

I will be spending 10 nights on Newfoundland:

As I said, Newfoundland, the island, is also very big. Here is a picture I posted previously showing all of the Maritime provinces I will be visiting during this trip (all of them but Labrador). Newfoundland, at over 42,000 square miles, is almost as big as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia combined.

I was hoping to take a ferry over to Labrador to see a few things, and to say I’ve been there, but the length of the ferry ride and the wait between rides made it too time consuming so I will have to do it on my next trip up here.

Newfoundland and a small part of Labrador have their own time zone, thank you very much. Curiously it is one HALF hour ahead of Atlantic Time (which itself is one hour ahead of Eastern Time). Most of Labrador is Atlantic but the extreme southeast portion closest to Newfoundland is NL Time.

I will make a separate post about Labrador.

 

I noted on the instructions for the ferry that when I return to Nova Scotia I may not bring back “plant material or produce” from either Newfoundland or Labrador. They also do not want me to bring back dirt (soil) on my car and may wash it before I drive on board.  Apparently what happens on Newfoundland STAYS on Newfoundland…