The countdown has begun: we have 9 days left to finish our explorations. I had a tank of propane filled and had to go to a town about 20 minutes from here to get it done. It was cloudy and drab this morning but now it is sunny and the sky is clearing although there are still a lot of dark, stormy clouds around! We went for a looooong walk then stopped at the local restaurant where we have seen a lot of vehicles stopped every time we drove by and we had breakfast. We then walked back home and I washed the jeep then took the truck into town to top it up @ $1.37. Geoff and Donna arrived back around 2 pm and she went for a nap as they had partied quite hard the last two days.
At 4:30, we had HH on the deck but it was too cold and it began raining so we moved inside the house. Donna cooked Capelin fish and re-heated fisherman brewis that she had in the fridge. I loved the Capelin fish but the brewis was still not my thing even though it was better than the one I had in the restaurant. We had a few drinks and a nice visit but called it quit early because Donna was bushed from her week-end and Geoff was going fishing at 6:30 am. We said our good night to both of them and our goodbyes to Geoff then went to bed.
We have spent way too much time in Eastport and now we have to rush on although we did enjoy Geoff and Donna’s hospitality. We were up by 7 am and ready to go by 8 AM. We said goodbye to Donna then we were on our way by 8:15. We drove on 310 to TCH 1, south to 233, East along a beautiful Bay and finally arrived at our destination at Cabot Highway RV and Cabin on Hwy 230 at 10AM. We had made reservations and I knew we would be placed in the overflow lot for one night but I didn’t expect power, albeit, only 15 amps but better than nothing; so we paid $16 a night and decided to remain in the overflow the two nights. We then set up after filling the tank with fresh water.
Because of the early hour, we left and drove to TRINITY which was an absolute joy to walk through. It’s a quaint little place and also a Provincial heritage place. We had lunch here then walked around and poked our nose in every building we could and took lots of pictures of course. We also drove to the light house but had to pay $10 each so we decided to pass. It was picturesque though. From here we continued on Hwy 230 to Port Union, the first fishermen town to be unionized and built by the Union. There is an old museum which we went through then the factory which turned out to be a bit of joke as our guide knew very little of what was inside but we had to pay $6 each anyway. It was interesting and we saw the owner paper press and building floor. We then went to the “Bungalow”, home of Sir William Ford Coaker, built in 1917 and was still fully furnished and we had a tour. Sir Coaker was the founder of the town and the Union. He was a very basic and ordinary guy. Our guide was VERY informative and we had a complete and educated tour. It was a beautiful house. It was time to return to “our little house” and got back by 5 pm. A good day overall; it was sunny and warm.
Right
now, we are listening to live music put on by two local guys and the owner of
the park. Nothing professional but much
appreciated and fun to listen to as there was lots of local folklore. Later in the evening, they had fireworks
celebrating Labor Day and the last long week-end for the summer.
We drove 72 miles(117 Km)
in 1.5 hrs @ an average 43 MPH
N 48* 22.334W 053* 42.155
Alt: 279 ft
Temperatures have drastically dropped in the last couple days; it is 9*C (48*F) this morning at 7 pm. The sun will warm it up but it is a change all the same, autumn is upon us. We left around 10 AM for the village of ELLISTON which is famous for hundreds of root cellars (some over 200 yrs old) and its bird population especially the Puffins. And we were not disappointed! But first, we turned off on Hwy 238 to the village which was extremely rough (not a good way to attract tourist), we stopped at the Info Centre where we found out where to go then drove up to the site. We had to walk in to the end of the bluff and here they were on this Island across a chasm. We had to use our binocular to see them but how cute they were. As a bonus, ALL my pictures turned out! We spent a good half hour watching them and the sea gulls. The interesting is that they build their nest in these little holes, how they dig them, I don’t know but it was wonderful to watch them. The other interesting thing, they fly to the Grand Banks for the winter where they float on the Atlantic Ocean and dive for fish (up to 200 feet deep) and become prey themselves to sharks and other big prey fish. We continued on to Bonavista and the road was much better. In Bonavista, we drove around a bit then stopped for lunch at this pub/cafe we found on Church Road and had lunch. We walked Church St, took some pictures, then drove to the Matthew Legacy Site where a replica of the ship the “Matthew” was kept on dry dock and inside this huge building. The Matthew is the vessel that John Cabot sailed on to America and supposedly landed near Cape Bonavista although there are no archeological proof. The display was wonderful and awesome! We went on board after reading a story and watching a film of her sailing into Bonaventure for the first time in the late 1990’s (she was built in and by Newfoundlanders). After this visit, it was time to drive to “DUNGEON”, an underground cave that collapsed creating a huge crater with the sea coming in from two entrances. After taking some pictures, we drove on to the famous Lighthouse where there is a huge statue of John Cabot. What a setting, what a view! It was breathtaking, honestly! We visited the Interpretive Centre then inside the lighthouse which was furnished as it was back in the 1800’s. The living area was built around the lighthouse so that the keeper had instant and constant watch over the light which was of two colours and ran on kerosene/oil. It was built and completed in 1843. It was replaced by an automated light (next to the lighthouse) in 1962.
It
was time to go home so we drove south on 235 which took us back to 230 and home
by 5 pm! What an exciting and wonderful
day! Tomorrow we head for St-John’s
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