Saturday, July 27, 2019

Boondocking at Mt Carmel to Bauline East near St Johns NFL


July 22:



Would you believe that on Friday I got us lost leaving Mt Carmel….again! This village is about the size of Sopchoppy but there are three paved roads that intersect there at the head of a bay. For some reason I kept wanting to go south instead of east. When I could get a cell phone signal I kept trying to get us a camp site for the night. No luck. It was Crab Festival Weekend at Holyrood and the best I could do was a promise of a space in a field that would allow us to use their washrooms. For $40!

Going south put us on the southeastern “claw” of the Avalon Peninsular doing a loop that would bring us back to the vicinity of St. John’s, NFL’s capitol city. It was another stunningly beautiful day with miles and miles of amazing ocean views. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center for the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve and dropped the RV in their parking lot so that we could use the Jeep to go out to Cape Race. 

 Mistaken Point’s  580 million year old fossils are the oldest known complex, multicelluar organisms in the world. You can only go out on the cliffs with a guide, it is a rough five mile hike, and it was freezing cold. We passed on seeing fossils “in situ” and opted for waiting to see them in the museum in St. Johns.

It was freezing out at Cape Race too, but having the Jeep enabled us to follow trails out over the tundra right to the edge of the cliffs. It is no wonder that so many ships wrecked here. It is just about as desolate as it gets! The amazing thing is the immense variety of wildflowers! They are rarely more than three or four inches high but the ground is covered with them and they are so colorful. There are  a number of different varieties of orchids that are native to  NFL and some of them grow in the tundra and are almost too small to see.







Looking for a campsite we figured it would be another gravel pit but luck was with us. We stopped at a Provincial Park near Burnt Cove just for the heck of it. They were full but the Ranger suggested we try Celtic Rendevous just three miles down the road. I called and they had a spot for a small RV! We are so grateful for our small rig.  Nearly every campground can tuck us in somewhere.

More about Celtic Rendevous later.




Sunday, July 21, 2019

Ghost Villages of the Baie Vert Peninsular

One of the highlights of our trip so far
Stream at Tilt's Cove below a huge abandoned Copper Mine


Snooks Arm

Road to Round Harbor







is the day we took the Jeep and explored abandoned or near abandoned villages south of La Scie. With Confederation, the Canadian government resettled thousands of folks living in remote coves and villages all over Newfoundland and Labrador. There are said to be over 700 such communities. Some of them were never completely abandoned and some are beginning to be repopulated. Many of them can only be reached by boat. I wanted to share some photos of our (mostly) off-road trip.

Twillingate to the Southeastern Avalon Peninsular NFL


July 18:



Our campsite at Dildo Run was just about perfect in the style of State/Provincial parks. Our spot was shady, spacious, and over-run with mosquitoes. I felt right at home! We had 20 amps electric but no potable water. It also had only one vacancy and that was for only one night. So off to Twillingate the next morning to another drive-in movie style place. Payton Woods RV Park was hosting a Fantasy Caravan of 20 + monster rigs so we little guys were put in the back in what looked like a recently cleared gravel guarry.  The sites were so narrow that you had to keep you elbows at your sides when you went outside.

Twillingate is famous for being located on Iceberg Alley and for whale watching. We had reservations for an afternoon boat trip but it was cancelled due to rain. The next day was little better but we did get out in the afternoon to see the lighthouse and to buy some groceries. That night we went to the Twillingate Dinner Theater for lobster and entertainment. I am always amazed at the talent hiding in little towns. Local folks who do ordinary jobs during the day and turn into first class musicians at night. The skits were a little hokey but the actors clearly enjoyed themselves so much that the audience had to join in.

Leaving Twillingate we took the longer coast road back to the TCH.  This eastern coast faces directly on the North Atlantic with no barrier islands and is noted for its long, sandy beaches. The huge boulders along the shore have been so worn by the surf that they are as smooth as pebbles. The shoreline is covered with low growing gorse and is full of wildflowers. We saw a lot of dispersed camping in this region with travel trailers just sitting out in the dunes. The sand is treacherous though, just like at home.

Opps!




We stopped at the community of Dover to climb the overlook to see the Dover Fault. It looks just like any other narrow inlet and it is hard to believe that one side of it was what is now Europe, the other side South America. (That is a very simplistic description of course.) In 1929 there was a 7+ magnitude earthquake there that caused tsunami’s as far away as Cape Breton Island.





We spent the night at a 300+ site campground right off the TCH called Jakes Pond. Our expectations were low so we had a pleasant surprise. This CG is spread along the shore of a lovely “pond” (e.g. lake).  There were some campers in small loops, but for the most part everybody had a waterfront site. Ours was right beside the water and we had great neighbors.

From Jakes Pond, located at Arnold's Harbor, we left the TCH and took a long loop road down the southwest side of the Avalon Peninsular. The scenery was beyond spectacular. We stopped a lot to explore and to let Bonnie run. We walked on the beach at Gooseberry Cove and we drove out to the Cape St. Mary’s Ornocological Seabird Ecological Preserve where we saw thousands of nesting birds.




The zillions of white spots are birds. The "snow" on the cliffs are nesting birds.

We put in a long day today and learned a valuable lesson. When you ask a Newfy for information or directions, be sure that you have your map and a pencil handy. We are truly people  separated by a common language! We became so thoroughly lost that we had to disconnect the Jeep and scout for a place to park for the night as there were no designated campgrounds in the area.We eventually bedded down in an old gravel site just outside the village of Mount Carmel on St. Mary’s Bay. No services, but it was private, quiet…….and cheap! Newfoundland is full of spots to pull off and camp but we don't do it unless absolutely necessary.

Boondocking at Mt. Carmel




Monday, July 15, 2019

Epic Journey Phase III. Exploring Eastern Newfoundland


It has been 25 days since lift off from Sopchoppy we are well into Phase III of our trip: When we visited Newfoundland/Labrador in 2008 we stayed strictly on the western coast. It was fabulous and we hope to end this trip there, but this time we wanted to go East first.
  
We finished up Nova Scotia by spending Tuesday (7/ 9) on the coast of Chedabucto Bay. I read about a good sea glass beach at Queensport so we went to check it out. This area of Nova Scotia is very old and some of the villages date from the 1600’s. There is even a little park outside Queensport in honor of Earl Stanley of Orkney who some believe landed nearby in 1360. The Scots feel that his discoveries were ignored by the Roman Church in favor of Spanish and Portuguese sailors who were from more acquiescent countries. An interesting idea.


We drove to North Sydney on Wednesday and parked at Walmart for a few hours before going to the Ferry Terminal about 7 pm. It was cheaper to board the Jeep and the RV on separate tickets so we disconnected. I was in the front of row nine; Butch was in the back of row 10. We hung out in the camper until about 9:15 pm when the first boarding call went out. I was loaded by 9:45; it took Butch until 10:30. As a result of making late reservations, we couldn’t get a cabin so we got reserved seats in the recliner section instead. It wasn’t awful but it wasn’t great either. Bonnie had the best deal as she stayed in her bed in the camper.

We disembarked in Port au Basque NFL just before 7 am on Thursday. I was the second vehicle off the ferry and Butch was not too far behind. We hooked up the Jeep and headed out for Corner Brook.  We pulled into the Visitor’s Center there and slept for about three hours. They have restrooms, a dump station, potable water, and are super nice. They are accustomed to exhausted folks coming off the night ferry.
We drove less than an hour to Deer Lake and spent the night at Gateway to the North Campground. This is a “drive-in movie” type set up but the sites are not crowded and they have 3-way hookups.  We chatted a bit with the owner and learned a lot about the Baie Verte Peninsula, an area of interest to us. He turned out to be somewhat of an amateur geologist, archeologist, and all-around expert on Baie Verte. The next morning we set down with him and our detailed maps to pick his brains about where to go. His advice was priceless. There is nothing like a knowledgeable local to steer you in the right direction.


On Friday we drove from Deer Lake out onto the Baie Verte Peninsula to La Scie on Cape St. John. In 60+ years of camping this spot ranks in the top 10 for sheer spectacular-ness.  Island Cove CG is owned by the municipality of La Scie and is atop a cliff overlooking the harbor, the Manful Bight, and the North Atlantic. The village also maintains a series of hiking trails that traverse the cliffs, the coves and beaches, and the hills above the town. There were two other campers when we arrived but they left the next morning, leaving us all by ourselves.

Baie Verte is mineral rich and is full of old mines and quarries. Copper, asbestos, talc, silica, and gold were mined here in the past and gold is being mined again. On the way out to La Scie we stopped at a Virginite quarry and picked up some beautiful specimens. We also found the serpentine deposits that Jerrod had told us about but we could access them because the ground was so wet.

Saturday we spent the day exploring some of the coves and harbors near La Scie. There are over 700 abandoned towns/villages in NFL and many of them are these little fishing or mining coves. It was a serious off-road adventure and we were so glad to have the Jeep. At Tilt Cove we visited an abandoned copper mine and found lots of sea glass. At Round Harbor we saw a true ghost town. Everywhere we saw absolutely gorgeous scenery and we met kind and lovely people.

This morning we drove back to the TCH (TransCanada Hwy) and continued eastward to Norris Arm where we turned north to go to Twillingate. We are at Dildo Run Provincial Park tonight on New World Island.Tomorrow we have reservations for a sea cruise to see icebergs. 








 All of the photos were made from the walkways around our Campground at La Scie. 


Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Exploring the Northumberland Shore


July 9, 2019

Finding a Base Camp is always challenging and sometimes it requires lots of compromising of our ideal. We traveled up the Northumberland Shore and settled for a two nights at Seafoam Campground. It is a huge place, 300+ RV’s in a large field. The first night was not bad but the second was so noisy that sleep was out of the question. On the positive side, the owners were very nice and helpful and the beach access was great. We took Bonnie down, unhooked her lease, and let her run. Never-the-less, old folks cannot subsist without sleep so we moved on.

Moving on consisted of traveling only an hour further up the coast to this absolutely super spot at Linwood Habor Campground. It is Base Camp Heaven.  It is a small campground on the banks of an inlet from St. George Bay. We have a spacious and shady site, everything is immaculately clean, and the owners are great. We arrived Sunday afternoon and will leave tomorrow. There is no direct water access but it is only three miles to a wonderful and remote stretch of coast where we can beachcomb to our hearts content.

On Sunday afternoon we drove back to Antigonish and down to the beach to Arisage Provincial Park. I read in a local paper that they had fossil cliffs there. We walked a beautiful trail along the cliffs, descended to the shore beside a waterfall, and encountered a stunning beach with lots of cliffs and rocks and sea caves. We didn’t find any fossils but we had lots of fun.

Yesterday, we traveled the other direction (north) and crossed the Canso Causeway to Cape Breton Island. We opted for the shore road at Port Hastings as our destination was the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre at Judique. For the past 25 years or so the folks on Cape Breton, and especially those in Inverness County, have concentrated on reviving and restoring their traditions of Celtic music and dance. The Centre has interactive exhibits, music demos and lessons, camps, and lots of Ceilidths. The entire “Musical Coast” has hundreds of summer and fall events.  The Centre also has an excellent cafĂ© that features a ceilidh from 11:30 to three every day.  The food and the music were outstanding!

After leaving Judique we went a little further north to Mobou and took a secondary road out to Mabou Harbor. The entire geology is different in what is called the “Mabou Highlands”.  There are beautiful white gypsum cliffs and the beaches are sandy.  They have just resumed coal mining in this area which is not popular with the locals.

We returned to "Base" via an inland country road that had lovely rolling hills and lots of small ponds. It is SO green here and the wildflowers are profuse. Our temperatures are in the 70's during the day, 50's at night. BUT the no-see-ums are dreadful in late afternoon-early evening when the wind calms down. 

Tomorrow is moving day. We will head to North Sydney where we will catch the Ferry to NFL tomorrow night.

The beach at Seafoam
The beach at Arisage         



The Beach at Arisage

S

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Continuing Happiness



Happiness is a continuation of Happenings which are not resisted”  .” Deepak Chopra

When we were planning our trip to Alaska in 2013  I started a Blog. I named it, “Happening on His Chosen Miles” in honor of the Canadian Canoe Poet, Larry Everson.  The name had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with Happenings; those funny, crazy, quixotic, and totally unplanned events that occur when you travel. I have continued the Blog for every long trip that we have made and planned to do so for this one. Unfortunately our internet service has been so spotty that 18 days into the trip and nary a blog has gone forth.

We are now well into Phase II of our trip.  Phase I included visiting family in Fayetteville and Pittsburg and BFF,Barbara, in Rochester NY. The three “visitations” involved staying in large RV restorts and commuting many miles on interstates and turnpikes.  Phase II began when we left Rocherster and traveled east and north through New England and into the  Maritime Provinces. We crossed the Border at Calais ME on July 3 and are currently working our way east, northeast along the Northumberland Shore of Nova Scotia. This Phase will end on Wednesday, the 10th when we board the ferry for Newfoundland.




From the sublime to the ridiculous, a variety of campgrounds on this trip.

If anyone wants or needs more specific information about routes, highways, or campgrounds we have experience so far, send me a FB message or e-mail and I will share.