Our lumpy bug bites from Labrador are slowly disappearing and the wrinkles are back......
We stayed in Walmart parking lots for 6 nights in a row ( saves the pennies to help with Rose’s drinking problem and all the fuel we have to buy for her!). We are becoming quite familiar with the subtleties of Walmart parking lots- is it level enough to put out our slide outs, is there a grassy area near by to walk Molly, is it quiet and away from the road noises, do we have enough water and capacity in our (gray and black) tanks to be self contained for 6 nights in a row??? We never thought about this stuff before we started our trip!
Our view at one of the campgrounds was of the dumping station (across from Scooter) - it made the Walmart parking lot look really picturesque!
Our reflections on Newfoundland/Labrador
Now that we have been in Newfoundland and Labrador for 3 and a half weeks and have traveled over 2,000 miles between Rose and Scooter, we have some general impressions that span all areas of the province…. Very friendly/helpful people ( a lot like Ireland), some Newfies even have a bit of an Irish accent and the traditional music sounds Irish; beautiful scenery of coasts/mountains, bogs and lakes (we’ve never seen so many lakes!); picturesque fishing villages, miles and miles of wilderness, plentiful wildlife( we were always looking for moose in the woods and whales in the sea) and a refreshing step back to simpler times with a strong spirit of self sufficiency. Each little town and village has their own walking trail that they have developed and maintain and also a museum about their area - lots of pride in their community!
Highlights of eastern Newfoundland:
*Puffins – we love puffins and have seen them in Alaska, Ireland, Scotland, Nova Scotia and Maine but none of those can compare to how close we were and how many we saw in Elliston on the Bonavista peninsula – it was amazing! We have included a video clip because it was such an incredible experience!
*The Skerwink trail – a beautiful hike along the coast of the Bonavista peninsula ( one of our favorites we have ever done) – it is rated as one of the top 10 hikes in North America – we can see why – fantastic scenery and whales too!
*Bonavista lighthouse and headlands – beautiful scenery, more whales and more puffins
*Picking wild blueberries - it was a real bonus to find and pick wild blueberries on our hikes - they are delicious! Much sweeter than the domestic ones
*Trinity – a lovely little village on the sea
* Cape Spear – the eastern most point in North America and we saw lots of whales right from the shore
*The Dover fault – the place where the "super" continents collided 500 million years ago and formed Europe, North and South America and Africa - fascinating!
*St John’s Regatta ( quite a tradition in St John’s) and seeing our friends again that we met on the ferry on the way over– France, Daniel, Brenda and Dave
Next - Rose's last ferry ride from Newfoundland back to Nova Scotia...15 hours long!
Now we’re off on a 15 hour ferry ride from St John’s, Newfoundland back to North Sydney Nova Scotia. We had to buy an airline approved crate for Molly – she has to stay in her crate in a kennel but we can visit her during the trip. Hopefully Rose will have plenty of room this time and Molly will tolerate the long time in her new crate….and we’ll be able to get some sleep in our “reclining”seats… Assuming we all survive the ferry ride, we’re planning to spend another week in Nova Scotia exploring the south coast and the Bay of Fundy.
