Monday July 31, 2017

Tablelands in Gros Morne

We wake up to a mix of sun and clouds. Our breakfast consists of a blueberry muffin and coffee. The muffins were bought in North Sydney before we boarded the ferry. We check out and are on the road at 0900. We take a short drive to check out Norris Point, another small village near Rocky Harbour. We are glad we did as we are treated to several sights. The first is a sailing ship that tours Bonne Bay. It is a nice ship in a scenic place. The second is a phenomenal view of Bonne Bay, Norris Point, and the tablelands across the bay. The sun and clouds accentuate the tablelands and surrounding rea. We will be exploring that part of the park when we return from our journey further north in Newfoundland.

Green Cove Point

Our next stop is at Green Point where we are joining a ranger walk to learn about the geology of the area. While waiting, the mix of sun and clouds has turned to all clouds and a very brisk breeze. We put on our jackets and carry our anti rain gear (raincoats) which should insure that it doesn’t rain. On the walk, we learn about the fishing, crabbing, and lobstering in the area and then move on to the cliffs at Green Point. Here we learn some geology about glacial erratics, boring shale, and limestone. We can also see the plate tectonic work in the very strange and slanted layers of the cliff side. There are also fossils in these cliffs and the ranger has several examples with her. We both thoroughly enjoyed the 1 and a half hour walk and talk.

Brave Woman

We head up north to the next site that we decide to visit. This is Broome Point, which was a small fishing camp. Two brothers and their families worked here during the lobster, cod, and salmon season. Their house and fishing shack were donated to the park service because their kids did not want to continue in this hard life even though their fishing rights and property was grandfathered in after the National Park was formed. A nearby shack is still being used by its grandfathered rights. We are the only ones on the tour here so can ask questions such as how did they put the rubber bands on the lobsters claws? We also learn how they had to salt and dry the cod. They were sometimes catching 5,000 pounds of cod a day and the women and children ad to salt it, and then put it out on the rocks in the sun to dry every day. When it was salmon season, they canned their catch right here on site, cooking the salmon in the cans. We are certainly learning a lot about this area. After our tour, we do a quick hike on Steve’s Trail to get some exercise in. We are not with nor do we spot any Steve’s while on this trail. The weather is starting to change for the better and we stop at a picnic table overlooking a creek and a steel bridge to eat lunch.

Crowds at the Beach

We continue north and take a detour around another small burg called Cow Head. A sign tells us to experience Cow Head and I will leave that up to you to figure out. We end up at Shallow Bay and when we get there it is totally sunny and a perfect temperature for us to do a beach walk. It must be summer as the beach is full of Newfoundlanders soaking in the sun. There are at least 20 people along the mile of beach we walk on. I find a dead creature washing up and it looks like a sting ray of sorts but I do not think sting rays live this far north so who knows.

CNC Arches

After our beach walk we are back to driving north and make our last stop at the Arches Provincial Park. There are four beautiful arches on the beach with the sea crashing through them. If Utah had a sea it might look similar. We now cruise on down the road to our destination for the night, a place called River of Ponds. We have a two bedroom cabin simply because this was the only place along this stretch of road that we found in this area. River of Ponds consists of our place, a fish market, a gas station and convenience store and not much else. It is however beautiful as our cabin sits above a beautiful river which feeds into the sea a short mile away. It is still beautiful out and we sit and have a beer before cooking ourselves a pasta dinner. No eating out here. Life is very tough.

Expenses                                                                                                                            Riverside Chalets Cabin 126.50 CAD                                                                                          4 miles walked