Poor wifi is worse than no wifi at all because you expect something and mostly get nothing. Ah, well. FYI: May 1st to July 15th GiMyC drove 5625 miles pulling Cruiser and touring towns; Tallahassee to St. Andrews, NB, was 2084 miles; to Port aux Basques, NL, was 1550 miles; and north to St. Anthony and a trip to Labrador was 727 miles. We are heading east to St. John’s now.
Western Newfoundland: Two weeks was barely enough to take it all in; the drive is breath-taking all the way with rocks, green mountains, tablelands, coves, harbors, bays, straits, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Be sure to check out our pictures at myphotoalbum; they tell the story better than I’ve kept up with this blog.
A side trip to Woody Point and Trout River is WAY out of the way but a must do. The drive to Woody Point is through the Gros Morne Tablelands and is magnificent. Woody Point is a place you would want a summer cottage. Its location right on the water’s edge of Bonne Bay is stunning. Trout River is a small fishing village with three small but interesting museums that tell the fascinating history of the place. The wharf is busy but inviting. The hardworking fishermen and women have a friendly smile and a hearty hello! Did we mention that these Newfoundlanders are very friendly.
We’ve had a great history lesson all along the way: Maritime Archaic Indians, Vikings, British, French, Western Brook Pond formed by glaciers, Labrador current bringing icebergs from Greenland (just not this year…), Dorset Indians, Beothuk, American bases during WWII, NORAD and DEW bases, and on. Sorry that I haven’t kept up just writing even though we couldn’t get online. A general note though: Irving gas stations are about the only place Regina can get her diet dr. pepper; most villages/towns have populations of 200 to 1000; fishing is really important; fish is always cod unless it states salmon, trout, or something else. Cod earbones make great jewelry; puffins are on the east coast of Newfoundland; it’s easy to get on the ferry to Labrador but getting back to Newfoundland you better have reservations; this land is definitely The Rock. Will update more at St. John’s.

Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador

The fog dispersed as we approached Western Brook Pond for the fjord boat cruise; it was an excellent 2 1/2 hours on the water but we also saw moose and beautiful flora as we walked the 3 km trail to the boat ramp. Pictures are posted on myphotoalbum. Yesterday we went to the Historical Train Museum in Corner Brook before we arrived in Rocky Harbour and went to the Bonne Bay Marine Station and Aquarium in Norris Point. Both days have been wonderful.

07.09.10 Our first full day in NL reminded us very much of traveling through the northern areas of the western Canadian provinces with the mountains, black spruce trees, no traffic for miles and miles, one main road and the side roads gravel (when they do appear), a restaurant/gas station every sixty miles or so, etc. We did stop in Port au Port West at the largest wooden building in NL, Our Lady of Mercy Church: standing 100 ft. at the steeple, stations made of carrara marble and framed with travertine marble then shipped from Italy, seats 1000, and took eleven years because of the volunteer builders so as not to incur a debt. The Church was built 1914-1925; the parish rectory next door was built in 1952 and is a museum, craft shop, and tea room: Paul and I had tea buns with partridgeberry jam – oh, so good. Then we went on to the Gravels Rest Stop where we could look back at the Abbott and Haliburton tin shop, the oldest firm on the west coast of NL begun in 1898, and today mostly in timber production but still owned by the same family. Our stop for the night was Corner Brook.

07.08.10 Arrived Newfoundland at 10:45 pm on MV Caribou; checked at the visitor center (open and friendly) and drove to the Provincial Park just down the road, also open and friendly and waiting for us – and several other campers – to arrive. The six hours across Cabot Strait was comfortable and relaxing; we highlighted “must see” in NL, ate, and listened to the three movies that played in the adjoining area. When we returned to Cruiser, the refrigerator had defrosted, too (I put that off as long as possible).

07.06.10 Cloudy all day but only a few drops of rain as we walked for five hours at the Fortress of Louisbourg. The French came to Louisbourg in 1717 and quickly became France’s most important stronghold and seaport. It was captured by the English in 1745, returned to the French three years later but once again captured in 1758 by Wolfe and subsequently demolished in 1760. About ¼ of colonial Louisbourg was reconstructed in the 1960’s to the 1744 period; the largest reconstructed 18th century town in North America. The costumed interpreters are very knowledgeable and friendly: www.pc.gc.ca/louisbourg We snacked on a soldier’s whole wheat biscuit made in the ovens of the military bakery; enjoyed stories of the fisherman, seamstress, gardener, and various soldiers. Another memorable day on the road.

Updates

Rain through the night but we headed to Glace Bay and the Marconi NHS, had lunch at The Miners’ Museum, and made an appt. for oil change and tire rotation at the only GMC service in Cape Breton. It’s still cloudy as I write this; hoping for better weather as we head to the Fortress of Louisbourg in the morning.
07.04.10 Independence Day! Arrived at Arm of Gold CG, made ferry reservations for Newfoundland, and drove into Sydney for a look at old houses, churches, and – found a Cold Stone Creamery that had just opened in May, so we celebrated the 4th with great ice cream on a sunny, warm day.
07.03.10 A day of driving to Antigonish, shopping at Sobeys.
07.02.10 Our last day in Halifax we tried to visit the BOI again but all the tours were filled for the day. It was easy to spend five hours at The Citadel: two museums, bagpipes, changing of the guard, cannon and rifle exhibitions, and a fantastic view of the harbor and Halifax www.pc.gc.ca/halifaxcitadel
07.01.10 Canada Day! Found a parking area just west of the Citadel, watched some of the parade, walked around the Public Gardens, toured St. Paul’s Church (built in 1750 on the Grand Parade, oldest building in Halifax, survived the 1917 Halifax Explosion with a piece of wood embedded in an interior wall), had lunch at the Wooden Monkey, and then – thoroughly enjoyed a 3 ½ hour Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in the Metro Centre www.nstatoo.ca
6.30.10 Province House (c. 1819), a National Historic Site, the seat of the Nova Scotia Government, Canada’s oldest provincial legislative assembly, and the original home of Britain’s first overseas self-government is a “gem of Georgian architecture” according to Charles Dickens. Just down the street is Government House where the Queen and Duke resided during their stay. After a walk around the Old Burying Ground, the first in Halifax on land granted in 1749, we drove around the Armdale Rotary to spend the rest of the day sailing with Rose and Bill. The grounds are historic with two hundred Americans buried on an island cemetery. Our trip along the waters took us past Sir Sanford Fleming Park (donated in 1908), Point Pleasant Park (rented from the British Govt.), and Fort McNab NHS. Fleming is known for his work on Standard Time Zones. Paul especially enjoyed the afternoon as Bill let him take the helm for several hours; much more sailing room than the intracoastal waterway.
6.29.10 The Quaker House (c. 1785) is one of the oldest buildings in Dartmouth; the Nantucket whalers were here until 1792. We headed to the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO), Canada’s leading marine research center but were turned back at the entrance because of the Queen’s visit and the Fleet Review which we could see clearly in the harbor just north of the MacKay Bridge. It was cloudy but we decided to drive the 40 miles to Peggy’s Cove for a view of the craggy coast, the huge granite boulders, and the often-pictured lighthouse; we walked to the sea on the rocks and up to the lighthouse, watched the waves crashing, and huddled against the raging winds – well, okay, 25 mph, isn’t raging but it is plenty cold, and bought souvenirs. It was still a nice day.
6.28.10 Well, no; the wifi was never stronger than 11Mbps and kept tripping off – or is that what electric does. In either case, I’ll keep a record here and hope someday to publish. I hope this doesn’t get annoying going backward. Sigh. I am rambling; could be that it started raining during the night and didn’t stop all day so we didn’t leave the campground. We did go to Sobeys in Lower/Middle Sackville and tried to call our moms but we couldn’t hear each other for more than intermittent spots. Good thing we brought games along, although Paul did download several TV shows when we had good wifi.
6.27.10 Just arrived at our campground for the week near Halifax and Dartmouth – and wifi. Hope our updates are more timely for a few days anyway. We have lots to see so we drove into Halifax (20 miles) and spent several hours at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, especially for the Titanic exhibit and the Halifax explosion; then we walked along the boardwalk to see the ships in for fleet week www.canadiannavy100.forces.gc.ca Another gorgeous day.
6.26.10 Another day of ships and waterfront historic sites; Lunenburg is World Heritage Site; see more at www.explorelunenburg.ca and www.fisheries.museum.gov.ns.ca We even got to see the Bluenose II, a replica of the Bluenose that is on the Canadian dimes, a schooner, a trawler, a wonderful aquarium, and much more. Walking down the streets of Old Town we saw colorful shops, 1830’s homes, St. John’s Anglican 1754 Church, and garden plots stretching down to the waterfront (the hills reminded us of San Francisco). Just six miles along Hwy #3 is Mahone Bay, famous for its three churches which have stood along the bay since the mid-1800’s – a wedding was in progress at one. We spent some time observing the melting, pouring, and polishing of items at Amos Pewter, one of the many art, craft and antique shops along the shoreline www.amospewter.com Another wondrous day in Nova Scotia!
6.25.10 Our miles have been few these days because we stop along the way. Today we drove into Liverpool, NS, along the Mersey River; the visitor center has all day parking right in front; good thing, too, because there’s not much space at the museums and the roads are not wide; it was an easy walk to the Rossignol Cultural Center www.rossignolculturalcentre.com a collection of five museums in a former brick school house; then a quick walk to the Sherman Hines Photography Museum www.shermanhinesphotographymuseum.com and lunch at a café in town. Also check out Fort Point Lighthouse Park at www.queens.ca Another thirty miles and we reached Lunenburg Board of Trade Campground at the visitor center on Blockhouse Hill at the end of town. It was dinnertime and we were weary so we relaxed with a game of Mexican dominoes.6.24.10 At the Dory Museum and the Muir-Cox Shipbuilding Centre the guides were excellent and male so Paul heard everything they said; we spent the entire day in these two Shelburne museums along Dock Street. We drove into town with Cruiser and found free parking at the Yacht Center; they had a sailing race at 6 pm when we left town for The Islands Provincial Park. We survived the night without water or electric; the generator worked great for Paul’s morning coffee; we watched the large white rabbits stretch out and the red fox bark at the dog in the spot next to us – the red fox never did move in very close and as soon as a human appeared around the corner he ran into the woods. Our campsite had a wonderful view of Dock Street across the bay; the office lodge even has wifi; it was a pleasant evening.