Kathleen's Window: Meat Cove and Whale, Ho!

Sunday. July 7, 2013

Sunday morning finds me typing at the dinette looking out the window every few minutes to check for whales! That's a change from the usual Sunday morning sleeping in and lounging around pre-travels! We are camped on the very edge of the bluff, with a 100' drop-off. Greg, the geologist checked the underlying rock and says we are okay! Somewhere on the horizon is Newfoundland, but it has been too hazy to see it. Below us is a beautiful cove with lobster buoys bobbing in the gentle surf. Several seals inhabit the cove and make their appearance late afternoon and sort of float about and tease each other. Their funny little shiny heads and faces look like amiable dogs when then surface and nonchalantly look around.

View from Campsite

Cliff and Beach

Our Camper at top of cliff

The whales showed up shortly after we arrived on Friday afternoon. A half dozen minke whales slowly working their way down the shore, feasting on a school of mackerel. We saw their backs and fins as they rolled up and down into the water. The gannets are the indicator of a school of mackerel below the surface and a possible whale sighting. At first glance the gannets look like large seagulls. They are white with black wingtips, a pale yellow area on their heads, small black stripe around the eye, and a wingspan of six feet! They are related to the booby. They fly 50 to 100 feethigh over the water and when they spot a fish, they dive straight down. Just before plunging into the water they stretch their necks and fold their wings tight against them. When they hit the water they raise a big splash and a whomp sound, that is delayed a half second until the sound reaches us on the cliff. They are under for 5 or 6 seconds and bob back to the surface to rest and float awhile to digest, if they were successful, or fly low across the water and high into the sky to try again, if they were not.

We were told that there are also pilot whales here, but we were fairly certain all we saw were minke whales. Yesterday it got very hot and sunny and we didn't see any whales the whole day. This afternoon we briefly spotted one or two, but they seem to be staying down a long time, so the fish must be deep. There have been very few gannets as well. We only see a few of them feeding in the area today. The whale spotting cruises have gone by the last two days, but don't seem to be seeing them either. We were surprised that on Cape Breton, the cruises guarantee whale sightings or your money back! They don't do that in Alaska. “You pays your money. You takes your chances!”

We are dry camping here. There is water for Greg to fill five gallon containers and re-fill the tank. There is no dumping facility, so we are being careful with the gray water tank, washing dishes outside and using the bathroom sink which drains into the black tank. Winnebago blessed us with a large black tank which we never fill. Seriously...they could have made the gray tank bigger. We have no electrical hookup, but great wifi. We didn't expect that. There is a small chowder house restaurant in the campground. Sightseers drive up to the end of the road all day, stop for a bite on the deck, look for whales and head back. We managed to snag a site out of the fray. Our first evening Greg went to the chowder house and got us some strawberry frozen yogurt and we made strawberry shortcake from the Aucoin Bakery oatcakes, the local strawberries and the yogurt. We had to eat it fast, it was so warm here!

Dinner

Dessert!

The temperature has been in the 80's all day and the mid- 70's at night. Thank goodness for the constant wind and the shade of the rig. Currently we are sitting outside looking over the cove and the Gulf of St. Lawrence where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. The only way to get farther north is to hike the headland next to us. We decided to skip the national park campground on the east side of the Cabot Trail in favor of three nights here in this amazing spot! The only campsite “better” than ours is the small rocky promontory next to our site. It is a walk-in tent site that has been occupied the whole time by a succession of young people in tents. In fact this morning there was an argument between the management and two couples who were in lesser spots last night. They both wanted it for tonight. One couple was told their tent was too big, so that was the end of that. Greg and I walked out to see it while it was empty. Cool! Our kind of site if we still tented! Greg said with a running start we might get the rig down there!

On the route to the Point campsite

The water was so clear we could see the nearer lobster traps

The Point from our campsite

I want to describe the amazing cliffs, the unbelievably clear water, the feel of the wind, the intensity of the sun, the bees buzzing around the purple flowers in front of me, the sound of the small waves on the shore and the constant “whumping” of the gannets. The best I can do is post some photos that won't do justice to this spot. We will stay one more night here, and again have our dinner on the edge of the cliff gazing out to sea, looking for whales, and tomorrow move on. Monday and Tuesday are preparation days for Newfoundland. LOTS of laundry and “cheaper” groceries to buy. The ferry leaves Wednesday morning at 8:30. Wish us good weather and fair sailing!