Our Last Day in Newfoundland

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

What a beautiful sight to wake up to! The sun rising and reflecting in the pond beside the rig. I got up, pushed back the window and the screen, took a few photos and went back to bed! After I finally got up, we hiked down the path to the waterfall. Greg had done so the night before, while I fixed dinner. The town of Burnt Island has built a beautiful gravel and boardwalk trail through the barrens and boggy ponds to a waterfall that would be famous and well visited anyplace else. Newfoundland is full of amazing waterfalls cascading down cliffs and hillsides. Few famous, most just part of the landscape. When I think about the lack of water in the southwest US where we spent last winter, the lakes, rivers, streams, waterfalls, and the seas of Newfoundland, feel like an embarrassment of riches!

Sunrise over the granite barrens

We saw bog plants that we have learned to identify and a green frog in the muck. Newfoundland has no native reptiles and amphibians, so any that you find have been introduced. A town employee stopped by to check on the condition of the plants under the sign and he and Greg both commented on the beautiful day. Greg wondered if it would rain tomorrow, and the man had no answer for him, except to watch him swat at the horde of black flies around him and say cheerfully, “Some flies!” We did have a shower overnight. The sky was clear when we went to bed and when we woke up. Ah, well, Newfoundland... “Some rain!”

Carnivorous Sundews, photographed with macro from about 3 inches

Pitcher Plants

Barachois Falls

Pitcher Plant flower

Imported from Nova Scotia

Close  up of the business end of a sort-of-carnivorous Pitcher Plant

Driving back to Port Aux Basques we noticed two ferries in the dock. We heard on the news that yesterday's ferry had engine trouble when it came into port at North Sydney, but was okay now. We were guessing that the extra ferry was there to help take up the slack from the out of service Argentia ferry I previously wrote about. We found a liquor store to purchase a few bottles of Auk Island wine from Twillingate. It isn't sold outside of Newfoundland, and of course we can't get it in the States. We'll also have to drink it before we get back, since the US limits the amount of alcohol we can bring back in. So we'll be remembering Newfoundland while we drink our Funky Puffin, Moose Joose, and Jellybean Row! Salute'!



We decided to spend the rest of the day at J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park. At 10 PM we can check in early for the ferry, so we'll boondock in the ferry parking lot again. Then we'll be ready for the 6:30 AM loading for the 8:30 crossing to North Sydney, Nova Scotia. We used our season pass to get in and then used the campground's dump and water, so we'll be ready for tonight. Then we parked at the beach at noon. Our last day here is giving us sunshine and 70 degrees. Greg has taken a few beach walks and has now gone back for more exploring. I am puttering and writing. We'll eat a cold supper to conserve the propane and head into town to check in by 10 PM. I will be very melancholy leaving Newfoundland. This has been a profound experience for both of us. I do believe we will be back...

Back at Cheeseman PP - Granite headland along the beach

Old railroad bridge across the pond

Rocks improve an ordinary sandy beach

More Granite, Yeah!

Looking from the beach dune to our Day Camp on the barachois pond