11 Avalon

Monday, September 03, 2007
Chance Cove Provincial Park, Newfoundland, Canada
You know you've reached the Avalon Peninsula when you pass Come By Chance -- what a great town name. I start on the Irish Loop Drive at Witless Bay (I assume the inhabitants are the brunt of many "bay" jokes) and stopped at the numerous small towns along the coast. The weather is so nice (Newfies will be complaining of drought soon after five days of no rain), I decided to stay a while at Chance Cove Provincial Park -- outhouses and garbage cans are the only facilities but the price is right (free). Spent the afternoon reading by the shore and collecting conks (medium sized snails) for a pre-dinner treat; yummy, just remember to rotate the shell clockwise when removing them with a pin :), else they break (not the shell).

Rode "baby" around the entire southern penninsula -- a long day, especially with marginal roads in most places . Had to stop and let a small herd of carribou cross the road near Trepassey and at Cape St Mary's saw a sight from an Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Birds." There are 36,000 Gannet breeding pairs in the colony; counting immatures and chicks, the grand total is around 150,000 --- it was almost unreal and I was thinking of "Where's Waldo" when parents return to the nests :).

The countryside in the south is mainly a heath (read bog on lower sections) with rolling hills plus spectacular cliffs where land meets ocean. I am still dining on conks and proud fishermen keep giving me Sea (a.k.a Brown) Trout because they caught too many -- it's funny that my neighbour who is a fisherman by trade, still goes fishing with a road and reel for relaxation. I've been adopted by the 20 Newfies at the group campsite and really enjoy listening to their campfire repartees. One really has to listen carefully since they talk so quickly and often use opposites for emphasis -- really interesting and definitely a learned trait handed down through the generations - or just Irish gift of the gab, perhaps .

Also toured up to St John's and found the requested rare Republic of Newfoundland flag decals. Been using bog water from a small creek where I bathe and brush my teeth -- a brownish colour but tastes better than tap water. Because there are no lights near Chance Cove, the stars are spectacular and plentiful. Completely fogged in for one day - a reading day - then a night of horizontal rain.

Since I am marooned until September 4 at 00:30 when I catch the ferry, I toured the northwest corner of the peninsula named the Bacca'lieu Trail. A pretty drive and the east part is like the Riviera of Newfoundland, coastline and minor-wealth but not the sand. Also visited a couple of National Heritage sites; Hawthorne Cottage in Brigus, which was owned by Captain Robert Bartlett an Arctic explorer, and Grates Cove's walled gardens (like many English and Irish fields). In general, the place names are always interesting in Newfoundland; I don't think the locals liked their town called Dildo since it did not have any town entrance signs - I wonder why? Heart's Desire also had much rougher water in their cove than Heart's Content.

Well one quiet day for doing laundry and restocking the larder, then I line up for the Argentia to North Sydney ferry which is a 14 hour affair. Did visit the Atlantic Charter signing area and Castle Hill, both National Historic sites.

Tidbits:
- Strange that shells are almost non-existant on hard-to-walk-on stone beaches and also how noisy shifting stones can be as they eventually wear down with the waves.
- The Atlantic Puffin is Newfoundland's provincial bird.
- People in Newfoundland go for walks using the roads and there are signs warning drivers; dogs in many towns also seem to run themselves along the edge of roads as well. And you thought Toronto had a problem with Street Walkers :)
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