Bellview Beach :    What an exciting night in the tent... We ate Tortellini for dinner cooked in our skillet, washed up then looked at each other...what to do without TV or internet ? We were tucked up in our matching Katmandu sleeping bags by 2010..exciting times. The wind kept up all night off and on and I was not sure if a branch would drop on us or not. Thankfully the tent held up under pressure..however the new Self inflating Sleeping mat was another story..it didnt quite cover all the rock underneath and as we were on a bit of a slope it slid down a bit, I spent most of the night trying to roll over without slipping off. Anyway it did my back no harm as I was good this morning.
I took off back to the main gate where the showers are at 0710 only to find them shut . Sign said open at 0730.. So I went back and had breakfast and returned at 0720 as I wanted to get in early before a line up..So I waited and waited until another bloke came and he reckoned the sign said Open @0830....so I gave up, went and had a bucket wash instead. (Yuk)
Today we decided to drive south to Placentia to see the French fort ruins, we got there before they opened so we went passed the gate and looked at them anyway. There was good views over the town.. from there we went down into town to Tim Hortons for Morning tea and discovered they had Wifi so we stayed for an hour to check messages and upload the blog. The fog was coming in from the sea and as we drove further South heading for the Cape St Mary's Ecological Reserve, the fog got worse. Along the way there were lots of people parked beside the road and were out in the grassland beside the road picking something, we decided it wasnt mushrooms, then we thought it might be bait, but in the end we decided that it was a berry they were picking...yet to be checked out of course but will confirm it later after I check with Ruby at the gate .
Right on the southern tip there is a spectacular seabird colony..there is a massive rock with steep sides and it is totally covered with birds nesting. Northern Gannets, Murres & Kittiwake and there are millions of them, they come each year for nesting on Bird rock, amazing really. The fog was pretty thick though when we were there but you can still see all the birds. We were lucky we went when we did as the fog got a lot thicker as we left.. They had a fog horn going all the time we were there. Apparently in July the fog is there 28 days of the month. August is supposed to be better.
The countryside is just so bleak down there lots of green grass and the odd cow or sheep but nothing close by for the people that live down there.. I just couldnt imagine what it would be like in the middle of winter....
We drove back on the other side of the peninsula and the road was a lot better, we passed a Salmon Ladder where apparently the fish jump upstream when they are going off to Sporn and die. Kathryn went to investigate (the teacher in her coming out) she saw people swimming ...crazy, I as usual sat in the car to edit my photos as the water fall was making my bladder weak.
We called in at Bellview Convenience store as its Kathryns turn to cook dinner...The shop was disgusting, but having no other choice she went for Bacon and eggs, I will have to check the use by date as I am not sure of their stock turnover. Stay tuned for tonights dinner score !!
William James Hooper called in while doing his rounds. He is Rubys husband and they run the park for 5 months of the year..Hes a born & bred Newfie and one of 13 children and VERY hard to understand. When he say 13 he says "Tirteen". It was bloody funny as he loved a yarn and we only understood half of it. I was wondering afterwards what he'd be like after a few drinks.
Tonights dinner was 10 / 10 because I didnt cook it and the eggs were perfect. Movie night tonight, I watched Picture Perfect. Its a late one too as its 2100 already and I am still up.. Tent pack up tomorrow, lets see if we can get it back in the box....