GTT Days 30-32

August 30 - Terra Nova National Park, NL, Newman Sound campground.

 

The night was a crazy one with lashings of rain and really gusty winds. We ended up having to shut the poptop of the van down which is not easy because we keep all our luggage up on the second level and it all had to be moved down. Somewhere. At least then it was quiet enough to sleep without the canvas going "fwomp" loudly every few seconds. The morning wasn't any better so we ended up wrestling our way across Newfoundland on the TCH buffeted by the wind and splashed in the rooster tail of every big truck that went by. Exhausting! We did manage to see 3 moose and a mink though

 

The rain was thankfully reduced to sprinkles but the wind didn't let up much by the time we got to Terra Nova. We missed some of the scenery (again) but got a bit of a walk in on the very nice coastal trail:

 

I was coming down with a cold (blech) though so we didn't walk as far as we might have. Instead we did a load of laundry in the Comfort Station and used the wifi for awhile and took it pretty easy for the rest of the day.

 

August 31 - Newman Sound campground, day 2.

 

The weather was much nicer today. Mostly sunshine with a sprinkle or two thrown in for good measure. Don't they say that if you don't like the weather here, wait 5 minutes? Truth. I'm still feeling  coldish but not bad enough to stop us from going on a hike up Ochre Hill. The views were spectacular!

 

Right after this photo the clouds started moving in again and it rained on us on the way back down to the van. Changeable!

 

We went and had lunch at Sandy Pond where it alternated rain and sunshine and both together so we headed over to the Visitors Centre where we got to see the touch pool sea life exhibit. So similar to the Pacific coast but yet different at the same time! We walked a little on the other end of the coastal trail with the above view from the foot bridge. Obviously the sun was back. Fickle thing.

 

September 1 - Butter Pot Provincial Park, NL. (Edited to correct the date. Did you notice I typed "May"? What?)

 

We woke up to a sprinkle of rain but the weather was much like the day before - changeable. We headed toward St. John's but first we had to take a detour to Tickle Cove, the birthplace of Thom's maternal grandfather. We promised his mom that we'd go there and take photos for her. She's been to Newfoundland but it was on a tour so she wasn't able to take a side trip. It took us over 2 hours out of our way but it was fun!

 

We wandered among more of the lovely little coastal villages:

 

The early morning water was flat calm in the bays. We saw a sign that said "Watch for baby foxes on the road". Huh? Who would have thought we'd actually see them? I only caught one of the four gambolling about like puppies.

 

And then later on the same road we saw another fox only this one was black. Apparently they come in many different colours out here!

 

Tickle Cove is very small but quite beautiful. There are red rocks:

 

 

And a little wharf:

And Walker's Trail:

 

Thom went a little way on the trail but I wasn't feeling up to it so I made tea and coffee for us instead. We also hunted in the Anglican cemetery for his family's graves but no luck. There are several in the vicinity so it may be in a different place. We were running out of time and energy though so we headed back to the TCH. And yes, we did see the silly baby foxes again. Not the much warier black one however. I bet somebody has been feeding these beasts. They don't have nearly enough fear of people and cars.

 

 

Now we're in Butter Pot, named after the shape of the hill that we haven't hiked up yet. Sadly there's no wifi here. We're quite close to the city and we'll be staying here for 3 nights total. That gives us 2 days to check out St. John's and also to get some much-needed groceries. Hope my cold gives up soon! I hate feeling tired and crappy when there's so much to explore.