Sea to Sea in Canada: Gros Morne National Park

On September 2, we arrived at Gros Morne National Park. For those that don't know about it, here is a link to a video that shows it at its best:

Gros Morne is on the west side of the island of Newfoundland and has almost everything an outdoor adventurist could hope to find. Although we didn't hike any of the dozens of trails, we did take a boat tour from Norris Point through Bonne Bay. We saw wonderful examples of the effects of millions of years of glaciers, erosion and the movement of the earth's crust. Truly, an experience everyone should have on their "bucket list"!

We stayed one night in Rocky Harbour at the Gros Morne RV Park. It was a very nice park. Most of the spots were surrounded with trees and bushes We spent the evening speaking with a couple from Windsor, Ontario and an elderly man from Newfoundland. We were sitting around a wood burning stove absorbing the heat as the night air was cooling. We played a little euchre. This was the first time we had played since we left Ontario and I was beginning to have withdrawal symptoms from not playing but we had a good game and even learned a new way to play two-handed euchre.

The next night we stayed in the Sea Breeze RV park in Cow Head that was really a gravel parking lot beside a B & B. We had water and electricity and we were close to the Gros Morne Theatre where we had tickets for a play. The play was called, "Our Fanny". The Director notes stated: "Mrs. Browning, Lady Davidson's secretary and Dr. Patterson's wife were at the station to meet me. You can imagine what I felt like. They were dressed to kill and I had on my flake boots and old blue coat." These are some of the first words written by Frances Cluett of Belleoroam, Newfoundland to her mother as she started her journey into World War I, one hundred years ago this summer. In 1916, she joined the Volunteer Aid Department and was shipped overseas to London, ultimately serving for four years at the 10th General Hospital in Rouen, France, Before long, she was writing, "Many a bedside I stood by and watched the last breath, with rats rushing beneath the bed..." Women were very much a part of the war and often at the very heart of the horror and terror as they nursed the boys who returned maimed and dying. The letters give a remarkable view of that world and bringing those words to life. We read between the lines and arrive with Fanny to her conclusion that, "This is a very wicked world..." Her letters home detailed the horrors and heartbreak she witnessed and revealed how her humour and resilience captured the love and loyalty of all she encountered. It was an interesting play which showed how useless war really is.

Here are some picture of Gros Morne:

Gros Morne landscape while on a Bon Tours sightseeing boat tour of Bonne Bay. This tour was great!
The tour guides were very knowledgeable and put a lot of good humour into
their presentation. They hand out binoculars for everyone to use. On the way back
to shore they took everyone downstairs for a musical session of Newfoundland songs.
Highly recommend this tour.

Nice green landscape

Water falls

Town of Woody Point

Lighthouse at Woody Point

Small house called a salt box. The roof has a very low pitch which helps
with keeping the cold out during the winter months

Parks Canada: Connect with nature in the country’s most unique and treasured places.
Whether it’s a place to rest after a leisurely stroll or to cheer your successful completion of a strenuous hike, our red chairs offer a place to slow down and relax.
Here are 2 red Muskoka chairs way up at the top of a mountain overlooking the beautiful landscape in Gros Morne.

Along the coast

One of several secluded beaches

A lot of steps!

Bald Eagle

Unique layering of rock with small caves

These sedimentary rocks were heaved up from the horizontal due to shifting of the earth.

Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse

Closer view of the Lighthouse

Bev and Al in front of the only "moose" we saw on the trip

The Wreck of the S.S. Ethie: Down on the beach along the coast you can see the bits and pieces of the remains of the S.S. Ethie which was one of the Alphabet Fleet. It is kind of eerie walking along the shore seeing all the rusted parts of a ship that have been there for almost 100 years.

The SS Ethie was built at Glasgow, Scotland in 1900 and was 155 feet long and 439 tonnes. The ship was used for the Labrador to St. Barbe run, the same ferry route that we sailed a few days earlier. On December 11, 1919 she sunk at Martin's Point, about 32 km from Bonne Bay. The passengers and crew were rescued in a dramatic rescue by means of a boson's chair and a rope.

Below are photos we took of the S.S Ethie wreck: