Sea to Sea in Canada: On The Move

On June 1^st we left Paradise behind us with a loaded camper and van. I was surprised that we were able to pack everything that we had. Before leaving we had culled through the items that we brought with us and donated a large garbage bag of clothes and several large Costco bags overflowing with stuff that we had not used in the year and probably won't in the future. The only things that we purchased during the year were small things that could be packed easily. These are things that we use almost on a daily basis such as a blender, juicer, a mini crock pot, scale, and a sewing machine. We have put together several boxes of items that we will be leaving in Ontario in a storage area. That should also lighten the load. Since we will be returning t0 Ontario in November to stay for the winter we will leave some winter items that we will not be needing while travelling this summer.

Travelling across Newfoundland from Paradise to Port aux Basques should take no more than 2 days but we extended the time to 4 days so that we could visit several areas that we missed during the past year.

The first night we stayed in a camp ground by a beach. It had a sandy shore line
but the beach had colourdul stones on it. Notice the cloudy skies.

Stones on the beach -- all shapes, sizes and colours.

Fiddle heads growing around the camp site.

On our way across the island we saw this statue of a horse over the bay. Strange!
We also saw a total of 4 female moose and 2 caribou in the ditch at the side of
the road. Below you can see another kind of moose that we saw at someone's driveway.

Moose coming out from a bush at the road side.

A closer look at the strange moose.

In the village of Cupids on Conception Bay, we went to an archaeological dig where for years they have been digging up the small area that was first inhabited by John Guy in 1610. Cupids has also been known as Coopers, Copers Cove, Cupers Cover, and Cuperts. It is the oldest continuously settled official British colony in Canada. Cupids is believed to be the site of the first child born of European parents on the continent.

At the dig site we had a guided tour which was excellent -- full of information. There are several graves from the 1600's with plain stone markers and two elaborate head stones that were brought over from England. The "ghost" house has been built over the site of the original house. You can see the location of the fireplace, the cold storage room and where the livestock was kept. The staff was very knowledgeable and engaging. We quite enjoyed this stop.

Folk art on the side of the barn at the archaeological dig

This area of rock was found by the road across from the harbour. They think that
this is the foundation of a wharf in front of the settlement. The water in the 1600's
must have been quite higher because now the harbour water is across the road and
a small field.

Bev sitting in a carved out tree stump.

Several weeks ago we watched a movie about Amelia Earhart on Netflix. We did not realize that she started two Atlantic crossing flights from Newfoundland. The one where she was a passenger started in the St. John's area and her solo flight was from Harbour Grace. So we had to stop at Harbour Grace. At the entrance of the town three things are located which make this town a place to visit. First is the remains of the ship S.S. Kyle which is stuck in the middle of the river. It has been there for years and people have stripped the ship of most items leaving it as just a shell. Grass and moss are growing on most of the flat surfaces and I am sure that birds find this a great place to nest. The S.S. Kyle was a part of the alphabet fleet which was a fleet of vessels owned and operated by the Reid Newfoundland Company. The vessels were named in alphabetical order after places in Scotland. The ships were employed as coastal vessels to provide mail and passenger services to the remote communities of Newfoundland and Labrador. These vessels became the lifeline to these communities and were depicted in many paintings and folk songs of the country.

The ship was constructed in April 1912 in England. Though her primary use was the transportation of goods and passengers from Carbonear to Labrador, she also transported soldiers from Newfoundland to Canada during World War II, and was an icebreaker in the winter as she was equipped with a heavy front end designed for such purposes. She was known by Newfoundlanders as the "Bulldog of the North". While she may not have been the largest boat in the Reid Company's fleet, she was the fastest, and played an important role in ferrying passengers and cargo in Newfoundland and Labrador

Gull in the river

Sandpiper looking for food on the shoreline

Second, Harbour Grace is know as the place where Amelia Earhart left North America and flew across the Atlantic to Wales. Many pilots started from Harbour Grace because it was the closest place in North America to the European continent that also had fuel and aircraft mechanics available.

Monument of Amelia Earhart.
The plane behind the monument is the Spirit of Harbour Grace

The flight suit worn by Earhart

Log book with signature of Earhart, the pilot and the navigator for her passenger
flight across the Atlantic

The third sight in Harbour Grace is The Spirit of Harbour Grace which was given to the town in 1993 from the Pike family. Mr. Pike sincerely wishes that Harbour Grace will always receive the rightful recognition for the part it played in international aviation. The plane is displayed behind the monument of Earhart.

Newfoundland is filled with towns with strange names.
See blog post from May 12, 2016 "What's in a Name".

Our second night was at Terra Nova National Park, The Trans-Canada Highway runs through the park and it is well maintained, unlike many other portions of the TCH. Federal money keeps it that way. The camp ground is well kept and I know several people who camp there every summer. They have a visitor centre which has various displays on animal life. We have visited the centre several times over the past year.

Look carefully. You will see a grey jay waiting for me to drop some of my breakfast.

Bald Eagle and Owl at Terra Nova visitor centre

An otter greets you to the display room

The hands-on sea life tank holds a variety of marine life you would
see in Newfoundland -- a crab

Star Fish

Sea Urchin

We visited the Dover Fault. Millions of years ago, as portions of the earth's crust shifted, continents collided in ancient Newfoundland. The Dover Fault is a regional geological structure that forms the boundary of rocks that were once part of North Africa and/or Europe with rocks that formed the Appalachian Mountains, after the continental collision. In Newfoundland, the remnants of Africa and/or Europe occur east of the Dover Fault (the Avalon Zone) and the Appalachian rocks occur immediately west of the fault (the Gander Zone). The fault itself has a 200 to 500 metre width, and it extends from Dover on the island's northeast coast to Hermitage Bay on the south coast.

View from the top of the Dover Fault Lookout. More below.

View of the town looking down the stairs from the lookout

We visited Newtown hoping to visit the Barbour Living Heritage Village but it was closed. Not open for the season yet.

Quaint town of Newtown -- Harbour

Living Heritage Village

I am not sure why the miniature house but it was cute!

Stone figures in New Town

We stopped in Corner Brook to see the James Cook Monument. Although he was also a Captain, Cook was primarily a surveyor and honed his skills mapping the coastline of Newfoundland. In later years, he sailed to the South Pacific and did the same for Australia and New Zealand.

James Cook Monument

Our last night in Newfoundland we stayed at the same campground we had stayed in when we first arrived in Newfoundland, the J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park. I recall that a year ago we had to set up the camper at this park in pouring rain and this year, although it was not raining when we set up, the heavy rain had just stopped before we got to the park. We were in the site next to the one we were in last year. Deja vu!