Seabbatical Adventures: Day 42, Saturday August 3rd, Gros Morne day 1

Day 42, Saturday August 3^rd Rocky Harbour

We try to get an early start on our 1^st morning in Newfoundland, but do not get going till mid morning due to our late arrival the night before. The accommodations we have are quite nice and are the 2^nd story of a new purpose built guest house. The view is as good as you would expect, overlooking Rocky Harbour with the Lobster Cove light house across the bay. The accommodations are a two bedroom so it requires that Kevin sleep on the coach, not a big inconvenience for Julie, Roma or I.

Roma, Julie and Kevin on the way in to Western Brook Pond

By 10:30 we are making our way out to Kevin’s truck for our 1^st day of touring Gros Morne. We have two main activities scheduled for the day. The 1^st one is a boat tour of a fresh water fjord and the 2^nd a dinner theatre. We head north from Rocky Harbour up to Western Brook Pond which is the location of the boat tour. It is a 3 km hike into the Pond, the day is overcast but the rain is holding off so we think we are good, unfortunately upon our arrival at the Pond we find out that the boat trips have been cancelled due to the visibility or I should say lack of visibility.

Kevin at Western Brook Pond

Julie and Roma on the way out

We are somewhat disappointed as this excursion was recommended to us by Alan and Karen who did it last year and loved it. We decide to have lunch, look around and then head back to the truck. As we are having lunch the last tour of the day comes in and gets a refund for the tour. They could not see anything. With the sun shining the views are stunning but we will have to wait for another time.

Remains of the SS Ethie

Our next scheduled event is a dinner theatre at the north end of the park in the village of Cow Head about a 1 hour drive north of where we are. Our plan now is to make our way up to Cow Head stopping along the way at the various park sites along the way. Our 1^st stop is at the wreck of the SS Ethie, one of the steam ships which provided service along the Western Coast of Newfoundland prior to roads. There is not much left of the wreck as it happened in 1911.

Song sheet of the Wreck of the Steamship Ethie

Our stop here is quite fitting as the play we are going to see in Cow Head is based on this event. No one died in the wreck with everyone being safely taken ashore by rope, after the boat was run aground with help of the local fishers. The rescue features the fact that a baby was sent ashore in a mail bag.

Bill describing a Cod Trap

From here we move further up the coast with our next stop being Broom Point which features a hike out to the coast and an interpretive centre setup in a summer fishing camp. The coast of Newfoundland is dotted with these camps. They are used by the local fishers from April till September, originally focused on Cod and salmon fishing the catch has moved over to shell fish – lobster and Crab. The site has a fish shed and small home on it. We catch a presentation by one of Parks Canada employees who describes the fishery and the life style. The home is about 600 sq ft and was the summer home for 10 people (3 families).

Dawson and Kevin hike at Broome Point

Our next stop is Cow Head, and we have time for a good look around. Cow Head has a nice beach and small community c/w harbour.

Cow Head harbour

We take in the dinner theatre at the local hotel and thoroughly enjoy it. The play is excellent and food good. By 8:00 we are out of the play and stop at the local grocery store to pick up some items for breakfast. It is here in Cow Head that we start our search for yogurt as we have become accustom to having our cereal with yogurt but no luck we will have to keep looking. We do meet some of the cast members from the play as they are in buying some beer for the after performance party.

We start the drive back to Rocky Harbour around dusk which is the time when the moose are on the move.Moose are an introduced species to Newfoundland but have adapted well and now are a concern for drivers especially at dusk and dawn.However our 1^stwildlife encounter is with a caribou not a moose.The Caribou runs right across the road and into the ditch providing us with an excellent view of his arse. About 2 kms down the road the oncoming car flashes his lights at us, a sign there are moose ahead, and sure enough there is a cow and her calf munching away at the side of the road.We pull over get some pictures and move on.A further 5 kms. down the road another moose crosses the road in front of us. Not bad 3 moose and a caribou sighting all in less than 10 kms. We make it back to Rocky Harbour without further excitement.