May 26, 2006

May 26, 2006

Witless Bay to Bellevue Beach, Newfoundland

YEAR 2 DAY 343

 

Today was sunny and cold. Cape Spear was windy. Signal Hill was extremely windy !

Today we went to "town", which is how everybody in the entire province of Newfoundland refers to the city of St. John's. It's pronounced something like "tawen". I'm not very good at speaking with a Newfie accent. Joanne, on the other hand, is very good at it.

This morning we prepared for departure and left Felix's RV Park in Witless Bay. While I refilled the fresh water tank, Joanne took Bo for an off leash obedience session. He doesn't do as well with her, especially off leash. We drove north on Hwy. 10, then east on Hwy. 11 through the very quaint little villages of Petty Harbour and Maddox Cove to Cape Spear. Through the villages, the road was so narrow it was almost just one lane. Getting through with the rig was a bit difficult.

We parked at Cape Spear and walked ( mostly uphill ) to the 1836 lighthouse on site. The 1953 lighthouse is still operational. The 1836 lighthouse is restored to the period. We paid the overpriced guided tour fee and took a guided tour. Then we walked all around the grounds. There is an old gun battery from the second world war, established to protect St. John's Harbour. The most easterly point in North America is noted. I took a lot of pictures. We did a lot of walking around, much of it uphill and downhill.

We had lunch in the parking lot, then drove down into St. John's ( a.k.a. "town" ), and found our way to Signal Hill. One thing we note about Newfoundland is the absence of signage directing tourists to the attractions. We just had to stumble around St. John's Harbour area, looking up at what we surmised must be Signal Hill, and finding our way there by trial and error. Easier said than done when towing a 30 foot trailer !

Signal Hill is where Marconi received the first wireless transmission from across the Atlantic. We walked around, Bo included, looking at Cabot Tower on Signal Hill, and looking down into St. John's Harbour, the Harbour Narrows, and the city. Bo was exuberant ! We don't know why, he's just like that sometimes. The wind was fierce up on Signal Hill.

We drove down from Signal Hill into "town", then across the city back to the Trans Canada Highway. Just at the edge of the city, we stopped at Islander RV and I bought some RV supplies I needed, including the slide hardware for the cutlery drawer. We headed south, then east, then northeast on TCH 1. As we were driving, Lorri phoned. Joanne chatted with her briefly, but lost the cell signal and the call dropped. We drove to the narrow isthmus that connects the Avalon Peninsula to the main part of Newfoundland, turned onto Hwy. 201, and found our way to Bellevue Beach Park, at Bellevue Beach on Tickle Bay.

We registered, got set up in our site, then went for a walk to the beach. While Joanne prepared supper, I downloaded and processed today's photos. After supper I did today's accounting, then worked on today's journal entry.

We've just returned from a sunset walk, through the campground, down a trail through the woods to the beach, then along the pebble beach. We watched the sun set behind the cliffs. The bay was calm. The surf was crashing gently onto the pebble beach. Sea gulls were making sea gull sounds. A very lovely and romantic moment. I looked out across the water, and to the cliffs, and felt very privileged. We found Conch shells and Sand Dollars on the beach. Didn't know either one existed on the Atlantic this far north.

My sister phoned, returning my call from yesterday. She was a bit confused about how many time zones away we are, and what time it was here.

My backache persists.

DSK