June 2, 2006

June 2, 2006

Cow Head, Gros Morne National Park to Quirpon, Newfoundland

YEAR 2 DAY 350

 

Today was sunny and mild.

Joanne's quote of the day : "Bakeapple jam and an iceberg ... what more could you ask for ?"

This morning I went into Sea Breeze B & B and used their phone line to get online to retrieve bank statements, and of course, send and retrieve e-mail and update my blog. We prepared for departure and left Sea Breeze B & B / RV Park in Cow Head, and headed north on Hwy. 430, travelling along the west coast of the Northern Peninsula. I wanted to stop in Port au Choix and explore the area, but Joanne thought it was a better strategy to drive all the way to the northern tip of the Northern Peninsula, then explore on the way back. We saw a Home Hardware in Plum Point, and knowing that they have water refill machines, we stopped to refill some water jugs, and buy milk. We stopped again in St. Barbe to refill with diesel, and get information on the Newfoundland to Labrador ferry. We picked up a ferry schedule at the ferry terminal, and were disappointed to find that the ferry schedules make it impractical for us to go to Labrador for a day trip without taking the trailer across on the ferry. We're going to have to pay to bring Harvey across with us to Labrador, and spend one overnight in Labrador.

We continued north on Hwy. 430, stopping for a late lunch at Flower's Cove. We stopped adjacent to a bakery, and they had bread coming out of the oven in 45 minutes. Perfect. We had lunch, then bought a loaf of bread as it was being taken out of the oven. MMMMM ! Almost at the tip of the peninsula, the road cuts across to the east side. We stopped at St. Lunaire-Griquet to shop for Newfoundland wild berry preserves at The Dark Tickle Company. We sampled bakeapple jam, partridgeberry jam, crowberry jam, and squashberry jam. Bakeapple jam won, hands down ! We didn't buy anything, though, because we knew there was another similar small business, Vinland Jams, just down the road at Gunners Cove. As we drove the short distance to Gunners Cove, I saw a car on the side of the road, with a woman standing beside the car, with a camera. As we passed, I turned to see what she was taking a photo of. HOLY COW ... AN ICEBERG ! ! ! I had to drive a few more km. to find a place to turn around, then we drove back to see the iceberg. But first, we stopped at Gillian's Jams, then Vinland Jams. Vinland had the best prices, so we bought a bunch of small jars of jams. We'll return tomorrow to The Dark Tickle Company, because they had something I want that neither Gillian's nor Vinland had. I want to buy some pickled rhubarb. I had it served with my salt cod cakes the other day in Bonavista.

There are many places here in Newfoundland that have "Tickle" in their name. My understanding is that "Tickle" is Newfie for fjord. Dark Tickle is so named because the high cliffs around the fjord block out the sunlight, making the water always appear dark.

We drove back to where the iceberg was visible. We pulled over as much as possible on the narrow road, and got out with binoculars to take a look. WOW ! It was pretty far away, but it was an iceberg ! Cross another item off my life's "to do" list !

We found our way to Viking RV Park in Quirpon, just a few miles from L'Anse aux Meadows, the site of the first Viking settlement in North America, about 1000 A.D.. We'll go there tomorrow. As we were setting up in our campsite, a car with Massachusetts license plates pulled in, and came over to ask some questions. It was a couple from Minneapolis, who flew into Boston, then rented a car to explore Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. They are tent camping, and came over to ask if we knew what the temperature was going to be tonight. On cold nights, they stay in B & B's. Most nights here at this time have been too cold for them to stay in their tent, but I lent them our electric heater and a long extension cord. Aren't I a nice fellow ?

While Joanne prepared supper, I cleaned up another cupboard mess. The bad roads in Newfoundland have resulted in daily spills and breakage in our cupboards. We've been travelling for almost 2 years, and have not experienced cupboard spills and breakage until Newfoundland. After supper I worked on today's journal entry and accounting, then worked on updating the investment files.

I just noticed as I was doing today's accounting, that on my diesel fuel purchase bill of $143.00, there are $42.90 worth of taxes !

DSK