Since Bill and Deborah arrived a week ago we have done a ton of walking and hiking and had three feeds of cod! When they arrived last Wednesday we walked from the marina to downtown Cornerbrook (no small feat - it took us an hour and fifteen minutes at a fast clip - but it was good training for what was to come) and had fish and chips - our first feed.
Saturday marked the start of three weeks of open cod fishing here in Newfoundland - with a limit of 5 fish per person and 15 fish per boat. Saturday morning at Woods Island, a couple of locals gave us some of their catch, which Bill cooked up that night for supper - our second feed. And then a couple of days ago on our way from Woody Point back to Norris point, Bill went off in the dinghy to try his luck jigging - and came back with his limit of 5 - and we had fish tacos for supper last night.
We left the marina in Cornerbrook on Thursday, stocked up with groceries, and headed for Woods Island, one of the few places in Bay of Islands that has a well protected harbour. The yacht club has put floating wharves in there, so we tied up and went to explore. The island was lovely and we saw all kinds of incredible wild flowers and huge mushrooms, as well as a bunch of cabins. Woods Island was once the biggest community in the bay, but was re-settled in the 50's, which meant all the permanent residents moved off the island, so only cabins are left. One of them, across the bay, was blown over in a storm, and is now upside down, sitting on its roof! We met some of the locals and learned some history of the island, which has a moose population of about 30 (we saw lots of tracks on the trails), and did have one permanent resident up until this winter, when he and a couple of his goats died.
Because of the weather, we spent two nights at Woods Island, so on Friday we took a big walk down to the other end of the island on the 'road', which is used by 'quads' - the only mode of transportation here (other than the dories which people use to get here). We had some great views of the bay and saw lots of the island. That evening a couple of other pleasure boats arrived so we chatted with them to get some local knowledge about where to go. One skipper of a sailboat told us that Bay of Islands is a very challenging place to sail as the wind goes from 5 knots to 35 knots sometimes around all the big hills and long bays. There are not a lot of sheltered anchorages and the water is really deep - 150 to 600 feet. It's strange, because at home in the Northumberland Strait 40 feet is fairly deep water, but here we are starting to get nervous because it is so shallow!
The weather has been quite cold - the locals say unseasonably so. One fellow who was wearing shorts on the wharf in Woods Island says he puts them on May 24th for the summer - but I noticed that evening even he had pants on. It's like fall sailing here - we are bundled up in all kinds of layers and we take them on and off as we go in and out of the wind, or the sun comes out.
Saturday morning we left Woods Island to head up Middle Arm to Goose Arm to anchor for the night. We found out later, from another crew from Nova Scotia who was at Woods Island Saturday night, that we missed a kitchen party, which would have been great fun. Instead we went for a walk up the road at the head of Goose Arm and spent a quiet night at anchor there.
The next day we got up at 5 a.m. to make the trip up to Bonne Bay. It was drizzling rain and there was quite a wind going out of Bay of Islands, but it was in a good direction, so we were able to sail. The coast going up to Bonne Bay was very beautiful and we had great views of Trout River and Green Gardens, which we found out later are part of Gros Morne Park. Bill and I were trying to figure out why there were a couple of red deck chairs out on a point in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere but when we got to the park we found out they have these chairs in 17 different locations throughout the park and they are encouraging people to take photos and submit them for a contest.
We arrived in Bonne Bay, which is the centre for Grose Morne Park, in the early afternoon and anchored in a little harbour called Neddies Harbour, just north of Norris Point. It's one of the few places with protection from most wind directions, an important consideration with the winds around here. Ashore, we got some information about the park and some local knowledge about the trails, and went for a short hike around Burnt Point, the hill that protects Neddies Harbour.
We wanted to explore the park, and our first goal was to hike Gros Morne Mountain (elevation 806 m or 2643 ft). We prepped on Sunday night and then on Monday morning we set off in the dinghy to head up towards the trail head. We didn't even get out of the harbour when we figured out it was going to be far too rough to dinghy up, so we reverted to Plan B - call the local taxi service to get a ride. Less than half an hour later, a friendly local named Derek picked us up and drove us to the trail head, and we set off on the hike at 9:30 - a bit later than planned, but still early enough to complete the 16 km 6-8 hour trail well before dark.
It was a beautiful, if strenuous hike. We started up through the forest and hiked 4 km to the start of the loop on the steep part of the mountain. The first section was just over a one hour scramble up a rocky gully to the ridge at the top of the mountain. Unfortunately when we got to the peak it was clouded over, so we didn't have the great views you would have when it was clear, however the hike down the other side gave us some pretty spectacular views of 10 Mile Pond, with a beautiful lake in a hanging valley with a waterfall over the cliff. We had our lunch there and continued down the back side of the mountain until we completed the loop and went back down the trail we started on. The terrain and flora were diverse, the trail was well maintained and it was a really lovely hike. We completed it in just under 7 hours and we were all pretty tired out by the end of it. That evening we all had 'wash cloth showers' and treated ourselves to dinner out at a great little restaurant not far from the boat called Justin Thyme. The mussels were amazing and we all had seafood for our main.
The weather has been key to planning our days, and has been quite unpredictable, so we have basically been coming up with a tentative plan and then adjusting as we see fit when we wake up in the morning. Tuesday we had originally thought we didn't want to do much of a hike so we could get a rest, but we all felt pretty good, so we took Romana across to Woody Point (only 3 miles) and tied up to the public wharf there for the day. We walked up to the park's Discovery Centre, where they had some interesting exhibits, and hiked the Lookout Trail, which had been recommended to us. Great views of Bonne Bay and tons of pitcher plants - which get their nutrients from bugs as opposed to the soil. We watched a film about the park when we got back and then stopped to get some groceries and rum at Pete's One Stop, which really was!
I wasn't really prepared for provisioning here - it's a bit like the Bahamas in that the stores have fresh stuff when the truck comes, but as the week goes on their stock dwindles. Luckily Pete's was pretty well stocked, so we got enough essentials to get us through for a few days.
Yesterday we decided to do something kind of bizarre for people staying on a boat, and we went for a boat trip! The boat trip up the fjord of Western Brook Pond is one of the iconic things to do in the park, so we decided to go for it. The Pond is no longer connected to the sea, so to get in you walk over the bog for about 40 minutes and then the boat takes you for a tour. The boats were brought in over the bog in the winter, or brought in by helicopter in pieces and then assembled on site.
We called up the taxi company and our friend Derek picked us up and drove us up to Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse, which we wanted to see first. He gave us a tour of Rocky Harbour, including a drive into his yard and a stop at his brother's inn, where he showed us around. We got to the lighthouse just as a tour started, so we learned a lot about the lighthouse and the history of the area. Unfortunately we were a bit pressed for time, as we had reserved the 3 p.m. tour on the boat, so we had a quick look around the lighthouse and then hoofed it back down to Rocky Harbour (a brisk 45 minute walk) to get some lunch before Derek picked us up to drive us to Western Brook. We had lunch at the Sunset Cafe, recommended by Derek and Dave and I had delicious moose stew, while Bill and Deborah had the crab sandwiches. We all finished up with homemade carrot cake - a good feed of local homestyle cooking.
The walk through the bog to the Pond was pretty, with tons of wildflowers and the cliffs of the fjord in the distance. When we got on the boat we went to the bow, which meant we stood for the entire two hour trip, but we had great views. It was quite windy, we were heading into it and the pond was very choppy, so the occasional wave splashed up and sprayed the people in the bow, but it was fresh water and after the first splash we got smart about staying out of the way. The boat was very capable, and the trip was smooth, with lots of information about the Pond and the rock formations and views of the various waterfalls. The flow through the pond is so small that it takes 15 years for the water to fully change over! And the water is so pure that they had problems measuring levels in the water tanks at the buildings because it wouldn't conduct electricity. We hiked back out from the pond and at 6 p.m. Derek picked us up and drove us back to the boat, with a stop on the coast to have a look at the 'beach' - a long mound of smooth stones piled up beside the coastline.
Today it is windy and rainy. We are all down below reading, writing etc. right now. I hope to go into shore at some point and find some wifi so that I can post this blog - if you are reading it then I managed that!
Saturday marked the start of three weeks of open cod fishing here in Newfoundland - with a limit of 5 fish per person and 15 fish per boat. Saturday morning at Woods Island, a couple of locals gave us some of their catch, which Bill cooked up that night for supper - our second feed. And then a couple of days ago on our way from Woody Point back to Norris point, Bill went off in the dinghy to try his luck jigging - and came back with his limit of 5 - and we had fish tacos for supper last night.
We left the marina in Cornerbrook on Thursday, stocked up with groceries, and headed for Woods Island, one of the few places in Bay of Islands that has a well protected harbour. The yacht club has put floating wharves in there, so we tied up and went to explore. The island was lovely and we saw all kinds of incredible wild flowers and huge mushrooms, as well as a bunch of cabins. Woods Island was once the biggest community in the bay, but was re-settled in the 50's, which meant all the permanent residents moved off the island, so only cabins are left. One of them, across the bay, was blown over in a storm, and is now upside down, sitting on its roof! We met some of the locals and learned some history of the island, which has a moose population of about 30 (we saw lots of tracks on the trails), and did have one permanent resident up until this winter, when he and a couple of his goats died.
Because of the weather, we spent two nights at Woods Island, so on Friday we took a big walk down to the other end of the island on the 'road', which is used by 'quads' - the only mode of transportation here (other than the dories which people use to get here). We had some great views of the bay and saw lots of the island. That evening a couple of other pleasure boats arrived so we chatted with them to get some local knowledge about where to go. One skipper of a sailboat told us that Bay of Islands is a very challenging place to sail as the wind goes from 5 knots to 35 knots sometimes around all the big hills and long bays. There are not a lot of sheltered anchorages and the water is really deep - 150 to 600 feet. It's strange, because at home in the Northumberland Strait 40 feet is fairly deep water, but here we are starting to get nervous because it is so shallow!
The weather has been quite cold - the locals say unseasonably so. One fellow who was wearing shorts on the wharf in Woods Island says he puts them on May 24th for the summer - but I noticed that evening even he had pants on. It's like fall sailing here - we are bundled up in all kinds of layers and we take them on and off as we go in and out of the wind, or the sun comes out.
Saturday morning we left Woods Island to head up Middle Arm to Goose Arm to anchor for the night. We found out later, from another crew from Nova Scotia who was at Woods Island Saturday night, that we missed a kitchen party, which would have been great fun. Instead we went for a walk up the road at the head of Goose Arm and spent a quiet night at anchor there.
The next day we got up at 5 a.m. to make the trip up to Bonne Bay. It was drizzling rain and there was quite a wind going out of Bay of Islands, but it was in a good direction, so we were able to sail. The coast going up to Bonne Bay was very beautiful and we had great views of Trout River and Green Gardens, which we found out later are part of Gros Morne Park. Bill and I were trying to figure out why there were a couple of red deck chairs out on a point in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere but when we got to the park we found out they have these chairs in 17 different locations throughout the park and they are encouraging people to take photos and submit them for a contest.
We arrived in Bonne Bay, which is the centre for Grose Morne Park, in the early afternoon and anchored in a little harbour called Neddies Harbour, just north of Norris Point. It's one of the few places with protection from most wind directions, an important consideration with the winds around here. Ashore, we got some information about the park and some local knowledge about the trails, and went for a short hike around Burnt Point, the hill that protects Neddies Harbour.
We wanted to explore the park, and our first goal was to hike Gros Morne Mountain (elevation 806 m or 2643 ft). We prepped on Sunday night and then on Monday morning we set off in the dinghy to head up towards the trail head. We didn't even get out of the harbour when we figured out it was going to be far too rough to dinghy up, so we reverted to Plan B - call the local taxi service to get a ride. Less than half an hour later, a friendly local named Derek picked us up and drove us to the trail head, and we set off on the hike at 9:30 - a bit later than planned, but still early enough to complete the 16 km 6-8 hour trail well before dark.
It was a beautiful, if strenuous hike. We started up through the forest and hiked 4 km to the start of the loop on the steep part of the mountain. The first section was just over a one hour scramble up a rocky gully to the ridge at the top of the mountain. Unfortunately when we got to the peak it was clouded over, so we didn't have the great views you would have when it was clear, however the hike down the other side gave us some pretty spectacular views of 10 Mile Pond, with a beautiful lake in a hanging valley with a waterfall over the cliff. We had our lunch there and continued down the back side of the mountain until we completed the loop and went back down the trail we started on. The terrain and flora were diverse, the trail was well maintained and it was a really lovely hike. We completed it in just under 7 hours and we were all pretty tired out by the end of it. That evening we all had 'wash cloth showers' and treated ourselves to dinner out at a great little restaurant not far from the boat called Justin Thyme. The mussels were amazing and we all had seafood for our main.
The weather has been key to planning our days, and has been quite unpredictable, so we have basically been coming up with a tentative plan and then adjusting as we see fit when we wake up in the morning. Tuesday we had originally thought we didn't want to do much of a hike so we could get a rest, but we all felt pretty good, so we took Romana across to Woody Point (only 3 miles) and tied up to the public wharf there for the day. We walked up to the park's Discovery Centre, where they had some interesting exhibits, and hiked the Lookout Trail, which had been recommended to us. Great views of Bonne Bay and tons of pitcher plants - which get their nutrients from bugs as opposed to the soil. We watched a film about the park when we got back and then stopped to get some groceries and rum at Pete's One Stop, which really was!
I wasn't really prepared for provisioning here - it's a bit like the Bahamas in that the stores have fresh stuff when the truck comes, but as the week goes on their stock dwindles. Luckily Pete's was pretty well stocked, so we got enough essentials to get us through for a few days.
Yesterday we decided to do something kind of bizarre for people staying on a boat, and we went for a boat trip! The boat trip up the fjord of Western Brook Pond is one of the iconic things to do in the park, so we decided to go for it. The Pond is no longer connected to the sea, so to get in you walk over the bog for about 40 minutes and then the boat takes you for a tour. The boats were brought in over the bog in the winter, or brought in by helicopter in pieces and then assembled on site.
We called up the taxi company and our friend Derek picked us up and drove us up to Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse, which we wanted to see first. He gave us a tour of Rocky Harbour, including a drive into his yard and a stop at his brother's inn, where he showed us around. We got to the lighthouse just as a tour started, so we learned a lot about the lighthouse and the history of the area. Unfortunately we were a bit pressed for time, as we had reserved the 3 p.m. tour on the boat, so we had a quick look around the lighthouse and then hoofed it back down to Rocky Harbour (a brisk 45 minute walk) to get some lunch before Derek picked us up to drive us to Western Brook. We had lunch at the Sunset Cafe, recommended by Derek and Dave and I had delicious moose stew, while Bill and Deborah had the crab sandwiches. We all finished up with homemade carrot cake - a good feed of local homestyle cooking.
The walk through the bog to the Pond was pretty, with tons of wildflowers and the cliffs of the fjord in the distance. When we got on the boat we went to the bow, which meant we stood for the entire two hour trip, but we had great views. It was quite windy, we were heading into it and the pond was very choppy, so the occasional wave splashed up and sprayed the people in the bow, but it was fresh water and after the first splash we got smart about staying out of the way. The boat was very capable, and the trip was smooth, with lots of information about the Pond and the rock formations and views of the various waterfalls. The flow through the pond is so small that it takes 15 years for the water to fully change over! And the water is so pure that they had problems measuring levels in the water tanks at the buildings because it wouldn't conduct electricity. We hiked back out from the pond and at 6 p.m. Derek picked us up and drove us back to the boat, with a stop on the coast to have a look at the 'beach' - a long mound of smooth stones piled up beside the coastline.
Today it is windy and rainy. We are all down below reading, writing etc. right now. I hope to go into shore at some point and find some wifi so that I can post this blog - if you are reading it then I managed that!