maritimes 3

the ferry ride is over and it was good. they had entertainers - a couple of guys from NL, one on guitar and one on squeeze box. told stories/jokes and played some great tunes, the trip went by quickly.

you arrive in NL at Port Aux Basques (houses pic above taken from ferry as we arrived) on the southwest corner of the island. generally from there there is one road that makes a semi-cicle loop of the island to St. John's in the southest corner (905 km). there is a ferry that runs from close to St. Johns, but only once a week in Sept, it is a 14 hour trip and is very expensive. so choice is basically to drive as far as you want, turn around and drive back again. in our typical non-planning we had no idea where we would go. first night camping (provincial park near Port Aux Basques, see beach pic above) I was talking to a couple from Ontario who were familiar with the island and recommended a place they loved that was almost all the way to St. John's. Later was talking to the park employee, who had overheard this, and he advised another place, said the drive around was pretty monotonous and north was better. Since he was a local, we are now going up the northern peninsula, presumably to see whales, a Viking settlement and maybe a late season iceberg!

next 2 nights were in "Blow Me Down Provincial Park. Place was great but weather sucked. Did a 7 km hike one day, for those of you who remember the Qidi Vidi hike, it was like that only wetter (see Monique pic above, this was early in the hike). Scenery was phenomonal (town thru trees above is Lark Harbour, pic taken near end of trail) but trail was a mud pit and bushes and trees that lined it were a source of more water than that falling from the sky. All told though, we really enjoyed it.

Next day was drive to Gros Morne National Park. At a gas station was chatting with a guy from Smithers , BC who recommended a place to stay further north. Campers a a very social bunch. I now sit in a campground in Rocky Harbour. plan is for a 10 km hike tomorrow followed by a pub night with Newfie entertainment and then to a new campsite Saturday for more hiking. In the "small world" category, we met a couple in the campgound who are from Carmen, MB (close to Portage where Monique and I grew up) but who just moved from Innisfail (close to Red Deer) and prior to that from Portage. Monique and I know their son from high school, a year older than us but some common friends.....too weird. Anyway, they had just come back from where we are going so got some more advice on places to stay/see.

loving Newfoundland, hoping for a few more days of good weather to keep enjoying. Hope everyone else is doing great!