Wednesday 10 June. Gander

We were very happy to say goodbye to our awful b&b this morning and hit the road for the start of our return to St Johns. About an hour along the way we turned off to Rattling Brook. “Iceberg finder” had shown me an iceberg there a few days ago but the weather was too foul to even consider going there. Then the lady in the Visitor Centre suggested we stop off on our return trip, so stop we did.

This iceberg was a good size and really close to the shore so once again we went a bit silly with photos. There are currently 106 icebergs around the shores of Newfoundland. A couple of kilometres down the road is the settlement of King’s Point and a little cafe on the shore where we had a snack. As we were leaving we caught another glimpse of the iceberg and stopped for more photos.

Then it was back to the Trans Canada Highway for about 200 more kilometres, many of which were done at 40 kph through kilometre after kilometre of roadworks. Fortunately we only had drizzling rain today, mostly in the morning.

After checking into our hotel we drove to the Gander Airport to see where the planes landed after 9/11. There was an excellent display about that and also the history of the airport. A lot of Communist aircraft refuelled there en route to Cuba because they couldn’t land in the USA and quite a number of people defected. We had a drink and a snack in the restaurant and chatted to a woman who was on her way home to Labrador. She told us about a time a few years ago when the temperature went down to -100 degrees for a couple of days.

It turned out to be an interesting day and almost certainly our last iceberg.

Tuesday 9 June. Deer Lake

Lovely weather and a most enjoyable day today. We decided to go to Corner Brook, where we would complete our coast to coast journey. 

Not long after we set out we came to roadworks and a queue of traffic that stretched at least a kilometre in either direction. They had cut a huge chunk out of the road at least 3 metres deep, which had to be refilled. Each direction took turns to go through the one lane that was left.  There were more roadworks and a similar chunk cut out further on. Fortunately we’re on holidays and not in a hurry, but we did decide not to go beyond Corner Brook in case we were seriously held up on the way home.

The closer we got to our destination the more spectacular the scenery and Lorraine took some great photos which she has shared with me. It was quite mountainous with deep, lake-filled valleys and a ski run off to our left. The rocky mountain-sides were awesome. Over a huge hill where it looked like the road would send us sailing into the sky and then down to the town of Corner Brook, nestled in the Bay of Islands. It is the largest town on the west coast. 

Our lovely GPS took us up another large hill to the Captain Cook Memorial, which has a brilliant view over the bay and a lot of information about Cook’s time in Newfoundland,  charting and surveying the coast over a period of about 5 years.

I had done a little research and after all our cafe failures we found a great one today on the edge of the harbour, with tables and chairs on a deck overlooking the water. It was actually warm enough to sit outside too. We had a long and interesting chat with an ex Canadian Army soldier who explained a lot about Newfoundland’s role in the world wars. It did not become a part of Canada till 1949, so well after the war.

Before we headed home we made a little stop at Walmart to satisfy Lorraine’s need for the Fruit of the Loom. Then it was back onto the Trans Canada Highway and through that gorgeous scenery. We were really lucky with the roadworks as there were way fewer cars on the road at that time of day and we made good time.

This evening we dined at “Off the Hook”, the place to go for fresh fish. I had the scallop meal and Lorraine had cod bites. Dessert was a soft serve cone at the local ice cream shop, which was doing a roaring trade on this summery evening.

Neither of us are hungry now!

Monday 8 June. Deer Lake

 The rain had pretty much stopped when we got up this morning so we were able to go down the track to the falls by our chalet. Beside the falls is a fish ladder for the salmon to climb in order to spawn. The mixture of pine and birches with their new leaves is what we have been seeing all along the roads.

Our journey today was only about 100 km so we took a side road to a tiny village called  The Beaches. It was about 3 degrees, windy and drizzly, so not the most appealing of beaches. For most of the drive the highway was in much better condition than yesterday’s trip, so despite constant drizzle it was a happier experience. 

We didn’t have a definite check in time for the Bird’s Nest B&B but when we pulled up to have a look Gordon, the owner, arrived at the same time and showed us to our room.

I had a lot of trouble finding accommodation here when I was doing the bookings late last year. Lots of places weren’t responding and I suspect they may have been closed for the winter. In the end I had to phone Gordon to secure this place, which is not quite in the league of last night’s luxury.

After bringing in our luggage we headed off for lunch at The Big Truck Stop, Gordon’s recommendation because we didn’t want one of the chain eateries. Had a nice roast beef lunch featuring jus plus gravy. Gravy is definitely a Newfoundland thing.

We then went to the only bank in town to get some cash, as Gordon doesn’t take cards. Unfortunately the bank didn’t like any of our cards despite much help from the nice bank lady who promised to retrieve our cards if the machine swallowed them. Next we went to the supermarket but their atm was kaputt. The bank lady had suggested getting gift cards to the value needed but we weren’t too sure about that. The lovely girl at the cash register was going to give us cash out if we bought something but her machine didn’t like us either. When we reported our problem to Gordon he suggested the atm at the truck stop.

After a little visit to the Deer Lake beach we returned to the Big Truck Stop and, lo and behold, the atm was happy to supply cash, despite coming from the same bank that had refused us earlier. So we can pay Gordon for our stay tomorrow at breakfast.

By lunchtime the weather had improved greatly so our visit to the Deer Lake beach included a walk on the sand and some almost sunny photos. The long white building by the shore is a hydro electric power station that supplies energy to a big paper mill and the white stuff on the hills is snow. We had hoped to find a nice little cafe somewhere in the town but the only two possibilities were not open. One opens on Saturdays and I think the other was from Wednesdays on. We have completely given up on the whole idea of cafe culture here.

The weather forecast for tomorrow looks promising.

Sunday 7 June. Springdale

At last, on my fourth trip to Canada I have seen a moose, in fact two!! An adult and a baby. Cars coming the other way were flashing their lights at us and at first we assumed an accident and then suddenly I realised it might be moose on the road and I asked Lorraine to grab my phone and be ready. There they were by the side of the road but we couldn’t stop or even slow down too much with cars right behind us. She brilliantly managed to get a photo of the baby. So at last, my moose quest is done and I’m a happy camper.

For the first hour or so of today’s drive it was overcast but dry. However we knew rain was coming and it did. It hasn’t stopped since! Normally wet roads are annoying but not too bothersome but today’s drive was horrible, especially once we got onto the Trans Canada Highway where the speed goes up to 100kph. There are very few sections of divided road but there are passing lanes at regular intervals, which gave the cars behind me a chance to get by our slow car. As I’ve already mentioned there are virtually no guard rails except where you could go over a cliff into the water. For most of the journey there are large drops beside the road, which is built up high, possibly for snow. The whole road has two ruts caused by very heavy vehicles and these collect water so you are trying to stay in your lane but stay out of the ruts. This is not possible so there are often huge waves of water coming up. This is even worse if a large truck is going the other way. The splash blinds you for a moment. We were moving along at a reasonable (safe) speed but not as fast as most of the traffic. About 30 km before Springdale we came upon flashing red and blue lights and had to stop. A car had gone off the road and was lying on its side. There were police, ambulance and fire brigade on the scene and directing traffic. I bet a lot of people continued their journeys at a slower pace after that.

Our first break was at Tim Horton’s, where the coffee and hot chocolate machine had broken down. We’ve ticked that one off the list and don’t intend ever going back. Next break was at Robyn’s, which has been our favourite so far and there we had some chicken noodle soup. After driving all the way through Springdale we finally found Wing-it, which specializes in chicken wings but has other things as well. We had a late lunch there as we couldn’t check in to our chalet until 4.00. There was not a cosy cafe to be seen.

At last we were able to settle in to our very lovely chalet, which is next to the river at the top of the falls. Our big windows look right over the river. We’d love to explore it but the rain hasn’t let up so we have our fingers crossed for the morning. We only have one night here so will have to get out there early tomorrow.

Saturday 6 June. Twillingate

Big news! A humongous piece has broken off one of those icebergs. We have blue sky and warm weather today so we went out to the point for another look at the icebergs in sunny conditions. Where yesterday there were two big ones, today there were three but the first one was a different shape and what was a big pointy bit was today lying on its side a short distance away. It would really be something to have seen that come off. I’ll put in a photo from yesterday and one from today to compare.

We knew the weather today was going to be lovely, much better for a boat trip, but it was booked out so we took what we could get. The blue sky and blue water today made the icebergs look even brighter and it was nice out at the point.

Jenny asked about the size of the icebergs but I’m no good at estimating so I’ll also include a photo with the boat in to give some idea.

The icebergs take about 3 years to get here from Greenland, travelling about 17 kilometres a day, and 90% is under water. They are made from compacted snow and are about 10,000 years old. The blue color is highly compressed ice that contains no air bubbles.

Today we lunched at Pier 39. Lorraine had a sensational lobster bisque and I had a garlicky, cheesy shrimp dish. We both followed with a lobster roll, this one in a croissant instead of a roll. I had another Caesar cocktail. They are becoming a favourite.

We spent some time enjoying the sun and the view from our house, Lorraine sitting in an Adirondack chair and me looking out from the comfort of the couch. Then it was up to the Crow’s Nest cafe for a late cuppa. I haven’t had a decent coffee in Canada, it’s always from push button machines. But I did enjoy a snickerdoodle, a sort of chewy slice.

Last day in Twillingate so it’s goodbye to icebergs and on to something new and unresearched.

Friday 5 June. Twillingate

A slow start to the day as it was wet and windy outside and only about 3 degrees. Looking out the window at the harbour we saw that a very small iceberg had drifted in, more of an iceblock than an iceberg.

Our first stop was back at the bridge we crossed onto the island, as that was where we glimpsed our first iceberg. This time we were able to park and cross the road for a better look. We then went for a drive round the opposite side of the harbour before stopping at the post office for a couple of stamps and the supermarket for some soup for lunch.

At 3.30 we drove back around the harbour to the jetty where the boat was to take us out to view icebergs. We had rugged up with practically everything we had in our cases but it was very, very cold on the water. Yesterday when we were looking at them from the cliff top we knew the icebergs were big but when we got right up close they were huge and awe inspiring. The boat circled a couple of times so everyone got a good viewing and then it headed for the other iceberg, also an awesome sight. Rather a lot of photos were taken.

By the time we got back to the jetty we were absolutely frozen and really, colder than we had realised while on the boat. An hour later I was still cold when were sitting having dinner and I am still not warm sitting in bed writing this. But it was well and truly worth it.