Last Days on the Rock

It was a foggy morning when we stopped at a local cafe for coffee before we headed west. We were off to Argentia on the west side of the Avalon Peninsula to catch our ferry home to Nova Scotia on Thursday.

We wanted to stay off the Trans Canada as much as possible so stayed on secondary roads as much as possible. The first one was dead straight across rolling hills, mostly rock and barren. The next one from Colinet to Argentia was a mostly gravel but there was a waterfall at Cataracts Provincial Park. It turned out that there were 2 waterfalls, one on either side of the road, so the dusty, bumpy ride was worth it.

We got to Placentia around lunchtime and found a nice quiet spot on the coast to sit and have lunch. A very rocky beach, but some interesting driftwood. I’ve been looking for some interesting bits to bring back, and secretly hoping to find an old lobster trap washed up on the beach. When I was last here in 1974 camping with the family, we did find a trap on the beach up the north arm, and tied it onto the roof racks to take home to Ontario. Didn’t find the trap, but did find the door to a trap that obviously broken apart. Next to it were the remains of a lobster that may have been caught up in the trap when it washed ashore. It’s as good a story as any!

After lunch, we took a short drive out to add one more lighthouse to our collection. Not really a lighthouse, but one of the new automated lights that keep mariners safe.

Our stay for the night was the Argentia Sunset RV park. We were hoping for a stunning sunset view, but not to be with an overcast sky. When we checked in here, we found out this site sits on the site of a former US navel base that was built in 1941 and commissioned July 15 of the same year, coincidentally exactly 20 years to the day before I was born. Draw your own conclusions.

Dinner was out at a local pub, then a short drive around town to the port of Argentia where the ferry leaves from. It’s been a windy day, and prediction is for more wind overnight.

Thursday, our last day here, dawned foggy and warm, the warmest day we’ve had since we arrived (of course!). We had a slow morning, but finally set out to visit Castle Hill, a Canadian National Historic Site in Placentia. While it’s only maybe 5 km from the campground, it was clear and sunny when we arrived, perfect to explore the area. In 1655, France decided they needed a defendable port in Newfoundland and they chose Placentia (Plaisance). It had a large sheltered harbour with a narrow mouth surrounded by steep hills to provide for easy defence. Plaisance also had easy access to rich cod fishing, and a long pebble beach for drying the cod. The pebble beach allows the air to dry the cod from both sides, meaning they didn’t have to build drying racks. They constructed Fort Royal and several other bastions to protect the harbour. The British did try and invade but were easily repelled. It wasn’t until the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, that France gave the fort to the British. It fell into disrepair but it was built of stone so much of it remains today.

After grabbing lunch at Tim Hortons in town and staring out over the harbour for another hour or so, we made our way to the ferry terminal to check in and board the Ala’suinu (Mi’kmaq for Traveller), the ship to take us back to Nova Scotia! When we booked the ferry back in January, we couldn‘t get a cabin, but we did reserve sleeping pods. We really didn’t have any idea what to expect, but were very pleasantly surprised when we got on board. There were 2 pods, top and bottom in a private cabin. Comfortable mattress, clean linens, lots of charging ports, a small window. We were close to the shared washrooms, so all good. We had a decent dinner on board and a reasonable nights sleep, despite the fog horns sounding every minute and 45 seconds until 4:00 am (the fog was thick!). We arrived just before 08:30 and we were one of the first vehicles off. We were on the road home by 08:45. Back to Lower Cove around 15:00. Nice to be back, and great memories of a fantastic trip!