South of St. John’s
We said goodbye to our queen sized bed and back in the van we went. To be honest, after over 4 weeks travelling with the van I kind of missed sleeping in it. First stop on our way to the southern Avalon Peninsula was Cape Spear. A special place as it’s the most eastern point on Canada. The day was a mix of sun and cloud but a great day to visit and read about the history of the defence of St. John’s Harbour, and the lighthouse at Cape Spear. St. John’s was one of the places where troops from the Canada went off to Europe and there was concern that German U-boat would attack the port. There was a large battery built on Cape spear with 4 guns that raised up on counterweights to give them a field of fire to protect the harbour entrance. The guns were never actually fired in earnest but interestingly enough a U-boat did get close enough to launch 2 torpedos, aimed for the harbour. They missed and hit the cliffs at the entrance!
The guns, the old and new lighthouses, and the rocks!
The original lighthouse at Cape Spear was put into service in 1836 and served as a landfall light for ships coming from Europe and a coastal light for ships coming to St. John’s. It’s the oldest standing lighthouse in Newfoundland and Labrador. 5 generations of the Cantwell family served as light keepers and assistant light keepers there from 1846 until the light was automated in 1997. The current lighthouse was put into operation in 1956. It seems we’re getting mildly obsessed with lighthouses in Newfoundland.
Next stop on the way south was Petty Harbour. Built with a protecting breakwater, this is still and active fishing port and a cool little harbour. They also have a REALLY nice Ice Cream shop. We had a nice wander around the boardwalk and out onto the breakwater to watch people fishing for cod. They were casting and using lures and not really aware of Cathy and I standing around watching them. Luckily, we did didn’t get hooked!
Petty Harbour Newfoundland
Our stop for the next 3 nights is the La Manchre Provincial Park. Quiet park and not too busy.
Monday we set a goal to loop around the southern end of the Avalon Peninsula, we didn’t even come close to making it, too much to see on the way. We did make it far as Trepassy before deciding we better head back. We stopped at 2 more lighthouses, one not operating in the village of Avalon, and one very much in operation at Powles Head. Powles Head is one of 23 manned lighthouses in the province out of the total of 55 operating lighthouses here.
Avalon Lighthouse - Toews of Avalon, and Powles Head Lighthouse near Trepassy
The coastline here is rugged and there have been a lot of shipwrecks. Beaches still have remains of many of the ships that got pushed onto the rocks for various reasons.
Our last full tourist day in Newfoundland, we booked a Puffin and Whale watching tour with O’Brien Bird and Whale Watching. Great company and a fantastic 2 hour experience. We first made our way out to one of the islands in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. This is the largest nesting area for the North Atlantic Puffin in the world, as well as Storm Petrel’s, Black Legged Kitiwakes, and several species of gulls. One of the pictures below shows the size difference between a gull and a puffin. We both thought puffins were bigger but they’re actually quite small, but very cute! There’s about 2.5 million birds on the island in breeding season. There’s no predators as there is no fresh water on the island that would sustain them. As an ecological reserve it’s a major federal offence to even step onto the island unless you are a researcher or student at the university and approved in advance. After leaving the island behind us, our attention turned to whale spotting. We saw and followed a couple of Humpback whales. One thing about whale watching, you can never get too much of it!
Whales and 2,500,000 birds!
After the boat tour we treated ourselves to lunch at a local restaurant called the Stone Ducky. Sat on the deck under a clear blue sky, looking out over the harbour. Enjoyed a pizza and a beer while watching the world drift by. Tomorrow we head off to Argentia for one last night before catching the overnight ferry back to Nova Scotia. We’ll see what we see on the way over tomorrow.
