After breakfast, we walked to the campground office and with the help of our friendly hostess, Alice in Newfoundland, we made reservations at campgrounds for tomorrow night and for this weekend (F-Su). Thursday is still TBA. I also posted yesterday’s blog because the wi-fi at our camp site was too weak. We chatted with our new RV friends from the ferry queue as they were departing for a day trip.
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| Our Ears appreciated the Clear Skies |
So, we disconnected the RV, and headed along the coast toward the Cape Anguille Lighthouse. The wildflowers along the byways here are in full bloom. The stands of purple phlox are particularly showy. Along the way, we stopped for food supplies at a general store including an eight pack of Black Horse, a beer only brewed in Newfoundland and Labrador. Couldn’t find butter there and the sponges were too expensive for Jane to purchase. (I know, I know, but that’s my wife.) We continued along the beautiful coast and as we were turning into the final dirt road to the lighthouse encountered our friends’ RV departing. After another brief chat, we proceeded to the lighthouse parking lot. We were not able to climb the picturesque lighthouse but we walked a ways down the gorgeous coastline and for awhile had the scenery to ourselves. We ate lunch (tunafish croissants with chips) in the RV with nice views before departing.
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| The Cape Anguille Lighthouse and Inn |
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| Jane at the Cape Anguille Coast |
After more back roads including a detour to see the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, we backtracked south along the Trans Canada Highway 1 to Port aux Basques and stopped at the modern new visitors center where we received some ideas for our afternoon. We continued into town and parked in the back of “the mall” (a short shopping center strip) and walked from there to the Railway Heritage Museum. We went there to see the astrolabes but saw and learned so much more.
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| Jane at the Helm in the Snow Plough Car |
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| All Aboard! |
Once upon a time, there was a narrow gauge train that crossed NF from the ferry docks at Port aux Basques on the southwest coast to the capitol, St. John’s on the east coast. In 1988, after a motorway mostly along the same route opened, and the 24-hour train journey was reduced to a nine-hour trip via automobile, the railway was closed and eventually the tracks were removed and the route managed as a trail. (With a couple of ferry rides, it’s possible to drive an ATV all the way across Canada from Vancouver to St. John’s. And, lots of adventurers do it.) Now the less-than-hundred meter-long tracks behind the museum are the only ones left in NF. We were escorted through a line of train cars parked on these tracks by Katelyn, our 17-year-old Newfie guide who was extremely knowledgeable about the railway. We started the tour in the first car which was the snow plough car! Two men sat in high chairs with window views out of this lead car and controlled the angle of the huge orange plows on either side with hand levers. This car was pushed by the locomotive (originally, coal powered) and the ploughers communicated with the engineer by using Morse code via a telegraph. We then toured other cars: passengers cars (four seats for eight passengers that converted to eight beds), men’s and women’s washrooms, the VIP car, the mail car, the luggage and animal car, and the caboose.
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| The Amazing Snow Plough Train in Action |
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| The Rare 17th Century Mushrow Astrolabes |
After emerging from the caboose, Katelyn led us through the museum proper that was full of objects related to the railway, shipwrecks, period household goods, the local Ducats boy-band, etc. But what we had come for, the rare Mushrow astrolabes were housed in an inconspicuous glass display with a single interpretative sign. Astrolabes were marine navigational tools that gave readings which via tables could reveal latitude and longitude co-ordinates. While historians are familiar with these handy devices and thousands were made in the past, only 8 or 10 of them have been found worldwide and this quaint museum in Port aux Basques was home to two of them. In the 1980s, a local diver, Wayne Mushrow had found both of these 17th century navigational instruments in a shipwreck off the coast of Isle aux Morts (Island of the Dead), an area noted for its volume off shipwrecks. French coins dated 1638 were found on the shipwreck which appeared to be a French supply ship returning home with a load full of cod.
We walked back to the mall and while Jane went to Foodland to buy butter and an affordable sponge, I popped into the liquor store for wine. The Newfoundland section only had wine made from blueberries, rhubarb or both. I passed on that and bought a Canadian Pinot Grigio and a French red blend.
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| Jane at the Rose Blanche Lighthouse |
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| Along the Lighthouse Trail |
We then headed south along the Granite Coast on highway 470 toward Rose Blanche and its granite lighthouse and, OMG, still more beautiful views. Not only did we have the rocky coast with its blue waters and white crashing waves but there were lots of small inland lakes nestled in rolling hills and surrounded by spruce and fir forest plus quaint villages along quiet coves. The last section of the drive was up a narrow dirt road that eventually opens into a parking lot surrounded by several buildings including a gift store, washrooms, and the ticket office. The trail to the lighthouse had spectacular panoramic views. The granite lighthouse was in operation from 1873 through the 1940s and later deteriorated except for the internal granite spiral staircase. Efforts to restore the lighthouse began in 1988 and included collecting, sorting, cleaning and then reassembling the granite pieces. What a feat! We could climb part way up the lighthouse and view the living quarters of the past keepers. We slowly returned along the trail gawking at the panoramic beauty and visited a small fisherman’s museum at the site.
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| The Rose Blanche Lighthouse |
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| The Village of Rose Blanche from the Lighthouse Trail |
Along the Granite Coast highway on the return trip, we turned off at Margaree to have dinner at the Seashore Restaurant that had been recommended by several people. We both tried Iceberg beer, another Newfoundland/Labrador original that is bottled in blue glass. Jane fearlessly ordered cod tongues as an appetizer. I timidly tried a small bite and to me it tasted like cod with an oyster texture. Jane downed the entire plate. Her entree was cod au gratin which was excellent even in comparison to my fried scallops. Hungry Jane also ordered a strawberry-rhubarb crisp for dessert.
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| Jane sampling Cod Tongues, a Newfie Delicacy |
We drove back to the campground and just before dark, efficiently set up. We then sat outside and sampled the Black Horse beer. I brought out my banjo and played some tunes finishing with Taps while Jane conducted.
Hey John and Jane,
Looks you are having fun, enjoy the rest of the trip and keep us posted!
I'll have a burger next Thursday, too bad nobody asking for a tuna sandwich 🙂
JJ