It rained during the night and it really is a lovely sound on the camper shell. We were up and on the road by 7:15. They mystery camper was still there; maybe she was just pulling our leg? I sort of thought we'd see a light on or something. :)
The landscape is so picture postcard perfect. Pictures don't do it justice; words definitely don't either! Perhaps since the weather is unusually cold and it is just coming off of their winter weather that everything just pops.
As we've been in Newfoundland/Labrador these few days, we've come across school buses all with NLESD on them. A little research and it stands for Newfoundland Labrador English School District. Canada has two official languages, English and French. So, ALL of Newfoundland and Labrador are in ONE school district! Talk about consistency!! There are 258 schools, just over 65,000 students, over 8,000 employees (and hiring!) and are split into four regions. It is interesting as the board consists of 17 members, there is a CEO and an associate, and also two assistant directors, plus each region has its own assistant director of education and their own staff as needed. Wow. The board meetings are "live" so anyone in the district can watch and, we are assuming, act like they are there with questions, comments, etc. The schools are still in session! We think that tomorrow may be their last day or it could be next Friday. The clerk at one of the shops shared that her town/business gets really busy once school is out! She may have used the word chaotic. :)
We headed to Gros Morne National Park to hang out for the day. It actually first became established as a national park reserve in 1973, becoming a full-fledged national park in 2005. It is a HUGE park and encompasses many little towns, lakes, harbors, and more. We weave around and around the turn is the Tablelands, mountains that look their tops were just shaved off, complete with quite a bit of snow here and there! The rocks from the Tablelands is a unique brown color so it looks so out of place with all the green surrounding it. We passed natural waterfalls (from the ice melting!!) and their rivers, and dandelions blooming everywhere!
We drove to Woody Point, on Bonne Bay and found our first light house of the day, this structure completed in 1959 to replace the original one built in 1919. With as many rocks scattered EVERYWHERE you'd think it would have had a lighthouse earlier, but the British were slow at settling the western part. Once it was settled by fisherman it was a booming town. A fire in the early 1900s destroyed much and it has never fully recovered. The light source is actually solar powered!!! That is cool!
We headed down the road to the Lobster Cove Head lighthouse, which back in the day didn't have roads to it, only the sea. If there was an urgent message, they flew different flags and every captain knew the code. The port quieted down some after the 1950s so the flags are only used for celebrations. Today they spelled out "Tina" as it was her last day at the lighthouse. We got to have a tour of the house and it was quite roomier than we expected. There was quite a few from the kitchen window!! A GIANT boulder and tree. The tree may not have been there when they lived there but that rock wasn't new!! In fact it is interesting to see how most people in this area build on/around the rocks as necessary! The house had a set of stairs actually leading to the real lighthouse, so the keeper didn't have to leave the house; we couldn't actually enter it. Our guide that answered questions was named Bonnie Lou. :)
As we were leaving we noticed a unique cloud formation. It was such a great day that the white clouds really popped from the sky! This cloud looked a lot like a UFO masquerading as a cloud!! We have pictures if we can ever get WiFi dependable enough to load them!
Stopped for a cold drink (3 if you count Cheryl's) on the water looking across a fjord type cove warm air, the acoustic guitarist playing later that eve was tuning up...`a little Petty "Into the great wide open...." for a few verses ... LIFE is good.
We stopped by a HUGE lake, surrounded by mountains, including Tablelands in the distance, and sat in two red Canadian chairs. Peace. Love. Awe. Love. Life is good.
On our way in the park we noticed a sign for some waterfalls and thought we'd stop on the way out. The Southeast Brook Falls were so awesome and so powerful. The walk itself was very short and easy. The path was narrow but a real path, woven through balsam fir and white birch trees. We could hear the power before we saw it. The water flows over a billion-year-old ridge of granite (!) and plunges 40 meters! The steps to the top were closed so we had to settle for close enough. :)
It is neat to drive through these tiny towns. They have their own lives most of the year and then tourist season hits. We were amazed at how many people we encountered everywhere we went. Tour buses, RVs and simpler campers, and such and not families yet as school isn't out! It must be a bittersweet thing as you want to have that tourist income but the chaos of having that many people driving through your towns!! The mini-house market his a market in most of Newfoundland/Labrador as that was an easy way to add housing for tourists! They are tiny and cute, all colors, and perched here and there. The ones right next to the rock breakers with their own decks and chairs were adorable! It makes touring so much easier if you "have your own place." The B-n-Bs and these tiny cabins looked to be booked whereas the hotels usually had vacancy signs. Of course, as we've been told repeatedly, school is out next week and then..... boom!
Every town had its church and cemetery. Some cemeteries had the amzing views of the bay or mountains, or river. One in particular was set literally on the edge of cliff. We were wondering if had always been so close and if they'd ever lost anybody(ies).
We found a haven this evening at Pirate's Haven, a campground for everyone but more specifically for ATV enthusiasts, with a pirate theme. Andrew got a hearty handshake and Cheryl got a hug! They were working on a new addition (a 40 foot crow's nest to look out over everything (river, bay, trees) including a new pool! There were many RVs already parked here, but most leave them here. They have porches, lights, etc. as this is their ideal home away from home. There are ATV trails and apparently great fishing in the river (as someone stated in their online review). We head out early to catch our ferry. ....
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