Friday June 22nd had us driving from Glovertown to St. John's (Newfoundland's capital). First, we headed out on the TransCanada Highway (the only road!) through Terra Nova National Park. Not too long into the drive John said, "Sara there's a moose!" (everyone kept telling us we'd see tons of moose on our trip. Apparently there are more moose in Newfoundland than there are people. However, we had so far only seen the cow and calf mentioned in my earlier post...just specks in the distance).
John slowed right down and I started scrambling for my camera. Oh no! I didn't have the zoom lens on. But wait...the moose was just standing there. No movement. Ha! The joke was on us. It was a life size wooden cut out sign put at the side of the road as a warning. I should have taken a photo of it, because that was the only moose we ever saw up close.
We wanted to see more than the highway, so at the first opportunity we headed for the coast and onto the Bonavista Peninsula. We stopped and watched a tour boat out on the ocean. They were following a couple of whales (from a distance). We watched through the binoculars, but I didn't take any photos. They were too far away.
I had read about a town called Elliston...they are known as the "Root Cellar capital of the World" and have 134 documented root cellars, some dating back to the 1830's. I wanted to see them. John thought I was nuts "are you sure?" "are you really sure?". Well, I am a little weird I have to admit. Yes! I wanted to see those root cellars. Here's a double decker root cellar:
All things happen for a reason. My obstinate wish to see the root cellars led us to The Atlantic Puffin Site...one of the most accessible places in Newfoundland to view the puffins. There was a little tourist information booth located next to a modest home. A quick 5 minute walk along the bluffs took us out to the cliffs where the puffins were nesting. We were so very lucky to see them! Apparently they rarely come right onto the bluffs, but they were there in full force that day. There were only 6 other people there when we arrived (3 photographers, and 3 people just watching). I went camera crazy.
Puffins live out on the ocean for 10 months of the year and don't come into land during that time.
When they are ready to nest, they come into land. They burrow into the side of the cliffs to make their nests. They have at least two chambers in their nest, one to raise their young, and one to defecate in. They use their excrement to reinforce the walls of the chambers.
They fly, but they also swim under water very well. They can stay under water for a minute or more.
The yellow spot at the side of their beak (one on each side) is for secreting salt from the water they drink.
They have a 20 year life expectancy. Sea gulls are one of their predators.
They spend the first 3 years of their life at sea, and then they come into shore to mate.
They mate for life.
And...they are just too darned cute for words!
During my photo session with the puffins, all the other people left. I was having the time of my life! I was crawling around on my stomach trying to get as close as I could to the edge of the cliffs without scaring the puffins. I spent almost 2 hours taking photos. (I have more puffin photos than anyone could possible want!) John is just the perfect partner for me. He loved watching me take photos, and didn't begrudge a minute of the time we spent there.
Time to move on...
We drove further up the coast and stopped in Bonavista for lunch at a tea shop. John, as is his habit, talked to most of the people there. It was at this tea shop that we discovered that native Newfoundlanders really do talk differently when they talk to each other! (faster, with heavier accents) One of the locals told us we should head out to Newman's Cove if we wanted to see some icebergs, so that's what we did.
I had to stop to take this photo...lacy doilies hanging on a laundry line with an iceberg in the background.
To get a feel for the size of some of the icebergs, compare the size of the fishing boat to the iceberg above.
There were over 25 icebergs along this little bay. How nice of the man in the tea shop to tell us about them. We never would have gone that way without talking to him.
A self portrait taken with my remote control.
We were late arriving to St. John's (I had called the B&B owner to let her know so she wasn't sitting around waiting for us). We stayed at Cantwell House in downtown St. John's...by far the best B&B on our trip.
We went down to the infamous George Street for a late dinner. George Street is closed to vehicles and is absolutely packed with people on weekend nights. Mostly young people...wow, did I feel old. More bars, bands, and people than you can imagine. It was quite cool...about 10 C, and all the young women were walking around with sleeveless dresses on! It made me cold just watching them. (but, I really don't think most of them could feel a thing) We found a quieter bar at the end of the street and had some great fish and chips. Even better was the entertainment...Con O'Brien and the Rum Demons. This is the alter ego name of The Irish Descendants...one of Newfoundland's better known groups. How lucky we were to hear them play!
What a day!
Next: the colorful houses of St. John's & a true YEHAW experience
4 comments:
I can't wait to see the colorful homes! But the puffins and the icebergs...wow. The doiles reminded me of my grandmother. She would always handwash and hang them to dry. Usually all over the house though.
How adorable the puffins are! You got some really nice photos of them. Icebergs really amaze me. The doily picture is so great. It looks soooo cold out there.
These are all very low resolution files...you should see the photos in high resolution. Some of them are fantastic. Now I'll just have to choose which ones I want to print and hang.
Puffins are too cute for words! I don't think they'd do too well in the desert though so I guess this is yet another reason to travel to these parts. Great photos!
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