Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

Western Brook Pond

We hiked out to Western Brook Pond which is said to be one of the purest lakes in the world. The massive cliffs of Westen Brook Pond were formed as glaciers carved through this massive block of granite.

The Wreck of the S.S. Ethie

On December 11 1919 the SS Ethie ran aground during "the worst strom ever". She was driven by steam and sail but was no match for the high winds and raging sea. Her 92 passengers and crew escaped with their lives, including a baby that was sent ashore in a mailbag.

The rusty "bones" that you see are all that remains of the SS Ethie.

Lobster Cove Lighthouse

Until the late 1800's there was no lighthouse at lobster head. Each resident of Rocky Harbour dontated a pint of oil per week to keep a light burning in the window of a local house.

In 1897 the prefrabricated cast iron sections of this light tower were hauled from St. John's.

Norris Point Nfld

This view is of Norris Point in Gros Morne National Park.

We are currently staying at a KOA in Norris Point and enjoying the excellent views. There is a `Moose Trail` that goes around a small lake and Molly has had lots of fun exploring it. So far the only moose I have seen has been Molly but I am still hopeful. We plan on staying here for at least one more day before we head north to St. Barbe.

Newfoundland September 11 2010

Since leaving Tofino BC we have had a magnificient summer travelling across the country visiting with friends and family seeing some fantastic sights and lazing on the beach for longer than we had planned. We have definately had a summer to remember and although most of my pictures are trapped on my old computer I will remember them in my mind till I can get one of my smart children to release them for me.

After a six hour ferry ride we docked in Port-aux-Basque Newfoundland.
It was truly amazing to see, rock rising directly out of the ocean and a handfull of hardy souls who had bravely built their homes, who knows how many years ago, on this beautiful but severe coast. We unloaded from the ferry and in wind that made it hard to stand upright travelled up the coast about 20 km where we stopped for the night.

Tofino, Ucluelet, and Pacific Rim Park.....April 12 - 15

We explored Ucluelet and the Amphitrite Point Lighthouse where we found the entrance to the Wild Pacific Trail which we decided was too advanced for us.

We visited the rainforest trail in the Pacific Rim Park as well as the beautiful Long Beach. While at Long Beach we were lucky enough to be able to watch the surfers ride the waves.

While in Tofino, BC we stayed at the Bella Pacifica RV resort and it was truly beautiful. This is the view we had from our campsite and it was a short walk to the beach which as you can see was expansive.

We were lucky enough to have three sunny warm days in which we explored Tofino.

Tofino, Ucluelet, and Pacific Rim Park.....April 12 - 15

Campbell River Wind Day

We are lucky enough to be camped at Driftwood by the Sea RV Park that looks out over Discovery Passage (the stretch of water between Campbell River and Quadra Island) The water is usually calm as you can see in the first two pictures. We are having high winds last night and today so David, Molly and I went to take some pictures of what the passage looks like today. I'm afraid the pictures don't do it justice though it is really a sight. We have both always loved the wild sea and today we are enjoying it.

Campbell River to Port Hardy

We headed north toward Port Hardy today to see as many interesting sights as we could cram into one day. The road reminded me of northern Ontario with all the twists and turns cut through areas of jagged rock, many beautiful lakes and waterfalls and lush forest.

Our first stop was Sayward, a small town with the world's only structure wrapped in logging cable. It is now a resturant but was once a cookhouse.

They aslo had a steam donkey that was used to move logs.

This huge log was 32 feet long, 9 feet in diamater and could make 11,500 board feet. Oh and just in case that didn't impress you the tree was 962 years old!

Oh yes we really are headed North ! As we climbed to higher elevation near Woss we encountered a bit of snow. Wonder what the passers by thought of the crazy Albertans standing out taking pictures of snow.

We stopped at Telegraph Cove, named for a one room telegraph station built there in the early 1900's. Many of the original historic buildings were built on stilts above the water and are connected by a boardwalk. Picture perfect! Oh and David found his Dream Boat so I made him stand in front of it while I took his picture.

On the way from Telegraph Cove we stopped to take a picture of a bald eagle in a tree but when we looked closer we discovered that there were lots of trees with as many as 20 or more eagles per tree. Amazing! Must have been an eagle convention.

Next we moved on to Port McNeill and the world's largest Burl weighing 24 tons and is estimated at over 525 years old. We also checked out the marina....beautiful.

Port Hardy is the furthest north that the paved road goes. We didn't spend much time exploring as we were feeling a little tired by this time and vowed to return and bring the motorhome so we can enjoy the sights unhurried. The view was of course breath taking. The Carrot Campaign as depicted on this sign was interesting. It was aimed at forcing the government keep its promise of a completed Island Highway.

Coal Harbour was our last stop and was about a 20minitue drive south west of Port Hardy. It was once a seaplane base for the Royal Canadian Air Force and the last whaling station in Canada. It is no longer a whaling station but still has a 20 foot jawbone from a blue whale.