After another amazing breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and fresh fruit, we went to Terra Nova National Park to do a bit of hiking.
Our first jaunt was a 3.9km hike to Malady Head, pretty much through the trees with a nice view at the end.
We then drove to a second hike, a shot one at Mill Cove Lookout Trail – this one had much better views.
So a short day out and about as this was a “catch-up” day – laundry, work, bills……..
We have met a few people who mentioned Bonavista to us, and our B&B in Terra Nova is about 90 minutes from there, so we spent our first full day in this area checking out all that Bonavista has to offer.
(This was after an amazing traditional Newfoundland breakfast of toutons with butter and molasses, poached eggs, toast, yogurt, fresh fruit, bacon, and tea/coffee/juice. Yeah, we were a bit full!😀)
We first went to the Ryan Premises National Historic Site – restored buildings depicting the life of a 19th century Newfoundland fishing enterprise which was basically cod that was eaten locally as well as shipped abroad to the many Catholic countries at the time. (Remember, no meat on Fridays, no meat during lent, etc….) It was really quite interesting and we learned a lot.
We then drove to the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse which was also interesting – the lighthouse keeper had to reset the lights every 2-hours all night long – which would have been a lot longer in the winter than summer.
Close to the lighthouse is where history believes that John Cabot landed in 1497.
On our drive away from the lighthouse, we saw a couple more Humpback whales playing with some sightseeing boats (no good pics again – bummer) and made out way to Elliston to a rocky outcropping where puffin nest. We took tons of puffin pics - here are just a few.....
And a video!
So all-in-all a very good day.
We left Twillingate after a breakfast of pancakes and an enjoyable time chatting with other guests At the B&B.
We spent the day slowly driving to Terra Nova National Park with a stop in Gandor for a bit of shopping (stocking up on hiking food) and lunch. We also took a peak at the Gandor International Airport, the subject of the book The Day the World Came to Town (which we both read years ago) and musical Come From Away.
We are staying at the Serendipity B&B just south of Terra Nova National Park - it seems okay - and it run by a woman Elsie who cooks a "traditional Newfoundland breakfast," so we are certainly looking forward to seeing that that's all about!
After a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast at the B&B, we headed out for more hiking today.
Spiller's Cove on the far eastern side of this small island was hike #1 and offered us some great views - and even a couple more Humpbacks! (No pictures of those - bummer.)
We then drove to Lower Little Harbour, a bit south, to a meh hike - it was mostly walking along a gravel road and just a wee-bit of a hike to an arch.
As it was a lovely day with no rain (although the clouds started rolling in for what would be early evening thunderstorms), so we took our third and final hike to the Top of Twillingate where we could see a 360-degree view of Twilligate Island. This was our only hike in the trees...
With four lookouts and a fire tower:
Lookout #1
Lookout #2
Lookout #3
Fire tower
.....which is the highest point on Twillingate Island - 327 feet. Feet. Not metres. We are in Canada, so that seemed strange.......
Lookout #4
So it was just an "okay" hike at this point, until Suzanne (unknowingly) (who always leads our hiking - can't see past tall Brad) disrupted a wasp nest and was stung about 4 - 5 times on her legs. HOLY F*****ING %@%*t#))!##(^&!!!!!!!!!!! Yowza they hurt! As she was already taking antihistamine for some Black Fly bites she acquired in Rocky Harbour in Gros Morne, she did not have a terrible reaction (some swelling, redness, and heat) and was fine within a couple hours.
For the record:
