Thursday, July 19, 2007

July 17 - Rocky Harbor


Up early, we boarded the Caribou for our passage to Newfoundland! It is a huge vessel. As we sat in the parking lot among dozens of semi trucks and RVs and a club of travelers each of whom was towing a long Airstream trailer, we wondered how we could possibly all fit. We did. There were two decks of vehicles. On the upper decks were gift shops, a restaurant and a bar with live entertainment. There were reclining seats near large windows, where we found a place and camped.

Candleman spent most of the passage out on the foredeck though. There was a young German fellow out there doing a seabird count. He helped Candleman add four new species to his bird list. About halfway across it grew very foggy, but Niels and Candleman stayed out and enjoyed a great conversation about so many interesting things.

We arrived in Port aux Basques at around 2:30 and headed for rocky harbor. We found Newfoundland to be beautiful and quite diverse. This southern area is forested and green and quite like Nova Scotia.

Booklogged had noted a comment on Google Earth that there was a place not far off our path where we might find a Showy Ladyslipper. We headed that way and found not one but dozens of them in a quiet little meadow! We were thrilled to see so many in full prime display!










We happened upon a couple of fox kits on the side of the road. They were Red Fox but one was the rare black color. They were beautiful and Booklogged got some great photos of them.

We checked into our room in Rocky Harbor, right on the bay. The weather was wonderful so we walked to a little restaurant called Fisherman's Landing and had supper. Most of the food was just satisfactory but for dessert we enjoyed an amazing treat. There is a berry called the Bake Apple which is found only on the island. We had Bake Apple cheese cake that was to die for. We both thought it the very best cheese cake topping ever created!

2 comments:

Alyson said...

I'm getting more and more jealous of your adventures with every post! The fox pictures are awesome!!

ReveryWings said...

Looks like the Caribou had no problem getting inside the jjtqbl and to the dock. I'm jealous now... of you being on Newfoundland. Thats pretty cool you guys! The pictures continue to be great. I agree with aly that the fox shots are awesome. But that Showy Ladyslipper picture is fantastic.... you do really good work there!