Wednesday - Friday Sept 21-23 The trip Home!

Wednesday was one of those heavy duty driving days, almost 600 miles from Lakeville to Hampden ME.

Jamie, Carly and Sandy

 The one highlight of the drive was stopping in Monkton to visit with Adeline’s daughter Sandy, husband Jamie and their delightful daughter Carly. We had never met Carly before.  She’s a terrific and very affectionate young lady, who wanted to come home with us. When her mother asked if she would miss her parents, she informed them emphatically that “I’ll be back”!

Becky, Carly, Sandy and Jim

Carly with Mom

Carly charms Becky

 In Hampden, we visited for two nights with Becky’s brother Charlie and wife Lois, saw their new RV, and enjoyed seeing the terrific new movie “Sully”. 

Bailey & Lois with Sophie and their new RV

 Friday morning we headed home, and completed our trip of 5218 miles in 40 days.  We had a marvelous time, and would highly recommend that anyone looking for a fascinating vacation to an unspoiled and welcoming land put Newfoundland on their bucket list!

Tuesday September 20 - Mahoney & Lunenberg

The Town Fathers of Mahoney

On Tuesday we set off for the delightful little town of Mahoney, which was preparing for their annual “scarecrow” festival where all the town businesses decorate with appropriate stuffed creatures.  We liked the “town fathers”, and one at the cute restaurant we ate at – “Oh My Cod”. 

The "Oh My Cod" restaurant

Rebecca's Place

Curling anyone?

The biggest treat, however, came as we drove into town.  Becky had fallen in love with the lighthouse replicas that we saw all over Newfoundland, anywhere from 2 to 10 foot high.  We wanted to bring one home, but they are all custom made and no body sells them!  As we drove into town, there were two for sale sitting in front of a house!  After securing cash from an ATM, we met the owners and found that Walter Wentzell makes them as a labor of love-so home it came!!

Our Lighthouse!

Red Sox in Lunenburg Harbor

  Leaving Mahoney, we drove to the beautiful town of Lunenberg where building sailing vessels had been the main industry for decades.  Its main industry is now tourism, and it’s a great place to spend a day.  

"Tres Hombres"  sailing vessel

Typical street scene

Seaman's Memorial

"Ship's lost with all hands" memorial

  

Chatting with friendly local policeman

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          The ride back to Lakeville included a stop at their favorite campground, Kejimkujik National Park and historic site. 

Monday September 19 - Halifax

 Monday we drove into Halifax, and started the day at the Pier 21 Museum – Canada’s version of our Ellis Island.  They’ve got a nice introductory movie, some great displays of the ships and immigrants that have come through, and a nice guided tour of what a new arrival might have experienced. 

Our Museum guide explains the immigrant ship wall

A souvenir tee shirt we saw for sale!

St. Louis ship memorial & holocaust discussion

Inside the Old Ale Pub

Welcome to the Castle

                                                                  

Our docent guides

                                                                                                                                                                    



  After a good pub lunch, we toured “The Citadel”, the massive fort overlooking the city built by the Brits in 1856 to defend the city.  No shot in anger was ever fired, but they’ve got a good tour with reenactors and displays.

"The Last Steps" Arch

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         A walk on the waterfront finished the day.  The Canadians are doing a wonderful job of honoring their veterans, all over the country, and Halifax was no exception.  A particularly interesting display was the “Last Steps” memorial arch on one of the piers.  In World War I, 350,000 Canadian military personnel set sail from Halifax for Europe.  67,000 of them never came back.  

    

Halifax Heroes - Navy ship

Snookie walks past the Dalhousie Nurse Memorial

HMCS Sackville - a Corvette

     A special treat was seeing the iconic Canadian sailing vessel “Bluenose II”, a replica of their internationally famous racer that we saw being rebuilt several years ago in Lunenberg-it was coming in for an open house the next couple of days, and it entered the harbor while we were on the dock.

The Bluenose II

Halifax Bridge

  On the way home, we met their daughter Suzie for a pizza dinner, and enjoyed catching up with her and her daughter’s doings.

Sunday September 18 Nova Scotia & the Blatts

CF-101 aircraft at Halifax Aviation Museum

Sunday morning we headed over to visit Jim’s cousin Adeline Blatt in Lakeville, Nova Scotia.  Before arriving there, however, we passed by the Halifax Aviation Museum and stopped briefly so Jim could find out when it was open.  We couldn't stay today, and unfortunately it wouldn't be open the next two days so it will have to wait for another trip!

Display in the Halifax Aviation Museum lobby

 Adeline-or "Snookie", as she's always been known to Jim-and her husband Roger have lived there over 50 years, and have a wonderful farm crammed with apples, peaches, a myriad of other fruits & vegetables, and best of all (for Jim!) – blackberries on vines with no thorns!  They were in season, and absolutely delicious!  We spent the day “catching up”, and the next two days touring.  We had visited there before, but there were new adventures to be experienced.

Snookie leaves their house

The Blatt home and ancient water pump

Roger & Adeline Blatt

Friday/Saturday September 16/17 – The trip to Nova Scotia.

Heading down TCH1 Towards Port aux Basques

Up early, showered and departed for Port aux Basques.  Were all checked in and in queue by 9:30 for our 11:45 departure, and we sailed at noon.  Quiet, smooth sail for 6 ½ hours.  Met a nice couple from Monterrey CA while in line, and they were next to us on the boat-Jim and Martha.  Bought some more souvenirs on the ship, and had cod fish dinners there in the restaurant.  Our ferry, the Blue Puttees, was named after the famed Newfoundland Regiment from WW I.

On the ferry ride back, we talked with a young couple from St. John's who were going to Nova Scotia to buy a new truck.  They had their son with them, and explained how it was much cheaper to go to the mainland and bring it back yourself rather than have it shipped.  Apparently the shipping costs for goods going to Newfoundland are just horrendous!

Heading out of Port aux Basques Harbor

A final look back at Port aux Basques

In at 6pm, we ate at McDonalds and arrived at our KOA campground by 7pm.  Jim remet Paul, his bagpipe playing friend from last month and they chatted about Westmorland, Johnson, and Khe Sanh.  We watched the last chapter of Random Passage.  Jim had finished his second “Newfie” book on the boat, and Becky has read at least 5 books on the trip!

The North Sydney Bridge from our KOA campground

Saturday morning we packed up and headed down the highway 104 through St. George’s instead of the Baddeck road.  Nice drive- it’s a fast, well maintained road and much more scenic than the other direction.  Stopped in Antigonish to shop at Sobey’s, and also gassed along the way. 

  Into the Elm River Park campground in Debert (near Truro) at 3pm, both of us pretty whipped.  Becky napped, Jim did laundry.  Open campground, family type place with older residents for the most part.  Pretty anti-climatic day!

Thursday September 15 – Rose Blanche and the last day!

After a hard soaking rain most of the night, the day started off cool and cloudy as we headed out for our last day of exploration in Newfoundland.  Our plan was to visit the Southwestern Corner of the island, but that changed – for the right reasons!   

The Granite Road to Rose Blanche

Cove along the road to Rose Blanche

Overlooking Port aux Morts

Rose Blanche parking area

After driving 50 miles to get to the farthest part of the journey, Rose Blanche, we ended up spending over 4 hours there!  Rose Blanche is the home of the restored Rose Blanche Lighthouse, originally built in 1871 with granite stone from a nearby quarry. When we arrived at the parking lot, this little bandstand was automated and started to play music to welcome us!  The lighthouse was in operation until the 1940’s, then abandoned and literally fell to ruin.  In 1996 restoration efforts were begun, and finished in 1999.  The interior and exterior of the lighthouse are just exquisite!  

Rose Blanche's reconstructed granite lighthouse

Walk up to lighthouse

There is a great gift shop and a B&B on the site, and the views of the area are just spectacular.  From the boardwalk, there are interpretive signs explaining some of the area's history and identifying the local plants.  Three miles across the harbor, the town of Petites can be seen-one of the few towns in Newfoundland not accessible by road.

Typical sign explaining local history

  

The town of Petites

 

Lighthouse Keepers Quarters

Lighthouse "Head" looking back at the harbour

inside the Gift Shop

 The ladies running the gift shop were real cards, and very helpful.  When we asked if there was a place to get lunch, they said the only tea shoppe had closed but they called Lynne Sawford of the Rose Sea B&B and she invited us over for lunch!  We spent two hours there with her and her husband, Harold. The Sawfords run the Tea Shoppe and adjoining B&B, and she is an accomplished painter in her own right.  She whipped up a delicious fish stew with fresh cod, partridge berry muffins made that morning, and a partridge berry pie that she also baked that day.  We found that one of their favorite places to RV to is the Boothbay Harbor Region, which they’ve visited several times.They summer in Newfoundland, winter in Ontario, and were just delightful to visit with!  We were given a tour of their cute 5-bedroom B&B with great views-we have details if anyone is interested-it’s a great spot, and all kinds of “extras” come with it.   

Harold & Lynne Sawford in their Tea Room

Lynne Sawford on their deck overlooking the harbour

Barachois Waterfall

 By this time it was running late, so we headed back bypassing a number of stops we had planned to make, including a hike to the Barachois Waterfall.  We did get to see it at a distance from the road.

Entrance to Railway Heritage Museum

 




We did stop in Port aux Basques at the Railway Museum, which was technically closed.  Nevertheless, they opened it for us and let us look around without charge-so typical of what we have found here in Newfoundland!  It was interesting seeing the railroad snowplow that was pushed by a diesel engine.  Additionally, it is also a maritime museum, and two of their most prized possessions are two ancient Astrolabes, navigational instruments from the 17^th century that were recovered from shipwrecks.

Astrolabe explanation

The astrolabe

Newfoundland Railroad engine and snowplow

When we got back to the Campground, Becky spent two hours with Michael Young’s distant cousin Arlene MacIsaac discussing genealogy and other assorted subjects, and had a great time.  Arlene runs the Campground, and is a terrific resource to call on for information.  As noted earlier, Grand Codroy RV Park is the nicest campground we’ve stayed at in Newfoundland!

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