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!
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The Granite Road to Rose Blanche
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Cove along the road to Rose Blanche
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| Overlooking Port aux Morts |
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| 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!
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| Rose Blanche's reconstructed granite lighthouse |
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| 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.
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| Typical sign explaining local history |
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| The town of Petites |
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| Lighthouse Keepers Quarters |
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| Lighthouse "Head" looking back at the harbour |
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| 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.
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| Harold & Lynne Sawford in their Tea Room |
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| Lynne Sawford on their deck overlooking the harbour |
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| 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.
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| 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 17th century that were recovered from shipwrecks.
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| Astrolabe explanation |
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| The astrolabe |
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| 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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