Would we see an iceberg or a whale today? To find out, we planned the 4 hour, 220 mile drive up the coast into the northern peninsula of Newfoundland on highway 430. It is named the Viking Trail because it is the auto route to the only proven known Viking settlement in North America at L'Anse aux Meadows, a bit north of St. Anthony's, where we were headed.
Our hosts stuffed us with delicious breakfast and chatted with us awhile. They've been innkeepers for 10 years and want to sell the business to move to Baja, Mexico for retirement. It takes three years to sell a business in this area. We are lucky to have found them before that happens.
After breakfast, we left for our coastal adventure around 8:15am. Our route took us through the western portion of Gros Morne National Park, which is a UNESCO Heritage site. Several people told us the weather would be better today, with blue skies and water that sparkles like diamonds. We were so happy to see color in the landscape and in town after such a gray day yesterday.
The highway followed the coastline for the majority of the route. The sea was on one side and mountains on the other. We passed many communities and coves, wondering if people live in such remote areas on the sea year round.
We saw this water tanker plane as we entered St. Anthony.
We arrived at the Lightkeeper's Cafe at the very end of Highway 430 at around 12:30 and had lunch. The restaurant looks out over the Atlantic. After lunch we walked around the Fishing Point Municipal Park which provides views over Haul Up Cove, Fishing Point Cove, St. Anthony Harbour and the Atlantic.
We looked for signs of whales but no such luck. The scenery was beautiful nonetheless. We discovered this little bird. It's a Fox Sparrow.
We decided to make a quick run up to Goose Cove for a possible iceberg. Rob has an iceberg tracker app that said an iceberg was in the vicinity.
Goose Cove was about 10 miles away. We parked at the trail head of the Pumley cove trail and hiked up this raised boardwalk to the cliffs overlooking Goose Cove.
We saw seagulls but no icebergs. The app info was apparently not up to date.
It was about 2:45 pm so we needed to head back to Rocky Harbour to make sure we could get dinner before everything closes at 8pm. We backtracked our morning's four hour route and arrived in Rocky Harbour at about 7pm. We picked up take out at the same Sunset Cafe as yesterday and took our food back to our room to eat.
At around 8:20pm, Michele suggested that Rob go outside and capture sunset pictures. Rob was outside for nearly an hour. Here are a few of those long exposure shots.
Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse at sunset.
Downtown Rocky Harbour at night.
