Today we finally saw a whale! More on that later. We joined the other inn guests for a pancake and sausage breakfast this morning. We chatted with the couples, one of which was from Newfoundland, so they gave us suggestions on what to see on our trip to St. John's tomorrow. Another couple from Ontario has a wheat farm and plans to visit Washington, D.C. in October. They told us they were on the same harbor cruise on Tuesday afternoon as us, as was the Premier of Newfoundland.
We got out the door around 9:30am and planned to visit the Long Point Lighthouse area and hiking trails. Although we did not tour the lighthouse, we spent the morning hiking the trails around it that hugged the coast.
It was then Rob spotted our first Newfoundland whale!
Michele said she saw one show its flipper. We spent about three hours walking around and enjoying the scenery.
Around 12:45pm we finished the hiking trails and drove to the Black Crow Cafe for lunch. We shared their vegetarian lentil soup and beef and cheese panini. Both were delicious and we had a view of the harbor from our window.
After lunch, we drove 10 minutes to nearby Spiller's Cove that was recommended by our Gros Morne hiking guide Chloe. This area had 7km of hiking trails around the coastline. We couldn't believe it was possible to be more beautiful than our morning scenery, but it was.
After awhile, Rob saw a whale again. Or so we think. Maybe it was an orca? At this time an older couple hiked over and Rob told them we could see whales. They were so excited and sat nearby waiting for them to surface. The whales were further out than at the other location. A tour boat with some lucky customers were very close to this whale as it breached the surface. The boat obscured our view a bit, but we could still see the whale.
We then discovered an osprey nest on a tall rock outcropping! There were two large chicks on the nest.
Aren't they gorgeous? At one point the male brought back a fish for the chicks. Later, a crow was squawking nearby and the female left the nest to go chase it off. A man who was photographing them said he's been watching this nest every year for ten years. We stayed a long time to take pictures and videos. Then we walked down to the beach area and watched the seagulls. They were noisy and comical.
This little squirrel paid us a visit. It looks similar to our regular gray squirrels at home but is only slightly larger than a chipmunk.
By 3:45pm we hiked back to the car then drove back to town to grab items at the grocery store for our early breakfast tomorrow. At 5pm we went back to Annie's Harbor Restaurant where we ate last night and shared the Screech Chicken, salad and another cheesecake. Screech is the #1 selling dark rum in Newfoundland.
The harbor looked colorful in the late afternoon sun.
Today was the best weather we've had in our time in Newfoundland, maybe the whole trip so far. It was 65-70 and sunny all day. The sunsets in Newfoundland never disappoint. This is the view from our balcony.
Tomorrow we depart for St. John's on the eastern coast.
