The Damnable Trails

We landed at Terra Nova Provincial Park on Thursday. It poured rain from Friday through to Sunday, with even a thunderstorm thrown in.  

On Monday, the sun came out. And so did we. 

At the end of a peninsula near the park is a fishing town called Salvage established in 1600’s. And a series of trails called The Damnable Trails.  

Sounded intriguing.

On a flat trail, I can easily cover 4 km in less than an hour. The total distance we did on these trails was 5.5km.  And it took us 3 hours.  

Yes, we did stop at all the overlooks and hubby threw a fishing line in at one cove, but mostly what slowed me down was the steep climbs and tricky descents. All while navigating tree roots and rocky spots. 

And I did stop to take pictures. It was irresistible to try to capture the wildness of the coast. 

And the view of the town across the bay. 

But mostly I laboured up the hills, gasping for breath at the top, and gingerly found my footing on the way down. We opted out of the last trail, to the summit of the largest hill behind us.  And voted to hit the pub in town instead. 

But the pub was closed. 

That damnable trail.  

W

Sailing East

Sailing East

Going to Newfoundland is not something to be done on the spur of the moment. Doing it right requires a massive commitment of time and effort.  You could fly in and just see the city, but to really experience this place, give yourself the time to drive around the province and meet the people. 

Getting there by car is the first commitment.  Taking the ferry means making a reservation often several months in advance. We booked in February, but were still unable to get a ride on the day ferry coming back at the end of July.  We did get on the list for the night ferry but all the sleeping cabins were reserved already, meaning we will have to make do with sitting up all night.  As someone who turns into an ogre at night, I don’t envy my hubbie on that trip. 

Our first sight of the ferry on our way to the island was coming down the hills of North Sydney in Cape Breton.  It looked like a cruise ship, and in fact there are 3 floors for passengers. 

 Following instructions, we lined up waiting to load more than 2 hours before it was due to depart.

 Eventually they directed us into this cavernous space, parked us, and sent us up to the passenger levels with the instruction that we could not return to our vehicle until after landing. They then proceeded to load several dozens of transport trucks alongside our cars and campers, as well as on another level above that. 

We found our assigned seating and also the sun deck on top of the boat.  With the sun out and shining, we watched the final departure from above and felt the rumble of the engines working hard to move this huge vessel full of trucks away from shore and into the North Atlantic. 

The sailing usually takes about 7 hours, but the waters were calm and it was a smooth ride. 

The most terrifying part was trying to find our truck crammed in among huge transports. There was barely room for an adult to slide in between these behemoths while nervously watching them in case they moved.  Of course, our truck was several lanes away and a few rows up.  Not that we could see our little vehicle in amongst the others. 

After unloading we got our first look at the Newfoundland landscape.  We drove alongside a long range of snow capped mountains to our first campsite, a mere 15 minutes away.  Back on solid ground!

W