Two Sore Backs

The sun is shining for our last day on The Rock. We are blessed.

Today we wrap up our Nfld trip with: a drive through the Codroy Valley, beach time at Cape Ray, a terrific fish dinner (someone else is cooking) and camping at J T Cheeseman provincial park.

Hopefully there is time to drive into Port Aux Basques (PAB). Oh yes, we should charge our car tonight so that we aren’t sorting that out when we drive off the ferry in N. Sydney tomorrow evening.

PAB was crushed by Hurricane Fiona last Sep. and we watched in horror. A resident and a home washed out to sea. Many lives changed forever. PAB is the daily ferry connection for Nflders to reach mainland Canada. PAB couldn’t really take much of a time out to recover.

Our day unfolds like this:

We pack up. But first I have a quick swim and hot shower. Pat passes on the swim and has a cold shower. It is a long story…..

Codroy Valley is beautiful; this is an agricultural area which is uncommon in Nfld. That’s Nfld – when you get comfortable with the scenery – you drive a little further and it changes. Today will be no different.

This valley buttresses the ocean. We take a break for a picnic at Codroy Valley Provincial Park.

We’ve seen many examples of west Nfld folk art over the past few weeks. A piece would be a great keepsake. Unfortunately it is hard to justify purchases like larger art pieces given space constraints in the car (remember the second blog – Camping Tetris). For the must haves there is direct shipping ;-)! And we have engaged in some retail therapy; t-shirt collections are looking good.

We drive out to the Cape Anguille Lighthouse. (A lighthouse is never far away in the Maritimes.). Next door is the historic Cape Anguille Lighthouse Inn. Built in 1907 as the lighthouse keeper’s residence, it is now a small inn. Given the past few years of Covid restrictions I wasn’t sure that the guesthouse would be open this summer. Nice to see that it is open.

Throughout Nfld we’ve been intrigued with the method of stabilizing power poles when the ground won’t support them. We’ve seen many a power pole with a rock box support. Today is our last chance to get a photo.

We have one more lighthouse to check out. Further south, we come to Cape Ray Lighthouse.

We make tracks for Cape Ray Beach. Our trusty GPS gives us the most direct route. This happens to be the secondary back road into J T Cheeseman Prov Park. While only 2 km it is the worst bit of road we’ve driven on! We drive it very slowly and thoughtfully.

Our reward …… a huge beach that is almost deserted. Swimming was great. Such a perfect ending.

The retired railway bed across Nfld has been transformed into the Provincial T’Railway. Now it is a popular holiday for ATVers. The western terminus is Cape Ray Beach.

Hurricane Fiona removed so much sand that the cribbing is now exposed (about 3 feet), a dune was severely damaged and a public washroom was obliterated. WOW!

We pull ourselves away from the beach and get a campsite.

Time for dinner. We drive east of PAB to a small hamlet called Margaree for a meal at the Seashore Restaurant. The drive is spectacular – the late day light bouncing off the many ponds. So again today the terrain has changed. I am reminded again of eastern Nfld.

I think it is a sign …. come back again anytime.

We end up with dinner companions – Bill and Janet. A casual conversation across two tables becomes a foursome. Bill and Janet are on their way to their summer home at Leading Tickles near Springdale (they live in Nova Scotia). Maritimers are so friendly.

Much later, back in PAB, the car charges and we spend an hour blogging on Tim Hortons wifi. Then back to camp.

We drive around PAB the next morning.

Then we head to the ferry terminal.