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Wednesday,
June 2: Gros Morne National Park
| We woke up this morning to a pleasant, sunny day
- perfect for the boat tour of West Brook Pond. I walked down to the
main motel in town to purchase a ticket for the tour, then rode north
about 12 miles to the trail head, where I hiked 2 miles across a bog to
West Brook Pond where the boat was waiting for about 50 of us. If you've
seen much tourist info about Newfoundland you almost certainly have seen
a picture of West Brook Pond (below is my attempt). The terrain that
created this and other ponds in the area resulted from many glaciers
scraping across the landscape and leaving grooved areas like this which
were bays opening onto the ocean. Over time the soil at the opening of
the bay rose, closing off what was now a pond from the ocean, and the
pond is now completely fresh water. So it is no longer technically a
fjord - it doesn't open into the ocean and it contains fresh water, not
salt. The pond is 575 feet deep, and the mountains nearly 2000 feet
high. The lake is about 2 miles long, twisting around between the
ridges, and is enhanced by many beautiful waterfalls and an occasional
moose feeding on the steep hillsides. |
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The picture above was taken further
into the pond. Why is it called a "pond" rather than a "lake"? The tour
guide (who was Irish) said it was the English who take liberties with
the language, for example, they'll talk about crossing the "pond,"
meaning the Atlantic Ocean!
On the right is one of the
waterfalls - the water must drop 500 feet before hitting the side of the
mountain! |
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When I got back to the room I had to show Elaine
the spectacular photos I had taken. It served to confirm her decision
not to go on the tour - these were just more mountains and lakes like
she had already seen. So we both had enjoyable days - she relaxing in
our comfortable room at Wildflowers Inn, and me touring the Park. |
Thursday,
June 3: Rocky Harbour, NL to St. Georges, NL (123 miles)
| Yesterday was a gorgeous sunny day. Today it was
raining when we awoke, but by the time we loaded the bike the rain had
stopped, and the roads were dry before too long. This is the view we had
out our window on the bay at Rocky Harbour. |
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Gros Morne park is more than the tour of Western
Brook Pond. The highway from Rocky Harbour south winds its way through
more parkland, up hills and down, and around magnificent sweeping
curves. The terrain here was mountainous, as compared with the flatlands
and bogs along the highway north of Rocky Harbour. |
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Over every hill and around every curve there was
another spectacular landscape. The day was overcast, but that didn't
detract from the natural beauty of the environs. |
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This adventure rider was snapped in
front of the overlook
at Norris Point. |
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For lunch today we stopped at a little
convenience store and 24-hour bar in Halfway Point, just west of Corner
Brook. Elaine is developing into something of a poutaine expert and here
she sampled what they termed the "trucker's special." It was French
fried potatoes, hamburger, gravy, grated cheese, and dressing. She said
it was good, but I could tell it wasn't the best she had had after she
asked the server for some green peppers to add "crunch." The best
poutaine begins with freshly cut French fried potatoes, and it usually
has cheese curds rather than grated cheese. If you're really lucky the
cheese curds are still squeaky. |
| We rode the 123 miles to our B&B for the night,
The Palace Inn at St. Georges on the French coast. "The Palace" had been
the residence of the Catholic Bishop for many years, and the local kids
always called it the palace, hence the current name. It was eventually
sold to the current owner who did a major renovation and furnishing job
to turn it into a grand and spacious B&B. |
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The rooms were furnished mostly with heavy
antique furniture, but the front sitting room had large leather couches
and chairs. The sweet smell of new leather permeated the room, and I
felt very manly sitting there working on the computer. |
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