After breakfast and showers we walked the road to the park’s beach,primarily to try to find the Piping Plovers that nest there. We birded along the way. It had been pretty quiet in the campground, but we could here lots of songs and calls along the road. We found White-throated Sparrow, Yellow Warbler and Blackpoll Warbler on the way to the beach, all by hearing them first, then spotting them. Ellen is getting pretty good at identifying well-known birds by ear. I, on the other hand, can remember Song Sparrows and House Wrens...and that’s because they sing just outside our bedroom window every morning at home.
When we reached the beach, we could see a group from Environment Canada down the beach. They were finding and banding plovers. We decided to stay away from them and walked over to an inlet on the back side of the dunes. We were greeted by Spotted Sandpiper and also saw Scaup out on the water along with flying gulls and terns. Looking down the inlet beach, we finally picked out a pair of very identifiable Piping Plovers picking their way along the waterline.
Ellen was chatting with one of the park rangers earlier and he recommended driving out to the village of Rose Blanche, east of Port aux Basques, so we altered our plans and took Speedy out for a drive. It turned out to be a 100 km drive.
After the quick highway drive to Port aux Basques, we turned left onto the much narrower, bumpy and twisty side road east. About 10km down the road, we took a detout to Margaree, little village on the coast, and stopped at the Seashore Restaurant (also recommended by the ranger) for lunch. We were a little leery when we saw the tour bus parked outside, but went in anyway.
The tour bus had brought the big group of Class A people that we had encountered on the ferry yesterday. Evidently, they left their RVs at their campground (not the provincial park, thankfully) and were taking a bus tour which included the Seashore Restaurant. When I asked our waitress later, she said that they only get 6-8 buses a year that stop by...just our luck.
Even with the big group ahead of us, there wasn’t much of a wait for service. I had a bowl of seafood chowder and the clam plate. Ellen had fishcakes and a salad. She got the better lunch. Her fishcakes were homemade, although a bit peppery and the salad was pretty good, even if it did include bacon...although some say everything is better with bacon. My clam plate was fried clam strips and bits...a real disappointment. The chowder was just okay, not particularly flavorful and not much fish. The partridge berry cottage pudding and bread pudding we had for dessert were better.
After lunch, it back on the twisty road to Rose Blanche. The town was described as picturesque, but was not quite what we expected. Once we got into the village the roads became very narrow, just one lane, and virtually cliffside. As we neared the end of the road, we wondered if we would be able to turn Speedy around. Fortunately, a driveway appeared and we were able to make our retreat. On the next cliff over from the town was a granite lighthouse which, from a distance, looked more like a church than a lighthouse, as it was a long building with the light, perched like a steeple at one end. In retrospect, we should have gone over to see it, but it was getting late and just headed back towards the campground.
After a stop on Port aux Basques for a few groceries and at the Provincial Visitor Center, we were back at J. T. Cheeseman for the evening.
Tomorrow, we will be heading west towards the Avalon Peninsula and east coast. Our current plan is to do the eastern part of the island first (that’s where the puffins are), then south to St. Pierre (our summer trip to France), then go back west and north to the tip of the island and L’Anse aux Meadows. At that point, we can decide if we will have enough time to go over to Labrador. Finally, we will head south to the ferry via Gros Morne National Park and west coast birding spots. This plan will inevitably change...stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment