I have been complaining a lot about the ...
Trip Start
Jul 06, 2001
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Trip End
Jul 22, 2001
Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland, Canada
Saturday, July 14, 2001
I backtracked down to Boyd's Cove where I grabbed Highway #331 eastward to Highway #330. The 330 runs along what is known as the straight shore (I guess because the shore is lacking in coves and islands and such). The terrain is quite barren and when a wind whips up there is not much to stop it. By lunchtime the rain had stopped and it had actually started getting bright out
Lost Lobster Trap
. Unfortunately the aforementioned wind was in full force. That didn't stop me from having a pleasant lunch at Banting Park just outside of Musgrave Harbour.Bradley T Hughes Secret Recipe: Soggy Buns
Ingredients: Mr. Noodles package of your choice and 2 hamburger buns
Cook noodles as indicated on the package. Once finished tear up buns and place them in the noodle soup. This really cuts down on the amount of slurping you have to do at the end of the meal.
The park is named after Sir Frederick Banting the co-discovered of insulin. His plane went down just offshore from here. The park actually has the twisted wreck of his plane on display. It's kind of gruesome.
The weather gradually improved and by the time I was poking about the town now known as New-Wes-Valley (an amalgamation of Newtown, Wesleyville, and Valleyfield) it was a nice warm day, albeit still a bit overcast.
The Sun Dares Show Its Face in Hare Bay
Newfoundland didn't join Canadian Confederation until 1949 (and the vote wasn't exactly a landslide). The man who made it happen was Joey Smallwood. His hometown of Gambo wasn't particularly pretty by Newfoundland standards but it's when the sun finally came out to shine for the rest of the day.
From Gambo it's a short drive to Terra Nova National Park. I quickly set up my campsite and hung everything out to dry in the warm, warm sun. The park itself is rather ordinary. It's a nice place to spend some time with Mother Nature but when compared to Gros Morne or nearly any of the other National Parks I've visited it doesn't stand out. I did a nice hike along the Coastal Trail that will take you across some quiet beaches. I also snuck up on a mother fox with two cubs. Unfortunately they heard me grab my camera and they were gone into the bush in a flash.
After the hike I simply sat around my campsite, enjoyed the sun, and read a book (Last Train To Memphis by Peter Guralnick). It was the first time during the trip that I really stole some time just for relaxation. I knew the island was big but I had still underestimated its size. I had driven 359km on this day and that was one of the lower daily tallies from this trip. While this day lacked in excitement and adventure as compared to the others I was at my most content sitting in my chair reading about Elvis - a lucky Friday the 13th indeed.
