We wake to another mostly sunny day. Today our goal is to book a boat trip to the Witless Ecological Reserve for either today or tomorrow. With no cell service at the campground we head north towards one of the four tour boat sites. One tour is on a Zodiac where they bundle you up in storm gear since you often get wet. Wells rejects that choicee since salt water spray is not good for camera gear. Next we consider the tour that does the southern part of the reserve. We give them a call and their boat engine is being repaired but with no idea what day parts will be in. That leaves two tours to pick from. One a single hull and the second a double. The double hull makes a more stable platform for photographing but they are the ones that advertise they are the choice of the large tour companies so we decide on the single hull. The double hull says, “Guaranteed to see puffins,” while the single hull advertises, “No guarantee to see whales or icebergs.” With a puffin colony on an island one is assured to view puffins so that claim is lame while stating no guarantee to see whales or icebergs is the truth. There are no icebergs around here now so we don’t expect to see them. As for whales we have seen hundreds but at this time of the summer the caplin are no longer spawning so the whales are moving off shore. The time to see large numbers of whales is July. We sign up for the 11:30 am single hull cruise tomorrow.
We start exploring the southeastern portion of the Avalon Peninsular otherwise known as the Irish Loop. This part of Newfoundland was settled by the Irish. Views of the coastline are like so many parts of Newfoundland, spectacular. We decide on the destination of St. Vincent where the whales feed next to shore. We arrive with no whales in sight. A couple where there and told us last week there were scores of whales in close to the beach but now large numbers of caplin are no longer here the whales have left. We do see many Northern Gannets. If you have never seen a Northern Gannet you are missing a thrill. They are a large white seabird with black tips on the wings. They fly maybe 300 feet over the water looking for fish below. Once food is spotted it rolls over on it’s back and starts a vertical dive directly down head first into the water with a splash. It’s a great sight to observe, but just too far away to photograph. On Wells’ bucket list is photographing a Northern Gannet in full dive just before plunging into the sea.
The treeless landscape along the southern part of the peninsular reminds us of the arctic tundra we encountered last summer. We stop to stretch at a pull off and Marsha kicks into her interpretive sign reading mode. This tundra like area has a herd of caribou 3,000 strong that often can be viewed right here. We continue to look but without luck.
We stop for a late lunch at the Edge of Avalon Inn and Restaurant for delicious seafood chowder. Playing on the sound system is a collection of songs about the Maritime Provinces. Stan Rogers is in the mix. In all our travels throughout Canada over several years this is the first time we’ve heard him being played over a sound system. If you have not heard of Stan Rogers take a minute to Google him and listen to a song or two of his. You are in for a treat. Back in the early 80’s we were lucky enough to see him live. He died at the age of 33 in an Air Canada plane fire in June 1983 at the Cincinnati airport. He was returning from Texas where he had won top honors at the Kerrville Folk Festival.
Time to head back to the campground. We enjoy a few beverages with our Australian neighbors then a great meal of chili and salad created by Marsha.
Seeing North America 