We are up and pack up camp and hitch our camper to the truck. The Avalon Peninsular has two major fingers extending to the south into the Atlantic Ocean. The past couple of days we’ve explored the eastern most finger and now it’s time to explore the western finger. Overall where we’ve been has more people and is more tourist oriented. The area we are heading includes Argentina where the long ferry lands from Nova Scotia. The long ferry is roughly an 18 hour journey and lands several hundred miles closer to St. John’s then the shorter ferry route from Nova Scotia. That ferry crossing is roughly 6 ½ hours. The drawback is the long drive to St. John’s. Therefore, people heading to St. John’s often elect taking the long ferry. This finger has plenty of ferry traffic. Not many tourists other than those interested in seabirds venture the forty miles south to the southern tip, Cape St. Mary’s.
Cape St. Mary’s is a major seabird nesting location. This cape juts southward into the ocean and on average has fog 200 days each year. Thick pea soup fog lingers sometimes for days at a time. Along the coast is a sea stack that is the nesting place for tens of thousands of birds including Kittiwakes, Common Murres, and Northern Gannets. Other seabirds also nest here but have already left for the season. The sea stack, Bird Island, is more than 300 feet high at an equal height to the shore where one can see from. From the viewing point Bird Island is only 60 feet away. Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Bird Reserve exists to protect this valuable nesting habitat along with surrounding tundra like lands. A visit to Cape St. Mary’s is on our must see list.
Today’s plan is drive to Argentina and find a camping site. As best as we can determine there are no campgrounds south of there and closer to Cape St. Mary’s. We make the one hundred mile drive and find a campground or maybe “the campground” in this area and set up. It’s early afternoon when we leave the trailer and head south on a scouting trip to Cape St. Mary’s. The forecast for the Cape is for rain and fog so we figure we can at least scout it out. The drive along the western coast of this peninsular is breathtaking with cliffs plunging to the ocean below. The further south the shorter the trees until it is tundra like in appearance. The sun is still out as we arrive at the Ecological Visitor Center. We gather our gear and begin the one plus mile hike to Bird Island. Before we are at all close the air is filled with the cries of tens of thousands of seabirds. The trail ends at a rocky outcropping only 60 feet from Bird Island. The air is thick with birds and their pungent aroma. It’s not a disgusting smell yet it adds to the overall atmosphere and we know we are at a special place in this world. The primary bird here is the Northern Gannet. The island is covered with Northern Gannets. Wells photographs away. The weather is better than expected and we are thrilled to experience this natural wonder.
After two hours there the fog begins to roll in. We pack up and head back to the Ecological Reserve Visitor Center. Afterwards we head north the 45 miles to our campground. Supper is cooked outside on the grill and after a game of Cribbage we hit the hay.
Seeing North America 