As we prepared to say farewell to Newfoundland, we planned to visit a few more sites along the west coast. Our plan for these couple of days was to see more of Gros Morne National Park, visit a local provincial park further up the west coast, then end with a visit with family while we wait for our ferry.
On our way back from L’anse Aux Meadows we stopped at Arches Provincial Park, which is just north of Gros Morne. It is not meant for camping, but exists to preserve the natural arches that were formed by the waves. It wasn’t busy at all since it was getting late, so we practically had the beach to ourselves. The waves weren’t rolling very high, but we still sat and enjoyed the sounds of the rocks rolling in and out. Despite how calm it was that day, it’s easy to imagine just how these arches were carved, since Newfoundland is known for high seas and wind.
The rocks here provided Hayden with lots of entertainment as he loves to throw them into the ocean and see how close he can get to the water without falling in. He also LOVES to climb, and he really wanted to go to the top of the arches, but we felt it was just a bit too risky for him. However, I’ve been wanting to climb this for many years and never had the guts to do it before. But now I’m a older and can make bad choices for myself, so on this visit I finally did it and it was amazing! It was a great way to end the day before heading back to our hotel.
The next day was our last in the Gros Morne area, so we packed our gear into the car and headed south towards the Tablelands. This is a very popular attraction since it is a mountain chain that actually exposes what was once the middle of the Earth.
Not to get too technical… but many many many years ago, there was a major event where a chunk of Earth broke apart, flipped over, and resulted in the middle layer of the earth ending up exposed on top. As you can imagine, this section of the mountains is very different than the surrounding area. It has a rusty colour (because of all the iron in the middle of Earth) and very little vegetation, in stark contrast to green hills of trees and grass just on the other side of the road. Along the trail there are also pieces of rock that stick out because they are green with a snake like pattern, giving them the name “serpentine”. It’s tempting to take some home (especially for little boys with rock collections!) but this is a National Park, so no souvenirs please!
The Tablelands was our last stop in Gros Morne so we headed south and came across Barachois Provincial Park. The plan was to find a nice place to swim after hiking around Gros Morne, which is easier said than done on The Rock, but this place fit the bill perfectly! Plus the temperature was in the low 20s… Perfect swimming weather for Newfoundlanders! However it would seem that we had forgotten just how cold the ponds stay on this lovely island. BRRRRR the water was cold, however it was refreshing and we had some amazing views of the nearby mountains.
It had been a very long time since Dan and I had gone for a swim in Newfoundland, but we had places to be (and wanted to prevent hypothermia) so we dried off and headed to my aunts place near Port aux Basques to get some rest before catching the ferry. It had been a while since we have been in this area, so a little google satellite search was necessary to plot GPS co-ordinates.
Family hospitality is something to cherish for sure. We were fed, washed some clothes, and got a yarn on with my cousins who stopped in for a visit that night. Being able to watch the sun go down with family around was a great way to end our summer in Newfoundland.
Keep checking back as we head West and visit some other really cool places in Eastern Canada!
Great to have those family visits.
Looks like a lot of family fun! It`s a beautiful place – I have always wanted to visit Newfoundland with my lab Buddy. It`s the origin home of the breed.