I Think VR Here - July 16

A friend had told me that if I have questions about what to see in Newfoundland to just ask – most Newfies brag about their local sites and that was certainly the case!  The campsite owner told us to skip Elliston – the road was not great to get to it – but to head to Cape Bonavista instead.  As well, they told us to stop and drive through this little community called Trinity.  They also offered to let us leave the trailer behind since we would have to drive right by their campground on the way back to the highway!  What nice people and what good advice.

You might be wondering why did we want to stop in this little community of Elliston in the first place?  Well, it is one of the few places to see puffins!  This area of Newfoundland is one of the few places in North America to see the cute little birds.  And, it was one of things the kids and I had talked about seeing on this trip.  It was quite coincidental actually Elliston was planning their annual puffin fest later this week so we knew we were on the right track.

Cape Bonavista did not disappoint.  We walked over a few rocks and right up to a chain link fence which overlooked a rock just a few meters away full of puffins.  The birds were flying around, you could see them so close.  Plus, we were right along the ocean and even got to see 2 whales in the water!  What a thrill for all of us. 

And then, as a bonus, we got to see the local lighthouse.  They have the original lighthouse restored to the 1860’s and have many things inside from that time period.  We climbed up the steps and watched how they had to lift the weights to the top of the building and then as they slowly went down the rope the lights of the lighthouse would turn.  We also learned about the different colours and timings of the lights and how those were like early GPS coordinates for ships.   The Cape is also home to a working lighthouse and we met the lightkeeper.  A nice man who had just started his 28 day shift!  He was kind enough to show us some of his photos and paintings which is what he does in his spare time at the lighthouse.

From here we took the road back to the campsite, picked up the trailer and headed off to St John’s.  We made pretty good time getting into the city by 5 and had already reserved a spot in the only campground within city grounds – Pippy Park!  It gave us enough time to go to Signal Hill.  It was breathtaking to see the view and the history that happened on this hilltop.  Hard to believe the first wireless communication took place just over 100 years ago.  As we were on the hill I was receiving texts and it is hard to believe how far we have come from those first few words heard by Marconi.

Standing on the top of the building the winds picked up.  I felt like Arjun would be taken away any minute that’s how strong the winds were blowing.  Apparently, this is not an unusual occurrence.  In fact, they have closed the building in the past because the winds are dangerously strong.  A reminder to anyone who plans to visit the area to bring a jacket and good shoes.  There are beautiful trails that you can walk but that are not really recommended for energetic kids (a nice way to say not very good listeners)!  I don’t know if I would have been up to doing the trails even with 2 good feet but it was definitely out of the question with a boot on.  RV There Yet?  It sure feels like it.  Edge of the world.  All the worries are far away.  A true understanding just how big our country is.....  Priceless feeling.