We visited the Catalina area and enjoyed a walk along a rugged area of Atlantic Coast. Catalina is on the Bonavista Peninsula which is unique for being relatively flat; without cliffs along the shore. When we arrived there was a thick mist coming in and almost a whiteout situation. We walked on narrow paths through a low, mossy/spongy carpet of berries, grasses, and wildflowers.
We took a boat tour from “Gatherall’s Puffin and Whale Watch” of Witless Bay which turned out to be just awesome. The boat took us out to several islands comprising the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. This is the largest Atlantic puffin colony in North America.
Below are some of the colorful, rugged sea-shore rocks along the coast.
Cape Spear is the ‘easternmost’ point of land in North America. The sun comes up here long before it comes up at the much advertised Acadia National Park, Cadillac Mountain, Maine. It’s difficult to tell how much earlier because Newfoundland is in a different time zone 1-1/2 hours earlier than “Eastern Time”. Most of Canadian Maritime Provinces are 1 hour earlier than Eastern but Newfoundland gets another 1/2 hour earlier.
Our first stop was Cabot Tower on Signal Hill: There are many interesting things about this hill and iconic bit of Architecture. One is that this spot is where Guglielmo Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic wireless signal from Cornwall, England in 1901
from : North Sydney, Nova Scotia : to : Marine Atlantic Ferry : to: Argentia, Newfoundland
We did the Cabot Trail on a bus (well, ‘motorcoach’) – and I would not recommend that to anyone…
The shoreline is beautiful. In a car, on your own, where you can stop and enjoy the scenery, it could be a nice trip.
In a bus, trying to take pictures through bouncing/swaying tinted glass, it was really disappointing. The tour guide on the bus was great and told some good stories, but 10hrs on a bus was awful.
Halifax is the capital of the Province of Nova Scotia.
We did several things while at Halifax but the highlight was ‘sailing’ on the “Tall Ship Silva”.
It was a hot, sunny day. We had a delicious lunch at Los Toros Auténtico Español and enjoyed walking along the Halifax Harborwalk. We also visited “The Citadel-National Historic Park” which sits on top of the hill overlooking Halifax.
As we were returning from our sailing trip one of the Canadian Navy submarines set sail and cruised out right in front of us.
We visited Peggy’s Cove, Swissair Flight 111 Memorial, and the “Titanic Cemetery” (Fairview Lawn)
We really enjoyed our visit to Lunenberg: a very picturesque harbor town. The guide and displays at the “Maritime Museum of the Atlantic” helped explain the history of fishing in the area and of “The Bluenose”.
Annapolis, named after Queen Anne in 1710 after the British recaptured it from the French. Lots of history here about the original Mi’kmaq people and later the Acadian people and culture; also many battles over control of the area. Interesting history but hearing about it got old after awhile when every tour guide went over the same things. Samuel de Champlain identified the area as a good harbor and place to settle in early 1600’s. It became a French colony for many years and many Acadians today still trace roots back to the settlement.
Rafting on the Bay of Fundy
The setting for books: “Anne of Green Gables” by Lucy Maude Montgomery.
The visitor’s center and grounds are beautifully kept. It is a tourist trap for sure but well done with an interesting story if you enjoy the books.
DADart Photography 