Trinity, Newfoundland

August 6, 2022May 20, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

The Town of Trinity on Trinity Bay. This town was not on the official ‘agenda’ for the caravan group but was a nice day trip.

Local Trivia: The smallpox vaccine was first introduced to North America in 1799 here in the little fishing village of Trinity by Rev. Dr. John Clinch. Dr. Edward Jenner discovered the vaccine and was a close boyhood friend of Clinch. Jenner had developed the first smallpox vaccine in England using a less dangerous virus derived from cowpox in 1796. Newfoundland was a British colony at the time and Clinch moved to Trinity. He began inoculating his own family then 700 villagers. When nearby Bonavista was being ravaged with smallpox, Trinity proved immune. About 3 years later the vaccine was introduced in the United States.

Trinity Bay_20220806UNTITLED_PANORAMA-5 — Gothic Revival: St. Paul’s Anglican Church

Trinity Bay_20220806_DAD2732 — Above: Lester-Garland Premises (originally a fish processing station) which is now a local theatre called Rising Tide Theatre

Below: Many of the Salt Box style homes in Trinity are historically restored/preserved. We enjoyed the morning walking around town.

Trinity Bay_20220806_DAD2757 — Fort Point Lighthouse

Trinity Bay_20220806_DAD2770 — Leaving Trinity we had a nice lunch here at Port Rexton Brewing Company

Bonavista, Newfoundland

August 5, 2022May 20, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Bonavista is one of the oldest towns in Newfoundland. “Discovered” (it would be better to say “claimed”) in 1497 by Italian explorer John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto).

Bonavista_20220805_DAD2199 — Cape Bonavista Lighthouse 1843 is one of the oldest in Newfoundland

Bonavista_20220805_DAD2015 — A replica of John Cabot’s ship; “Matthew” is housed in the tall blue building for repairs and over winter. Inside the building, there is a history exhibit called “The Matthew Legacy”

Bonavista_20220805_DAD2075 — The Matthew

Bonavista_20220805BLOW HOLE_PANORAMA-1 — This is “The Dungeon” at Dungeon Provincial State Park. It is a huge collapsed sea cave (called a “gloup”). Clear greenish-blue seawater sloshes in and out of this hole through two archways to the Atlantic. For scale, there are a couple people on the path at upper right.

One of the great things about Newfoundland is that is is still very ‘natural’. There is a dirt road and a gravel parking lot to this natural wonder. There are no guardrails or concession stands or other developments to distract from the moment and just enjoying ‘being there’. We found this to be the case throughout Newfoundland and enjoyed it very much.

Bonavista_20220805UNTITLED_PANORAMA-5 — Colorful, enormous, slabs of rock tilted on edge were a common sight in Newfoundland

Each evening we went to see the nesting puffins at “Ellison Puffin Sanctuary & Root Cellars”. They nest on islands just off the coast.

Catalina Harbour

August 4, 2022May 20, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

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.

Catalina_20220804_DAD1834 — Manuel Island Lighthouse. A tiny lighthouse on a tiny island in the harbour

Catalina_20220804_DAD1827 — Where the moose outnumber the people; they take moose-plows seriously

Catalina_20220804_DAD1813 — Roni, Jennie, and Becky; walking in the mist rolling off the Atlantic

Catalina_20220804_DAD1817 — Catalina is a ‘working’ fishing town. Not very touristy which was refreshing

Puffins – Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

August 3, 2022May 20, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

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.

Witless Bay Puffins_20220803_DAD1501 — Puffin Colony: each white dot is a cute little puffin on a nest. The puffins prefer grassy areas.

Witless Bay Puffins_20220803_DAD1500 — Photos above, closeup of puffins.

Witless Bay Puffins_20220803_DAD1481 — Photos below, puffins taking off & landing.

Witless Bay Puffins_20220803_DAD1467 — Puffins everywhere, on the island, in the water, and in the sky.

Witless Bay Puffins_20220803COLONY_PANORAMA-1 — This island was covered in nesting Common Murres/Guillemots. They prefer the bare rock areas.

Witless Bay Puffins_20220803NESTING_PANORAMA-1 — Common Murres/Guillemots on the bare rock and puffins in the grassy area.

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Witless Bay Puffins_20220803_DAD1784 — It clouded up and started raining as we were finishing up. The birds were feeding on the water and ‘parted’ as the boat came through. The puffins often had beaks full of little fish hanging out.

Below are some of the colorful, rugged sea-shore rocks along the coast.

Cape Spear – Easternmost Point in North America

August 2, 2022May 20, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

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.

St Johns_20220802_DAD1310 — The Original (now inactive) Cape Spear Lighthouse – 1836

St Johns_20220802_DAD1367 — For a sense of scale; this photo is taken from Cape Spear, looking back northwest toward the St. John’s Harbor entrance. That bump on top of Signal Hill is Cabot Tower and the white dot below and left of the tower is the Amherst Lighthouse.

St Johns_20220802UNTITLED_PANORAMA-1 — Above: Clear water and rugged coastline. Locals told us this was one of the most calm Atlantic waters they had ever seen.
Below: The nearby “New” (active) Cape Spear Lighthouse was built in 1955.

St Johns_20220802_DAD1256 — Looking Down: I enjoyed sitting on the edge of the easternmost cliff of North America. It was a long, long, long, way down and very windy but the breeze was blowing UP the cliff. It was fun to watch seabirds flying along below. Photos just don’t begin to capture the feeling of being there.

St Johns_20220802UNTITLED_PANORAMA-2 — Photo looking back as we were leaving Cape Spear.

St. John’s & Petty Harbor, Newfoundland

August 1, 2022May 22, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

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

St Johns_20220802_DAD1168 — How the Architect drew it…

St Johns_20220802_DAD1163 — How it got built…

St Johns_20220802_DAD1156 — The world with St. John’s at it’s center. At this point we were as close to Ireland as Indianapolis.

St Johns_20220802ST JOHNS BAY LIGHTHOUSE_PANORAMA-1 — Looking down on the entrance to St. John’s Harbor, called “the Narrows”. The Amherst Lighthouse on top of the outcropping is built on some of the old foundations of Fort Amherst below. Here’s a link to some interesting history; https://www.hiddennewfoundland.ca/fort-amherst–chain-rock

St Johns_20220802ST JOHNS_PANORAMA-1 — Zoomed in on St. John’s downtown and Harbor. Upper left building is “The Rooms” built to house St. John’s art and culture exhibits. It is an oversized version of traditional “fishing rooms” which is what Newfoundlander’s called the colorful sheds along waterlines. They are brightly colored so fishermen can find them in the fog.

St Johns_20220802_DAD1230 — Petty Harbor

St Johns_20220802_DAD1235 — Petty Harbor. Newfoundland scenes like this were to become typical as we traveled for the next 30 days around the island.

Mess-O-Moose — “Moose Madness” Moose Sausage, Ground Moose Meat and Moose Gravy on chips (fries) at Chafe’s Landing Restaurant in Petty Harbor.

Ferry to Newfoundland

July 31, 2022May 22, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

from : North Sydney, Nova Scotia : to : Marine Atlantic Ferry : to: Argentia, Newfoundland

N Sydney Ferry_20220731_DAD1066 — This is the Marine Atlantic Ferry. We loaded all of our RV’s onto the lower level for a 15 hour overnight sail to Newfoundland. We had a small ‘room’ for the night. Nobody can stay below with the vehicles. We just park it and set the brake.
Everyone gets ‘staged’ into loading lanes in a big parking lot. Some were unlucky enough to get staged underneath the lights where cormorants were nesting. Those RV’s were quickly plastered with white cormorant poo. We (and the motorcyclists staged near us) were glad we were far from a light pole…

Newfoundland_20220801_DAD1142 — Some nice shoreline as we exited Sydney Harbor.

N Sydney Ferry_20220731_DAD1076 — Low Point Lighthouse marks the eastern entrance/exit to Sydney Harbor. Once past this lighthouse we were out into the open North Atlantic.

Newfoundland_20220801N SYDNEY FERRY_20220731NEWFOUNDLAND_PANORAMA-2 — The next morning, as we were approaching Argentia, we saw these beautiful haystack-like islands wrapped in mist. We also passed within a few miles of France! Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a group of eight islands that are the most western outpost of Europe. You need a passport to enter this part of France and their currency is the Euro. We did not go there but this was a geographic learning experience for me.

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Newfoundland_20220801NEWFOUNDLAND_PANORAMA-4 — More of the surreal misty morning coastline coming into Argentia

Newfoundland_20220801NEWFOUNDLAND_PANORAMA-1 — From Argentia, we disembarked our RV’s and drove to St. John, the capital of “Newfoundland and Labrador” (the official name of the Province – which I will now just call Newfoundland)

The Cabot Trail, Cape Breton Highlands

July 28, 2022May 22, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

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.

Cabot Trail_20220728_DAD1018 — Black Brook Beach was nice. One stop the bus had to make to let people use the porta potties.

Cabot Trail_20220728CABOT TRAIL_PANORAMA-2

Tall Ship Silva, Halifax

July 25, 2022May 22, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

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.

Halifax Silva Ship_20220725SYLVA_PANORAMA-1

Halifax Submarine_20220725DSC_6197 — Submarine photo courtesy of Tommy (my camera memory ran out)

Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724HALIFAX_PANORAMA-2 — The Citadel National Historic Park – a star shaped fortress. We stood around in the hot sun waiting for the “changing of the guard”. Never again…

Peggy’s Cove +, Halifax

July 24, 2022May 22, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

We visited Peggy’s Cove, Swissair Flight 111 Memorial, and the “Titanic Cemetery” (Fairview Lawn)

Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724PEGGYS COVE_PANORAMA-1

Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724_DAD0507 — Peggy’s Point Lighthouse

Dessert Together — Goofy pic of Duane and Becky with desserts at Peggy’s Cove “Sou’Wester Gift & Restaurant Company”. It’s a tourist trap but the meal was part of the Adventure Caravan package. The bolo tie strings we are wearing are the Adventure Caravan name tags we had to wear for admission.

Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724_DAD0476 — Swissair Flight 111 Memorial. This was a sobering stop on the way to visit Peggy’s Cove. The morning weather was cool and foggy; a dreamlike setting memorializing the loss of 229 lives on September 2, 1998. The flat face of the memorial is aligned with where the plane crashed about 5 miles offshore.

Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724SWISSAIR111_PANORAMA-1

Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724UNTITLED_PANORAMA-2 — The landscape that we walked through to get to the memorial included wide areas of smooth stone and stunted/dwarf sized pine trees trying to survive the harsh Atlantic weather.

Peggys Cove Halifax_20220724_DAD0531 — We visited Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax. 121 victims of HMS Titanic are buried here.

Halifax Moose — We saw a moose in Halifax… tourists

Lunenberg: Nova Scotia

July 21, 2022May 22, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

Lunenburg and Mahone Bay_20220722_DAD0414

Lunenburg and Mahone Bay_20220722_DAD0405 — The famous Bluenose Schooner: 1921-46 Champion Racer (replica)

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”.

Lunenburg and Mahone Bay_20220722_DAD0404

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Lunenburg_20220721_DAD0374 — Old & New Reuse: from Blacksmith Shop to Bourbon Distillery

Lunenburg_20220721_DAD0371 — Ironworks selection

Lunenburg and Mahone Bay_20220722IMG_2450

During a tour of the Ironworks I spotted reused barrels from Heaven Hill and Buffalo Trace Distilleries

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Lunenburg and Mahone Bay_20220722_DAD0381

Annapolis Royal, Fort Anne, & Port-Royal, Nova Scotia

July 20, 2022May 23, 2023 / dadartphotography / Leave a comment

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.