Traveling, especially with new gear always is a test… the new battery system (LiFePo4 Lithium) up to this point has worked superbly. I sensed something amiss as one of the 4 cells was low and one cell high. I am sussing out the ‘what’s happening’ in fits and starts as we still want to move on and hike etc. We woke to no electricity in the camper …hmmmm. There was ample volts in the battery but one cell down. (different from an AGM battery in every way)… So there it is… no panic just readjust things. We bought 5 pounds of ice on the road and put it in the fridge. That will keep all well. Our propane stove is not effected and we have head lamps if needed. But all day I will be thinking as to why it happened. Five hours into the day the juice starts up! Why? Who knows. I have a bluetooth app that allows me to monitor the battery/solar goings on. I sent a message to the guru of these batteries on WTW (Rando) and he got back with the reassurance that we weren’t going to burst into flames… But it would take a re-teaching of the batteries (4 packs of 30 cells) to get each pack in balance ….not an ‘in the field’ job. He explained what I had to do to re-balance the packs and that will be done on our return. As of this typing at the end of the day, the fridge is online and cold and we have enough juice to enjoy the electrical things like an exhaust fan and LED lights to read tonight.
Hard to leave such a place as Leading Tickles. Setting out early we headed back to Gros Morne (N) stopping for a few hikes. Green Point Coastal Trail (1 1/2 hours) and the West Brook Pond (2 hours) going to the Gros Morne boat trip, separated by 20 kilometers each. After a long drive great leg stretchers. We have found that the only info that is useful from the information centers is the ‘zone specific’ color coded pamphlets. My issue with this is that one must stop in each of the Info centers in each of the 5 zones to acquire these, only having their zone’s pamphlet. Perhaps it is to cut down on waste of human nature to collect all even though they did not travel to that zone. Our go-to is the Backroads Mapbooks for Newfoundland and Labrador. Topo maps, road maps and detail information for everything you need and want to see or do.
I will say that I under estimated the time needed to get up into each area. There is a big fast highway but one needs to travel on small roads, off to the out of the way places that are what you are here to see. Newfoundlanders are warm and proud of their province. It is important to and fun to take the time to talk to as many people as possible. They have a lot to say and it just feels so good. There is an incredibly strong community here in some very necessary human connections. Family and village. It is like it was 75 years ago in US that most people now seem lost without… no ‘center’ … We have lost that except in small towns. The safe, slow (in that people stop their day to talk), the less harried pace. Last night we could hear the congregation, who once a year come to the cemetery and sing hymns to the sailors who have been lost at sea. We listened to the hymns and solos….so very moving.
Great to watch kids at the seaside collecting shells or digging holes, exploring gooey stuff. The beaches, due to them being in a current not delivering plastic on the tide, are as they were once. No shoes necessary to walk the beach in fear of god only knows what…. just sand, rocks, shells and bits of wood. There will have to be another trip here to see the other half of this province we will not have time to see on this one. Perhaps excluding the huge Labrador return trip the next time will make it happen. The return ferry does require rethinking of route as it is hard to re-drive a route (one highway) to get places.
Both the hikes were fun. The coastal was quite windy and less people . The hike to Gros Morne…looking up the valley was busy but people spread out and the trail well done. We camped for a second time within Gros Morne at Shallow Bay. It serves as a good campground at the end of the day, after doing what you want elsewhere, a place to eat and sleep by the ‘sea’ which is actually the Saint Lawrence seaway. Winds blowing here.
Lucy Rose. Taking a dog, especially a young herder who can track a fly in a room and watches machinery to figure out how it moves…is work… she is on duty 24/7. Hyper alert for all input. Exhausting. She needs to have something to do or keep moving for the next scent. Training opportunities for this breed are either catch can or full time. Lucy has had to deal with ‘learning-up’ on the road. It was stressful at first and each move to a new locale starts stressful then now more easily moves into the oh-boy. An an investment any hunter knows about with their dog. This trip has offered an accelerated course in “travel dog”. Ferries, local dogs, camping, rabbits/red squirrels, road construction, the list goes on. Tough on an 18 monthly dog but good in the long run. She has found her safe space in the camper and falls asleep there fast.
We decided to stay a few days longer and travel to the northern tip to visit the Viking site L’Anse Aus Meadows. BUT before we left the Shallow Bay site…they have a beautiful beach which makes it worth staying there…(the showers and bathrooms are also terrific)… it is a 3 mile beach of soft sand for a wonderful long walk before traveling on in the morning …beach empty…(evening has a lot of the campers out… and shells are always better in the morning). The next stop north was at Torrents River at Hawkes Bay. A Salmon ladder and restoration project and if you like the opportunity to fish a beautiful river. Stop at the Info place and decide if you want to walk. There is a three kilometer boardwalk which is worth the walk ( we did 2K and returned as we had the dog) or then drive as we did later to the Center and fish ladder for the tour. Very impressive with large windows to watch lots of 15 pound Atlantic salmon going up stream. Anadromous.
We stopped at Port au Choix to get take out fish and chips (cod or halibut…we got halibut …like butter) at the Anchor Restaurant (past the also excellent higher scale restaurant). We took this about 20 kilometers to Bar’d Harbour along the road under the mountain…a road pull off to a quarry… by the sea. Ate standing up with the meal on the hood looking out over the the Gulf of Saint Laurence. Decisions decisions … to boondocks ( 3 possibilities… or a for sure at the Pistolet Bay Provincial Park … no services so no monster rigs… mostly tents and no cell service so nice and quiet.
We really had to think it through as our boondocks sites were at fishing piers or light houses and windy… there is finally after 14 days going to have rain… Oner day we had maybe 2 hours of sprinkles…then it cleared up…we are spoiled. The Viking site is our first stop tomorrow and then on to Saint Anthony’s Harbor where the Dr Grenfell Museum is located. A man from England who dedicated his life to caring for the indigenous people of the Northern Maritimes for 48 years . Good restaurant called Lighthouse Cafe …best ‘chowda’ and “Cod cheeks” and fries in
town.
The Viking site is incredible, mind blowing. A World Heritage UN site with a great visitor center. We did a 2 Km hike by the shore trail and boardwalk…. trying to imagine a Viking ship landing here and building a settlement in 1000 AD.
We boondocks camp tonight back near where the ferry leaves Newfoundland and crosses (1.5-2 hours) to Labrador at 7 AM …so need a site close to the harbor. It is a spit of old land and wharf out into the bay with a great view of the lighthouse and old house across on the island. ( I am geo-tagging where I stay). The long range weather looks like a long wet ride across the black fly province of Labrador … an adventure for sure. We have rain-dues to pay as we have no real rain for two weeks! Ended today with a shower but more rain tonight as we boondocks camp Ended today with a rain shower but more rain tonight. Off to Labrador tomorrow morning !
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