Aug 9th to 11th - Doyles & Rocky Harbour

Aug 9th - Sat - Doyles
We went exploring today. Drove back to Port aux Basques (where the ferry terminal is). It is a small town built on hills of rocks around the ice-free harbor with the houses very close to the streets. We stopped at the tourist information, talked to a very knowledgeable employee and ended up with enough reading material for a week. On the way back to the RV park, we took a route off the TCH (Newfoundland’s terminology for the Trans Canada Highway - certainly less of a mouthful) which was very pretty. The sun came out for a while which was wonderful.
Back at the RV park, we chatted with a guy (Terry Huber) from Summerland B.C. He didn’t know Aunt Jessie, would have been too much of a coincidence. Later, we walked to the office to post the blog and then stopped by and met Terry’s wife Judy. Ended up getting along really well and having a drink with them. After dinner, Terry & Judy joined us at our campfire and it was midnight before we knew it. A young neighbor traveling with his wife & 4 children stopped by for a while and told us about some places that they had really enjoyed.

Aug 10th - Sun - to Rocky Harbour
Yes, Harbour has a “u” in Canada!
We had a lovely day for the 3 hour drive to Gros Morne National Park where Rocky Harbour is located. Terry & Judy were planning on stopping sooner but decided to join us which is great. After setting up, we had a beer while we looked at maps and information books. Next we all went into (the small) town , stopped at a couple of stores and then found a great lookout with beautiful views of the town.
We decided to eat out, found a small restaurant that had a lot of cars parked in front of it and had great fish & chips.
No fire pit here but Terry & Judy have a propane “campfire” so we put on jackets and sat out. Unfortunately, their “campfire” wasn’t working too well so we pulled out our buddy burner to add some more flames. It really cooled down so we called it a night about 10.

Aug 11th - Mon - Rocky Harbour
We had an absolutely wonderful day!
After breakfast, the Hubers took over the driving duties and we first bought tickets for a boat tour on Western Brook Pond. We didn’t know that we should have made reservations but we managed to get some of the seats that they keep for walk-up customers.
We were early so we drove a little further and walked on a beach for a while. The water is so clean.
For the boat tour, you have to walk in 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) on a boardwalk and gravel trail through bogs and forests - very pleasant. The lake (pond) is very deep and surrounded by very steep mountains. It is still referred to as a fjord even though it has been cut off from salt water for many years. The tour was 2 hours and was made most enjoyable by the sunshine.
We took a scenic loop that added a kilometer to our walk back to the parking lot. We decided to make baby backs for all of us for dinner but were going to a musical show so had to hurry up and get the ribs boiled when we got back.
We “ate & ran” to get to the pub at 7 for a 9 o’clock show as we were told that it fills up early. We didn’t have to be quite that early but got a good table. The show was a 5 man band (Anchors Aweigh) which provided local bits of information and comedy as well as maritime music. It was great and highly recommended to anyone who visits here. The show lasted until 12:15 so we canceled our plans for dessert and hit the hay.