Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

Greetings,

We are in Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, both for its exceptional natural beauty and the outstanding examples representing major stages of Earth's history. The spectacular landscape of the park tells the story of the Earth's transformation.

I was anxious to learn more about this, so one of our first stops was to hike the Tablelands.

Mom made me do some reading before we left and I learned that The Tablelands are a slice of the ancient ocean floor that was raised through tectonic upheaval.

I thought that The Tablelands provided a remarkable exposure of mantle rock, rarely seen at the earth's surface.

There is very little vegetation in this area but the Provincial flower of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Pitcher Plant, finds a way to survive by trapping bugs and extracting their nutrients.

It was a beautiful hike.

After our walk we drove to Trout River, right on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Mom and dad had lunch at the Seaside restaurant. 

They brought us a special treat, a pan fried Caplin (remember those poor fish that died on the beach when they came up to spawn) Tasted just like sardines!

Our next stop was to Green Point. Formed at the bottom of an ancient ocean, the layers of shale at Green Point contain layers of fossils from ancient times (actually between the Cambrian and Ordovician periods if you want the specifics - hope you are impressed!)

It was a hike to get back up to the top

We also stopped at to visit the Lobster Cove lighthouse.

Mom and dad left us in the car on the day they took the boat trip through the fjords in Western Brook Pond.

Glaciers carved the massive cliffs of Western Brook Pond as ice bit through this 1.2 billion old block of granite and gneiss. It was a freezing cold and cloudy day, mom was glad she had brought her wool hat and gloves. 

 They sat in the open upper deck of the boat looking at the massive cliffs, 2,000 feet on both sides of the gorge

Can you see the bear? Look in the center of the picture.

and waterfalls.

Can you spot the face? I got it right away, but had to point it out to Brody.

Around Bonny Bay, the pink quartzite mountaintops and limestone cliffs were once sandy beaches and tropical reefs that formed the shoreline of an ancient ocean.

and we stopped to walk around the small fishing village, Woody Point

We enjoyed our visit to the park!

Adios,

Yuki and Brody

St. John's, Newfoundland

Greetings!

 We are in St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland on the Avalon Peninsula. It feels different being in a big city after many days in small fishing villages.

The day after we arrived it was sunny (little did we know that would be the only sunny day) so we headed for the Cape Spear lighthouse at the easternmost point of land on the continent.

Yes, another lighthouse, this is an island you know.

Brody and I love exploring around 

enjoying the incredible views - 

a lonely iceberg in the distance

You can't see them down there, but trust me I saw whales!

After that we headed to Signal Hill 

to see the views  

In site of its height, Signal Hill was difficult to defend: throughout the 1600s and 1700s it changed hands with every attacking French, English and Dutch force.

 

In 1762, this was the site of the final battle between the French and the British in the French and Indian War.

Cabot Tower, at the top of Signal Hill, was constructed in 1897 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of explore John Cabot's landing in Newfoundland.

 In 1901 Guglielmo Marconi received the first Transatlantic wire transmission near here.

At the bottle of the hill Brody begged dad to stop and take a picture of him on top of the Newfoundland dog. He is such a ham!

 Mom and dad needed a break after all that touring, so we headed to Quidi Vidi a small fishing village in one of the older parts of St. John's.

It is now best known for the Quidi Vidi Brewery.

Dad likes their British IPA, not as hoppy as the US ones, but still tasty. Brody likes it too!

The next day we took a drive around parts of the peninsula, yes, more scenic fishing villages, some kayakers

more pufflins

and lots of murres

We  stopped for a picnic (my favorite thing to do) in Harbour Grace, once the headquarters of the 17th century pirate, Peter Easton. Beginning in 1919, it was the departure point for many attempts to fly the Atlantic.

 Amelia Earhart left here in 1932 to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

The city of St. John's encircles St. John's Harbor and is a mix of English and Irish influences.   St. John's is known as "Jellybean Row". As almost all of the homes and stores in the hills of the city are painted different colors, like jellybeans.

We spent 6 days in St. John's, but the cloudy days weren't that great for picture taking. Mom and dad did several of the local museums while Brody and I hung out in the car. On our last day the sun was out a bit so we drove to one of the beaches.

 The capelin had come to spawn the night before and I saw several of those poor fish that didn't make it back to the water.

Brody saw them too, but luckily he was more interest in putting the seaweed in his mouth and not the fish.

On our last night there we had to say goodbye to our friends, John and Jeanne from North Carolina. They are traveling in an Airstream trailer and we first met them in Halifax. We had lots of fun with them and hope to meet up with them again!

 We are leaving the big city and heading for the west coast!

Adios,

Yuki and Brody