Western Newfoundland

The rugged west coast of Newfoundland stretches from Channel-Port aux Basques on the extreme southwest corner to the Viking site at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula. On this trip we are only riding a small portion of this vast area that we have not seen before. We are disappointed when we leave Port aux Basques that it is still in the fog and the entire section of the road we have never seen remains in the fog all the way to Corner Brook. So we will just have to take the word of the people who live here that it is beautiful!
Corner Brook, where we have been before, is sunny, so we take a side trip along the south shore of the Humber Arm to Bay of Islands. Captain Cook is said to have learned his trade navigating in the Humber Arm, we simply enjoy the sunshine and the scenery. We have seen Captain Cook sites in diverse places such as Cooktown, Australia; Nootka Island, BC; and now Corner Brook. Truly amazing the adventures of James Cook! Barry decides we’ll have lunch at McDonalds more for the fantastic view of Corner Brook it offers from its hilltop site, than the food. Corner Brook has a huge pulp and paper mill right in the heart of the city on a prime waterfront location but from our vantage point the city looks very fine built as it is on the hillsides above the Humber Arm.
We are riding the TransCanada Highway 1 and it takes us up the Humber River valley, past the skiing area of Marble Mountain to Deer Lake. We look wistfully at route 430 that on a previous trip took us to Gros Morne National Park and L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic site, both UNESCO World Heritage sites and extraordinary places. The countryside after Deer Lake is typical of the interior of Newfoundland: large stands of birch, spruce, and pine, dotted with ponds (small lakes) and crisscrossed by brooks (rivers), with small settlements far apart.
Our destination is Indian River Brook B&B, out in the country near Springdale, a hasty reservation due to the ferry delay, that turns out to be very comfortable and quiet. Unfortunately we have to ride (very slowly) to King’s Point for supper, however, our seafood dinner on the ocean patio is excellent and we don’t see any moose going or returning.
We heard a cute story today that would be unbelievable anywhere else in the world but here. There are many elderly men who sit around on the wharves most of the day enjoying the passing scene and there are always a few visitors to Newfoundland who ask silly questions of these oldtimers: One day a visitor inquired “Had many tourists in this area?” The old Newfie only heard the “Tur” part of tourist so you can imagine the visitor’s horror when the old man replied “Yes by’e, I knocked five of dem on de head t’other day, I ete two and t’other tree is in the freezer.” (Tur is the name Newfoundlanders have given to the seabird commonly known as a Murre. Tur is apparently quite tasty but fishy and prized in Newfoundland for its meat and eggs).