Another Adventure Comes to an End

Delayed post because there was no wifi on the ferry. Yesterday was our last day in Newfoundland, but we packed a lot in! It was a beautiful day- bright sun and upper 70s- probably the best weather we’ve had since arriving here. A few days ago we read about several geological sites in the Port aux Port area, and since it was on our route south back to the ferry we decided to stop there. We’d driven the coastal route around this peninsula two weeks ago on the morning we got off the ferry, but it was overcast and rainy so we figured it would be fun to see the views in the bright sunshine.

It was totally worth the side trip! We wanted to see a coastal feature known as the “folded rocks.” Online sources said to stop at the nearby convenience store to ask for specific directions to the site, which we did, and were given parking directions a short distance down the road and told to just walk down the beach til we got there. I think I talked about this last time, but Newfoundlanders are not overly concerned about private property and for sure beaches everywhere are open to everyone. Learn a lesson, New England!

The rocks were one of the most incredible natural things I’ve ever seen. The entire peninsula is an area with unique geology and this section is known as the “faults and folds.” Every exposed beach cliff has crazy stratigraphy but this spot was insane!

The Memorial U. geology fieldtrip report I found online describes this spot as “a tectonic contact with a spectacularly folded succession turbidic sandstones and shales, with asymmetric, west-facing folds that appear to refold a series of extension faults.” The author indicates that the exact age of these rocks is not known, but they were created somewhere in the neighborhood of 470 million years old. Insanity!

We continued south, passing by the rounded, green Long RangeMountains which we could actually see for the first time in bright sunlight. 

We went through Channel-Port aux Basques, and turned east to follow the southern coastline to the Rose Blanche Lighthouse. There are only a few small towns along the road and it ends at the lighthouse. The tiny outport towns beyond that point can only be reached by boat- they’re completely inaccessible over land. The terrain here was very different than other parts of the island. There were lots of boulders on the surface and hundreds of small ponds dotting the mostly treeless green landscape. It looked very lush but also very desolate., although that may have had a lot to do with the fact that a rolling coastal fog had blown in (bye-bye sunshine).

The lighthouse was perched on a similar spot but with more exposed bedrock. The small granite lighthouse was built in 1871 from stone quarried nearby and is one of the only remaining granite lighthouses in Newfoundland. It most closely resembles lighthouses in the UK, likely because it was designed by a firm from England.

We returned to Channel-Port aux Basques to get some food and beverages while we waited to board the ferry. The schedule is still wonky because the other ferry route to Newfoundland is out of service, so we were required to check in 3 hours ahead of an 11:15pm departure and we actually left port at about 10:30pm. At 3:00am the PA system announced that we would be docking in Sydney, Nova Scotia in an hour, and at 4:30am we rolled off the boat and into the darkness, although even then there was the faintest bit of morning on the horizon.

Our boat arriving in Channel-Port aux Basques

The weather forecast wasn’t great but we decided to take a slight side trip on the way to St. John to see the Hopewell Rocks in the Bay of Fundy. The park features about two dozen eroded sea stacks which are fully exposed when the tide goes out- dropping by as much as 52 feet each cycle (the Bay of Fundy has the world’s highest tides). Since we were off the boat so early, we were able to get there about 2.5 hours after low tide so could walk on the sand as the tide was jut starting to come back in. It was crowded with people and several school or camp groups which was weird after so much isolation in Newfoundland, but still another very cool natural wonder.

And with that, our two week trip is coming to an end. We’ve logged about 3,600 mile so far so will be close to 4,000 when we get back to Rhode Island tomorrow afternoon.

I hope you've enjoyed following along and until next time!

      

 

 

 

Updated Wish List Tally:

 

Icebergs, Moose, Caribou = 0

 

Whales = Stopped counting!

 

Puffins = What am I up to now? 200k??

 

Archaeological Sites = 3 (Should I move this up on the list?)