500 Jealous Travelers

 (Steve) Started the day thinking it would be much of the same - touring some local museums here in Bonavista or hanging out with our friends. Bonavista is a sweet little town that is just over 500 years old. A town where John Cabot the explorer landed in the late 1400’s - but a town that is a cut below New York City in term of things to do. And that’s the way it started. We grabbed a bite at a local bakery and headed off to join the group at a museum devoted to the cod fishing culture. That was nice. Then we decided that we needed something a bit more interesting. We found it!

There is a lighthouse a few miles from the campground and the road there travels through some beautiful coastal views. We never made it. As we drove along we saw a sign reading “camping and RV’s limited to a three night stay”. Hmmm. Ok, that’s interesting. We continued. Then there was this dirt little road off to the right and over a cattle guard. Then a sign that read “public pasture, don’t feed the animals”. Interesting. Of course we had to explore.

Wow. In half a mile we were traveling along a rough road with cliffs falling to the ocean and the most spectacular views. And then …. An RV parked along the cliffs. And then another. And then another. Just a few of them perched on the edge of the ocean.

I think Pam and I have been together long enough to read one another’s minds. Almost simultaneously - and hardly without discussion - it was settled. We were leaving the caravan campground where we had a little site by the sewer dump and moving to the cliffs. We scouted along the road and found our new home. Since we were driving our little truck we had all our camping gear along. We set out a vinyl rug and some heavy things on it - all in a bid to keep the site poachers at bay. Back to the campground, throw everything in our little truck, unhook the water and electric and scoot.

In almost no time we relocated to the cliffs. Our new view is so much better than the sewer dump. Across the bay is a little lighthouse. To our left and right from the little promontory we claimed are cliffs and sea stacks and offshore rocks covered with gulls and cormorants. Sweet!

Just after we arrived and set up. We heard a distinct baaaa. Looked behind and saw our neighbors - a herd of wild sheep. There are also wild horses cavorting nearby.

We were happy. Set up camp and admired the view and how incredibly clever we were. All this created a powerful hunger satiated at a small ice cream/restaurant a few miles away. As fate would have it some of the friends we’d traveled to Alaska with last year pulled in right after we did. We ate, imbibed and led the crew back to our new home. The afternoon was filled with conversation, Irish music, cigars, and bloody Ceasars (bloody Mary’s made with Clamato - a Canadian thing). Right now, the sun is sinking in the west, the sea birds are calling and the waves are washing up on the pristine rocks and beaches below us. All is good with the world.  And all those other travelers who would die for this site are out of luck.

Bonavista!

 We left St. John’s this morning and continued for about 3.5 hours to our next destination, Bonavista.  It’s not quite as far north as we are going to get on this trip, but pretty close.  In the late spring and early summer, icebergs float past here.  The drive was really pretty as we drove through the middle part of Newfoundland.  There are so many lakes (called ponds here) that it makes our Minnesota seem desert-like.  

We are pretty far north!

Our campground is about 6km from town.  It’s surrounded by trees and a pond, and our sites surround a small meadow.  It’s quite pretty here.  After getting set up, I made us some sandwiches for lunch, and then Steve and I drove into town to check things out.  We went to a cute brewery that had just ok beer and perhaps the worst mojito I’ve ever had.  I guess refreshing tropical rum drinks are not as common up here in iceberg country… they need a little more practice making them.  

We drove around awhile and admired the shoreline and old wood saltbox style houses here.  They are very picturesque in a stoic kind of way.  We then drove up to the lighthouse and discovered that this area is open to the public to camp on the shore for free.  It’s the first ‘boondocking’ we’ve seen done since we arrived in Canada.  We are thinking about spending our last night there.  It’s right on the water and really beautiful.  We ran the idea past our tail gunner, Butch, and he thought it was a great idea!  

We were back at our campground by 5:00 for a social and review of the next two days itinerary. We have a couple busy days of tours, but this time we won’t be in busses.  We get to drive ourselves which means we also get lunch on our own.  In addition, if there is anything we don’t feel like doing, we aren’t stuck on a bus.  After our little meeting, a few of us gathered by our R.V.  for conversation and drinks.  Unfortunately with the fire ban in Newfoundland, we headed in early when it got chilly outside.  One of the women in our group said the govt. is thinking about banning ATV riding as well.  So, we’ve tucked our propane fire pit away and won’t bring it out until we are back in the states.