Finally back on line and have a few things to report...
Yesterday was the best day of the trip so far. We took a boat tour across beautiful Bonne Bay to Woody Point where we spent time in Gros Morne National Park. The boat trip was so fun. The day was beautiful weather wise and there just seemed to be a different energy on the bus as we drove to the boat. Here is the boat we were on:
For the most part the trip was calm. We hit an area where it was a tad wavy. I wanted to get a photo of Hannes and me...we did but we had to wait until it calmed down a bit. Ron took this for us on my camera.
The guides on the boat were very knowledgeable and funny!! Who would have thought that Parks Canada staff had such a great sense of humor. Before we docked for lunch, our group was called to the lower level for an honorary Newfoundlander ceremony. We had to say an oath, down some screech (40 proof rum that is actually from Jamaica!!), kiss the cod...well, we had Lise, as our group representative, do that!! The Parks Canada personnel have a band and performed several songs as well. We will all be receiving a certificate showing that we are honorary citizens of Newfoundland. This was so fun!! We then were off to Trout Bay for lunch. The great thing about our lunches and dinners is that often we order our food ahead of time and are given from two to three choices. Linda, our tour director, takes down our orders and then phones them in to the restaurant while we are travelling on the bus. When we get there, the staff is ready for us, tables are set and food served very quickly. I will write up a separate report about the food on this trip...
After lunch we went to Gros Morne National Park UNESCO World Heritage Site. What a beautiful spot! Such amazing scenery. We stopped by the Tableland Mountains. This is what earned the park its UNESCO World Heritage status. The nickname is the "Galapagos of Plate Tectonics".
We stayed overnight in Rocky Harbour which leads me to my next interesting story...my friend Merrilee in Calgary (she introduced Hannes and me), sent me a message that if, by chance, we were going to be in Rocky Harbour, to look up her boss's wife who runs a coffee shop/restaurant. We had no idea where our hotel was located until we asked our tour director Linda who said the shop was about a five minute walk from our hotel. So Hannes called the shop in the afternoon and asked if Jacqui was going to be in. The staff was uncertain, they said maybe later this afternoon. We called later and she was there...so we walked over and asked for her. She came out not knowing who would be there to see her as I told her staff member we just wanted to talk to her for a minute and that we had a mutual friend. We chatted and introduced ourselves. It was such a great experience!!! Unfortunately we could not stay too long as Jacqui was going to pub night at our hotel (the band playing were the fellows from the Parks Canada boat trip that we took earlier in the morning) and we were off to Parsons for a lobster dinner (about a three minute walk from our hotel). This is just one of those things I believe where fate intervened. Of all the places in Newfoundland, who knew we would be in Rocky Harbour? Here is a photo of me in front of the sign:
Our lobster dinner was great. We joined Ron and Bud from St. Louis, Missouri. It has been years since I have had lobster...it was delicious. Here is a photo of our dinner:
That's it for now. I have lots more to talk about...it's supper time and I must eat! :-)
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