Oct 77 min read

DAY 11 - BonaVista to Rocky Harbor

Leaving East Coast Cottage

Good morning, everyone! Woke up to the beautiful sounds of waves. Of course, I took care of the sandwiches and coffee, packed everything up, and then made a pivotal decision!

We decided that today we’re starting to head back to the west side of Newfoundland to catch the ferry on Tuesday – to Labrador. That's the day after tomorrow.

From there, we’ll start the path from Labrador through Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, and finally Dallas.And, of course, on the way, we’ll visit Tammy, my sister-in-law, in North Bay and stay there for 3 to 4 days. She is also my dentist ;)

But we shall not leave this area before exploring a few more places in the Bonavista area, and one of them is Dungeon Cove.

While driving away from the cottage I decided to snap a shot of the OCEANSIDE cottages where I initially ordered - see.....it is like a long caravan that they speprated into many rooms....

This is the "OTHER" place that looked like a caravan

Dungeon road

On the way to Dungeon Cove there was an amazing spot for photo opportunity. The ocean was close to the dirt road. I stopped and took some cool videos.

Lance Cove & Christine – The Photographer

Stopped at another beautiful place called Lance Cove. That is where I bumped into Christine, who was photographing the scenery on the road to Dungeon Cove. She had a whopping 2-foot lens on her camera (Canon with a 70-200 lens), and she was photographing nature. She told me she is an amateur photographer but has sold pictures in the past, so I think she’s professional but just being modest about it. 😉

She also told me she enjoys night shots, which are tricky and usually its colderat night , so I hope she has warm, thin gloves to operate the camera and still keep warm.

Christine has lived here all her life. Another lucky person to be living in a slice of paradise. Since she was also going to the cove, we decided to drive in caravan mode.

The road (or path) was rough. She had a Jeep, and I had Steele, which was raised to the max height. Christine also suggested I visit Spiller's Cove. She said with a Jeep, it’s okay, but with Steele – eh – maybe I’d get through. We shall see.....

Dungeon Cove

When we drove out here in the morning. It was 53°, windy, and cold. What’s interesting here at this cove is that the waves, push forward then pull back, and drag all the smooth rocks in and out of the ocean. So, you have this very loud special noise of thousands of rocks rolling over each other. I took some videos and hope they come through.

Spiller’s Cove

So, I punched in Spiller's Cove address into the GPS, and it was only a few miles away. YAY! The current dirt road we were on ended into a paved road. It was a rough paved road with some potholes, but heck, this was way better than the dirt road we were on before. So, I wasn’t sure what Christine meant by the path being VERY ROUGH…UNTIL…I hit the last half mile to turn left into a dirt road, like the one we were on before. At least it started that way.

I drove slowly, and after 200-300 feet, I saw what she meant! The little stones became rocks, and those rocks then became boulders. Since the path was very narrow and winding, I wasn’t able to reverse. I had to turn Steele 180 degrees by going forward and backward about 20 times. I left Steele on the path and headed out on foot for the last half mile.

It was cold and windy, and there were many crisscrossing trails made by ATVs.

I managed to get to the chimney pillars, hiked a bit, and started heading back to Steele. But with all the small paths carved into the area, I “may” have gotten a tad lost regarding the main direction to Steele. THANK GOD for the AllTrails app on my phone. Of course, with my luck, as soon as I started the app, and when I needed it most - the phone died because I forgot to charge it last night! After hiking for five minutes in a direction without seeing any familiar landmarks, I knew I might be lost ☹. So, after quick problem solving - I managed to climb to the highest point available in the area, and behold, I saw Steele yonder. Made it back and charged the phone immediately!

Elliston - Sealer's Memorial

Elliston is particularly known for its role in sealing, and it became a historical site of remembrance for the sealers who lost their lives. In fact, this is the town's Sealer Memorial, which honors the lives lost during these seal hunts. Usually there are alot of Puffins here, which are also known as Sea Parrots due to their colorful beaks.

I thought there were some here today - but they turned out to be CORMORANTS and while they have a color on their beak, they are not nearly as colorful as the puffins.

On the way out - there were scattered wooden chairs that look like Puffins, in case you are wondering what they look like.

Humber River Trail

After driving for many hours, I decided to take a break on the way to “The Fish Sheds,” our cabin destination for the night. It’s very near Gros Morne Park, which is where we plan to hike tomorrow.

At this stage, a small hike was very welcome, as I’ve been overeating during this last long stretch of driving from the east to the west part of Newfoundland. Today’s sandwiches were pastrami (first time using meat on this trip), and they were very tasty. I couldn’t resist them. ALSO ADD TO THAT – I munched on two "Coffee Crisps" during the drive to energize myself. So, I’m so full now, I’m going to skip dinner tonight, which means no more sandwiches today. Well, - - we’ll see if I can hold up to that. (Spoiler alert – no!)

The Humber Trail is classified as easy to moderate, but I’ll let you know when I’m done. I am done. The trail was quite easy, but it’s really cold outside—less than 50°. My nose and ears are red and chilly, but I shouldn’t complain. I was getting some fresh air.

At the end of the trail, I found a little booth with an old rotary phone (you know - dials numbers using a round circle with holes) and an Israeli message in it. Of course, I picked up the handset - listened but heard no one. I tried to call back, but it didn’t work ☹. But the idea was great!

EASY Trail

Deer Lake Beach

Just across from the Humber River was Deer Lake Beach. There was a volleyball net and lots of sand—unlike all the other beaches that had only rocks. If the weather had been nicer, I kid you not, I would’ve gone for a quick swim. The water was crystal clear, but it was a bit chilly, and the water was probably freezing. And none of you want me to catch a cold, so just for you readers sake, I decided NOT TO SWIM.

Nikola

Nikola from Ukraine

As I was leaving the beach, I saw a man take a picture of Steele. I stopped, reversed, and approached him. I asked if he was taking a picture of the logo and website on the door. He didn’t speak a word of English— said he was from Ukraine.

But since he took a picture of the logo on Steele, I also took a picture of him with me for the blog. Tomorrow morning, he can check out the blog and see himself. We used Google Translate to explain my plan to him. He thanked me, and we parted ways.

As I was driving off, he came after me, and I stopped. He wanted me to take a picture of his phone, which was showing his Facebook page. I snapped the photo and later showed it to ChatGPT to ask what was on his page. Here is what we know so far....

The language was Russian, not Ukrainian. His name is Nikolay Korobka, and he has many friends 😉. I wonder if he’ll read the blog? Also on his facebook page was kokooverland.com , but I checked and that page is a dead end.

The Fish Sheds - Rocky Harbor

The drive to The Fish Sheds was absolutely breathtaking. I arrived at 6:00 p.m., which was great because the sun sets at 6:30, and I really wanted to catch the sunset. Chris, the owner (he and his wife own the place), met me at the cottage, and it did not disappoint at all.

I am so fortunate because every time I’ve rented a cottage, they’re always supreme inside, and their locations are prime. I wish my luck at choosing menu items was as good as finding accomodations. Usually my menu choices suck, while my wife's are always the best in class.

When you see the pictures I took from the front of the cottage, looking at the sunset, you’ll realize what a great location Chris and his wife own—absolutely stunning.

I took about a hundred pictures of the sunset, but I’ll delete and filter them so you guys get to see only the best.

Usually, I stay connected to the mini Starlink on Steele’s back because it’s fast, but Chris really topped all the internet speeds we’ve had so far in Newfoundland accomodatoins.

300 Mbps up and 280 Mbps down! Even my mini can’t top that!

Just take a look at the picture of the speed test, and you’ll see that it’s phenomenal. We’ve never had such a fast internet connection in Newfoundland. Way to go, Chris! Thumbs up. It’ll make the blog posting easier.

Chris also gave me some good pointers on where to hike because the one I had planned is simply too long. It’s 9 miles (14.5 kilometers), has very steep inclines and takes an entire 8-hour day. That’s a bit too much, as it would occupy the whole day. So, Chris offered me some alternatives:

Tablelands hike
Walk to the base of Gros Morne
Green Point geological site
Steve's Trail
Western Brook Pond

Chris also has an Alexa plugged in here, so I asked her about the temperature. We’re expecting 42° at night. It’s a bit chilly, but the cabin is well heated to a toasty 75.

After settling in and taking a gazillion pictures of the sunset, I headed to the local little market store for some bread, cheese, and few other stuff. I was lucky it was open because not many places are open here on Sundays as it is a small town of 900 people.

It was fascinating to tour through the little general store and see a mixture of food items, chainsaws, plumbing supplies, clothing, digging and shoveling tools…basically a smorgasbord of things you’d find in many different stores.

CHRIS meeting me at the cabin