Rex and Nancy's Travels - "ALL WHO WANDER ARE NOT LOST" - JRR Tolkein

  Monday it was rainy and foggy, so we decided to drive to Stephenville and take a short hike along Blanche Brook.   All along this section of the brook you can see fossilized tree trunks embedded in the sandstone. The fossil beds here provide a rare glimpse of the remains of 305-million-year-old tropical Cordiatalean Trees.  The giant 160 ft trees grew on a mountain range when the island of Newfoundland was part of the great continent Pangaea.                     Nancy on the trail in the forest beside the brook. More logs in the water. We found logs of various sizes on this short section of the brook.   This was a great hike despite the foggy weather, and we enjoyed finding the fossilized logs. We next drove around parts of Ernest Harmon Air Force Base – an abandoned US Air Force Base.  The beginning of World War II changed everything for the small community of Stephenville. When the "Destroyers for Base Agreement" was signed between the United Kingdom and the United St

We left The Blue Canoe Campground on Saturday morning and drove Southwest to Kippens where we are staying at the Zenzville Campground. This is an area on the southwest coast that we did not see when we came up the coast the first part of July.   After getting settled in the campground we did some necessary chores around the motorhome. Sunday morning, we drove the French Ancestors Route on the Port au Port Peninsula.   Newfoundland only gained control over the west coast in 1904.   Prior to that, it was known as the French Shore, because France had exclusive fishing right there.   Today, many French place names remain, and the area is still the hub of French Newfoundland culture. Our first stop was at Long Point at the northern tip of the peninsula.   We hiked to the end of the point where Rex could not resist climbing to the top of this warning beacon. The point gradually disappears into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.                We found many unusual rocks while exploring the point. On

We left Terra Nova National Park Thursday morning and drove north towards the Baie Verte Peninsula.   On our way we stopped in Gander at the Compassion Monument.   We all remember the events of 9-11-2001 and the closing of North American airspace resulting in 38 aircraft landing at the Gander Airport.   This monument sits on the lawn in front of the town hall. The rock that the beam sits upon signified Newfoundland (often referred to as The Rock). The shape of the rock is meant to invite people to sit down and ponder the events. This is the plaque that is on the side of the monument.  It reads: “Town of Gander Compassion Monument On September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States resulted in the closing of North American airspace.   Gander received 38 aircraft with over 6,500 people from 95 countries.   Our population increased by 70%.   For 6 days, the plane people had a place to sleep, eat and feel safe. The Bethpage Fire Department, New York, gifted this World Trade

We woke to fog Tuesday morning and drove to Terra Nova National Park in fog and wind.   Luckily it was a short drive and when we arrived it was sunny and 88 o F with a heat index of 98 o F.   We are staying at Newman Sound Campground.   We stopped here on our way to the east coast for an afternoon hike on July 17 th and wanted to spend a little more time here. When we arrived it was too hot to hike so we waited until after dinner and hiked the campground trail which started with a descent down these stairs.           The evening view of Newman Sound was beautiful. Wednesday morning, we woke to rain, so it was a good morning to sort through pictures and work on the blog.   After lunch we hiked on the Coastal Trail.   This is the same trail we hiked on when we stopped here earlier but we are starting on the opposite end of the trail. We liked all the moss on the rocks. The view of Newman Sound and the overcast sky. The trail went down to a couple of small beaches. We found this jellyf

Monday, we drove to Conception Bay to the town of Cupids to hike the Burnt Head Trail.   On the way we stopped at the Seven Island Overlook just outside of Placentia.   Here we got a great view of the seven islands in the Northeast Arm River – although you cannot see all seven islands in the picture.                A beautiful place for a photo. We continued our drive to Cupids and found the Burnt Head Trail – a 3.1 km loop trail through woods and meadows to the cliffs on Conception Bay.           Every turn in the trail led to beautiful views. The trail wound through forest areas between the overlooks.                               Our first view of Burnt Head. More beautiful cliffs. We were surprised to find this arch in the cliffs with beautiful turquoise water flowing under it. Tacky taking a rest while we had a picnic lunch. Every direction we looked we had beautiful views. Sea stacks along the base of the cliffs. Another beautiful hike on this gorgeous island. Gunter and Susanne