The Eastport Peninsula offers a big variety of summer activities

by Keith and Heather Nicol    

      Central Newfoundland is a huge area of scenic coastlines and large inland rivers. One place we have spent very little time is the Eastport Peninsula adjacent to Terra Nova National Park (TNNP).  In fact, our only other previous visit was restricted to a night of camping at Malady Head in TNNP many years ago.  So we decided that another visit was in order and in early August, 2012 we arrived the Prints of Whales Bed and Breakfast (www.theprintsofwhalesinn.com) in Sandringham  around 5:00 pm. Our hosts Wayne and Ruth Hallett welcomed us at the door and I mentioned that we had heard some odd noises coming from the driver’s side rear wheel. “We have garage just down the road and if you need to leave your car there tomorrow you can borrow my car if you like” offered Wayne. We were blown over with the offer and ended up taking him up on it since our car was in the shop for most of the next day. 

Burnside is a very scenic community on the Eastport Peninsula

       Fortunately our vehicle problems didn’t influence our visit since we got to see and do pretty much all of what we had planned thanks to Wayne. We started our day at the Burnside Archeological Museum (http://digthequarry.com/Home.html) where Susan Hapgood showed us around and discussed some of the key aspects of what they have found and are still finding in the local area in terms of artifacts from Maritime Archaic, Paleo-Eskimo and Beothuck native cultures.  Burnside is a scenic community and there is also a short hike (500 meters return) called the Long Chute Trail which gives a good overview of the area. From there we had a picnic lunch overlooking the broad beach at nearby Sandy Cove and also visited the community of Happy Adventure which is located in a picturesque cove. 

The view from The Inn at Happy Adventure

       In the afternoon we visited the Pinsent’s Art Studio (featuring the art work of Walter Pinsent-http://www.pinsentart.com/) and saw more local art in the lobby of the Beaches Heritage Centre (www.beachesheritagecentre.ca) which is just across the street.  There we ran into George Innes who was a former board member of the Beaches Heritage Centre and he told us about how active the centre is in organizing everything from accordion to literary festivals. Unfortunately we were too late for the 10 day Ray Babstock Beaches Accordion Festival and the Winterset Literary Festival wasn’t until mid August. Oh well, maybe next time.  We then headed to Salvage which is especially picturesque and has many hiking trails. We only had time to try 2 short trails to lookout platforms and the view from the Round Head lookout is especially impressive. Since the weather was getting warmer and sunnier by the minute we decided to spend an hour lounging on the beach at Eastport before picking up our car from the garage. We finished the day with a fine meal at the Inn at Happy Adventure which must have one of the better views of any restaurant in the province. We realized that the Eastport area has much to offer and next time we will have to plan our visit with the Beaches Heritage Centre event schedule in mind. 

The view from Round Hill Lookout in Salvage

The beaches of the Eastport Peninsula are impressive