A great day trip to Long Island in Central Newfoundland

By Keith and Heather Nicol

    On Friday, July 4 we left Triton and caught the 10:30 am ferry to nearby Long Island. Wanda Roberts at the Parkers Bluewater Inn in Triton had suggested we visit here and since all of this area was new to us we couldn`t resist. And the iceberg finder web site showed bergs in and around Long Island so that clinched it. 

Board the modern ferry "Hazel McIsaac" to go to Long Island

   The ferry leaves from Pilley’s Island and serves both Long Island and Little Bay Islands, but the crossing to Long Island is just 10 minutes. And this must be the deal of the century since for both of us with a car the fare was just $2.50 1 way! And when we arrived at the ferry dock there was a large iceberg part way between the two islands which we got to see up close as we sailed by.

Icebergs from Wards Harbour

      Long Island is composed of 3 communities and they are connected by 9 km of paved road (there were lots of side gravel roads that we didn’t venture on). We drove directly to Wards Harbour at the far end of the island and there were many large icebergs in the distance. Wanda had told us to be sure to drop into the Long Island Heritage Centre so we drove back to Beaumont and it was almost like everything had been set up. The sun was shining, there was a small iceberg glistening in the harbour and Roxanne Rowsell, who runs the Tea Room in the Heritage Centre welcomed us in. The local heritage community has done a great job with the display of Long Island historical information and the tea room has lots of good inexpensive food on the menu. Where else can you get a moose burger for $3.00 and a piece of partridge berry pie for $2.00! We ended up taking the 1:00 pm ferry back to Pilley`s Island and then headed back to Corner Brook ending another great adventure in Central Newfoundland. No matter where you travel in the province, be sure to get off the main roads and explore the numerous islands, coves and bays that exist at the end of the road.

Heather chats with Roxanne Rowsell who is the chef at the Tea Room

The icebergs around Long Island were very photogenic

More icebergs in Cottrell’s Cove and Brighton in Central Newfoundland

  by Keith and Heather Nicol

     After breakfast we decided to head north on Highway 352 from Botwood to see if the icebergs that Jim Stuckless from the Dockside Inn had told us about were still there. We had the most luck in Cottrell’s Cove and there were lots around but most were quite far from shore. If only we had brought our sea kayaks we thought. Next time!

Cottrell's Cove has a very scenic setting

  Our next destination was another area of the Northeast Coast that we had not visited before. We arrived in Brighton (at the end of Highway 380) in time for lunch. But we had a hard time eating since there was an amazing iceberg right in the harbour that had just had a large chunk of it break off. “That happened just before you arrived” a friendly fisherman told us. “Come down on my wharf to get a better view. “ Before long two more cars had stopped and soon he had a wharf full of tourists chatting and taking pictures. Just then another big piece came off! He then told us there were other larger bergs in view from the short hiking trail on the other side of town so off we went to check those out.

We were invited down on to a wharf to see an iceberg 

 The Cobbler’s Island trail (21 0598697 E 5489434 N) is short and gives a great view of the rugged coastline and we counted 15 icebergs from there. The trail has many stairs but only 150 meters long to the lookout platform. There is a gazebo part way along which was great for getting out of the sun since by then temperatures were again unseasonably warm at 32-33 C. We had planned on checking out some other trails in the area but it was simply too hot for hiking any distance.

There were many icebergs in view from the Cobbler's Island trail

       Back in Triton we visited the Sperm Whale Pavilion which is in a splendid setting right by the ocean. Terry Whalen, a museum guide told us that the whale had come ashore in the Codroy Valley in Southwest Newfoundland and that people in the Triton area had wanted to have a whale display. The pavilion opened 5 years ago and we recommend seeing the 13 meter long sperm whale skeleton and having a guided tour. We stayed that night at Parkers Bluewater Inn (http://www.bluewaterinn.ca/) and ate a nice halibut dinner at Fudge’s Restaurant in Triton.   

    

Hiking and Icebergs in Point Leamington and Leading Tickles

by Keith and Heather Nicol

     With a forecast of plus 30 C temperatures we decided to head for the icebergs and so after breakfast in Botwood we drove to Point Leamington enroute to Leading Tickles where we had been told there were lots of icebergs. At Point Leamington we hiked to the top of Rowsell’s Hill which gave great views of the surrounding coastline (trailhead is 21 0616328 E 5464328 N). Allow about 45 – 60 minutes to complete the 3 km (return) hike which starts off easy along Mill River and then climbs steeply up lots of stairs in the last 500 meters or so to the lookout on top of Rowsell’s Hill. Be sure to check out the heritage house and tea room, gazebo and nice water fall at the base of the hiking trail. 

The hike up Rowsell's Hill provides great views of Pt Leamington

      Then we continued on Highway 350 to  Leading Tickles where we had lunch in Oceanview Park. There were certainly lots of bergs around. We asked the attendant at the gate where we might hike since we had been told by Jim Stuckless at the Dockside Inn that there were several trails here. We opted for the Bear Cove Lookout trail which is short but gives dramatic panoramic views of the surrounding ocean that had icebergs in all directions. The trail head is at 21 0612334 E 5485428 and the trail follows a 550 meter loop with a look out platform in the middle.  Allow 20 minutes or so to do the loop. We also checked out the short Western Bear Cove Trail (21 0612331E 5485154 N) which is just 100 meters long and has a picnic table at the end. It gives nice views of the rugged coastline.  From there we explored Leading Tickles and by now despite the icebergs in the water the air temperature hit 36 C. Yikes! 

There was a large berg in the harbour at Leading Tickles

      We took some more pictures of icebergs in and around Leading Tickles, had an ice cream cone and then headed for Glover’s Harbour to see the Giant Squid Interpretation Centre.  This is well worth a visit and there is a model of the giant squid that was found in this bay in 1878. These are very elusive creatures and this centre sheds light on what little we know about them.

The Giant Squid Museum is well done

     That night we had another fine dinner at the Dockside Restaurant (http://www.docksideinn.nl.ca/) in Botwood and enjoyed another walk by the sea on the Killick Island trail that we had previously enjoyed the day before.  Lets hope it cools off tomorrow!

We enjoyed a delicious cod dinner at the Dockside Restaurant

Checking out the sites in Grand Falls and Botwood

The Mary March Museum is well worth a visit

by Keith and Heather Nicol

      In our quest to see some new sites in Central Newfoundland we headed to Botwood at the base of the Bay of Exploits. We were planning on heading to Leading Tickles to see icebergs and to try some of the hiking trails in this area. We left Corner Brook about 9:00 am on July 1 and in Grand Falls- Windsor we stopped to visit the Mary March Provincial Museum (www.therooms.ca/mmpm) and the Salmonid Interpretation Centre. We were very impressed with the Museum and it not only provided information about the human and geological history of the area but also had 3 excellent traveling exhibits that will be there until October 5. We really likely the Coastal Women display and they had some excellent carvings by aboriginal artists from Labrador and Nunavut. From there we headed to the Salmonid Interpretation Centre (http://www.exploitsriver.ca/  )and although we have been here before we always like going to see the salmon in the underwater viewing area. We were told that the run this year is late and that very few fish had come through the fishway so far.   An interpreter at the centre mentioned that it might have  been  due to the pack ice that was very late in leaving the Northeast Coast of the province this summer. 

We love seeing salmon from the underwater viewing station

 We then headed to Botwood ( http://town.botwood.nl.ca/) at the base of the Bay of Exploits. It was our first visit to this community and we were struck by its varied and interesting history. We headed first to the “Air Base” where we checked out the Flying Boat Museum. Who knew that Botwood was the centre of international flights for a period in the late 1937 to 1943? In fact this year Botwood is celebrating its 75th anniversary of the first commercial transatlantic flight that occurred in 1939. 

The Flying Boat Museum is a fascinating part of NL aviation history

We also were impressed by the guides at the adjacent Botwood Heritage Museum who lead us through many rooms of exhibits and displays illuminating Botwood’s varied economic and social history. No place that we know of in Newfoundland has had such a variety of economic roles from being a transportation hub that shipping ore, newsprint and other goods to its role in commercial and military aviation in World War 2 as well as it early history in ship building and saw milling. They even have an early snowmobile exhibit which is the only one of its kind this side of Montreal. Be sure to see both of these museums. There is also a great walk to the end of nearby Killick Island (450 meters one way) which gives good views of Botwood and the southern end of the Bay of Exploits.

The snowmobile exhibit in the Heritage Museum is unique in Newfoundland

That night we stayed at the Dockside Inn (www.docksideinn.nl.ca) in Botwood and had a delicious sea food meal at the adjacent restaurant. We even got to meet the owner and chef Jim Stuckless . Jim grew up in Botwood and made numerous suggestions for hikes and places to visit to the next day.   

Take a hike on scenic Killick Island