Day 09 – Bonavista Peninsula

After breakfast we are headed to the Bonavista Peninsula and the Cape Bonavista lighthouse.  We travel along RT 233 and pass places like Bunyan’s Cove and Bloomfield.  Different coves give us varying views of the bay including this flower pot rock formation now out of the water while it is low tide.

This other cove was nearly out of water and had many low spots.  In Maine, people would have been digging for clams at low tide; I wonder if they dig for clams here? 

We begin to move inland and we continue to have scattered ponds along the way. 

Nearing the turnoff to Trinity, where we will go later, we begin to see fog rolling in as you can see from this picture.   

We pass a field that has some of the only horses we have seen in Newfoundland.  We are not sure if they are the Newfoundland ponies or not, but it is good to think so. 

We arrive at the Cape Bonavista lighthouse out on the finger point and find out it is foggy here.  We can see the lighthouse but not much further. 

Just beyond the lighthouse are a couple of rocks set apart from the rest of the mainland and on a good clear day you could see the puffins on the rock face.  Now however there is fog and the birds are not very clear to see.  Still our first close up view of puffin.   

From below the lighthouse we can see how the fog gets thicker near the top.  

While walking around the grounds of the lighthouse I found this butterfly that landed near me and stayed in one place long enough to allow me to get a picture of it. 

Around the property are several buildings, this building with the fence was below the lighthouse.  You can see the different walking paths.  I'm going to take the path heading to the right. 

 

Getting near the edge and looking over the cliff you can see how close the puffin rookery is.

Just before getting back on the motor coach I decided to check to see if the fog had lifted a little.  It had but not by much, in any case I got another picture of the puffin. 

We leave Cape Bonavista and head into the town of Bonavista where it is sunny with no sign of fog.  Go figure!  On the way we pass this fish shack with cod drying platforms on the way into town.   

The city docks in town.  Here are fishing boats and pleasure boats vie for space all in bright colors.

Across the waters of the harbor we can see the dock, boats, and part of the town including one of the local church. 

While waiting to get back onto the coach, I spy these Adirondack chairs and found they posed an interesting position against the harbor.  Love the colors. 

I thought this was interesting; this small building has a tree built out of lobster traps with lights that circle the traps ending with a star at the top.  

A couple of boats set up on staging.  They must be in the process of repairs and repainting while fishing season is done. 

Here some of the group that is traveling with us and relaxing in the colorful, and I must say comfortable, chairs.  Carmen is the fourth from the left. 

Leaving Bonavista, we pass this mussel farm.  Although by the angle the buoys look unorganized, they are really in rows.  The boats will travel along the line and haul up a buoy and collect the mussels. 

Our next stop is in Trinity where we will have lunch.  Many are eating at the restaurant, but Carmen and I brought something to eat so we can explore more of the town.  After eating lunch I get a picture of some of the flowers in the area, like this one which I think is a cornflower. 

This is one of the original houses of the town which was owned by Lester and later Garland.  The brick for building the house was available only to the rich as the cost of bricks was great, many coming from Europe. 

So we hiked around the town and made our way along the point and we have this as our view: a small shack surrounded by lupines – pretty.  

Further along the trail that we took I see this broken rail fence with lupines around it.   

We found these flowers which look similar to an orchid.  You can also see a sprig of tall grass going to seed. 

Looking around on our way back to town I see all of these daisy and other flowers on the bank heading down to the water.   

Heading back from the trail we get a look into town.  We will exit the trail near the small building on the right.  From there we will go meet up with one of Trinity’s tour guides who will tell us about the town. 

On our way to see the tour guide we pass this root cellar. 

Near the root cellar was this flower.  I’m not sure what this flower is, but it might be a fireweed or a Rhodora. 

After listening to the Trinity tour guide we head up to the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, built in 1833.  It is undergoing some repairs but most of the equipment is not in the picture. 

Inside from the back balcony we have a clear view of the first floor. 

The front steps and porch of a house near the Catholic Church. 



Further up the road, I happen to see this fence with all of these lupine.  Almost like a painting created by a painter.

 

A fox glove plant in front of a bunch of lupine flowers.  I have to admit, many of the houses around the town of Trinity have very nice flower gardens, very pretty. 

Heading back into town we stop at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, first constructed in 1729, with the cemetery on the side.  As you can see they are also under repair with scaffolding along the bell tower. 

Inside St. Paul’s we have much more room then the Catholic Church.   

Leaving the church I stopped in the field next door and find all of these wild irises.   

We stopped inside one of the museum houses and toured the different rooms.  This room was obviously a parlor.   

From one of the small rooms, we can see out the window to the root cellar.   

We entered the museum next door and found the general store.  Here you could get anything from clothes to tobacco, flour, jell-o, paint, and dishes.  

We are back on the coach and are leaving town and just in time because it is beginning to get foggy and drizzly.  

Further out of town many wanted to make a stop where there were a good many lupines.  We stopped and I was able to get a picture of many flowers.  Here fox glove, lupine, and daisy vie for position. 

On our way again back to the hotel, I get a quick picture of this boat yard with the old hull surrounded by lupines. 

Before long we are back at the hotel retracing our outbound route.  Tomorrow we will leave Port Blandford and follow Trans-Canada Rt 1 to St. John’s where we will stay two nights.