Monday started cool, partly cloudy, windy in Corner Brook . Since there was no sign of the visitor center opening, so we decided to just go out to the Blow Me Down Provincial Park to use their facilities, take showers, and do our laundry.
We found Corner Brook to be a bit disappointing; largely a commercial and industrial area, it has no murals, no public art easily visible, few attractions or services for tourists. It is hilly and large and the roads are poorly maintained as in most places here in Newfoundland.
The drive out to the Park was very scenic. First along the southern shore of Humber Arm.
Then along the Bay of Islands.
We had lunch at a very nice day-use area on the bay.
Can’t stop for all the waterfalls.
When we arrived at the Blow Me Down Provincial Park, we got site #18 for $20.15 Canadian, no hookups. Took nice showers and did 3 loads of laundry for $9 total Canadian.
After we were done with the laundry we left the park and went further out the Peninsula, around York Harbour and Lark Harbour all the way out to Little Port where we found fishermen putting bands around the claws of the lobsters they had caught.
We backtracked and found the road to Bottle Cove and the hiking trail that led right out on top of one of the promontories that defined the mouth of the Cove. The Outer Bay of Islands Enhancement Committee (OBIEC) had done a spectacular job of making this a memorable, safe, and enjoyable area.
The Bottle Cove hiking trail was wonderful. It led us through a balsam forest with lots of tree roots and soft, spongy soil covered in needles and cones on the well-marked path that ended on the promontory.
The views from the promontory were breathtaking and the sound of the surf crashing on the rocks, and the wind blowing over us add to the experience.
There was a monument to Captain Cook who sailed and mapped this area before heading to the South Seas, a picnic table, and a bench with a very moving inscription quoted from a woman who lived 1971-2017.
To my wonderful family and friends and just people in general I love you all so much and I know there is more I can say but I will leave you with this: Don’t try to wrap your hands around the world. Get up every day and be thankful that you did and don’t wait to do something, do it now. Xoxoxo
We spent quite a bit of time just enjoying being on the peninsula. Whats hard to convey is the hundred-foot cliff surrounding the peninsula!
Met a few people as they came and went. When we got hungry we hiked back and heated up the leftover chicken and mushrooms and rice with quinoa. Ate it and drank some white wine sitting on a bench overlooking Bottle Cove all by ourselves there for that space of time. Drove back down to the parking at the beach of the Cove and did some chores while we waited for the sunset.
Took a walk on the boardwalk to see a representation of the Grenville, the ship that James Cook sailed around Newfoundland to chart the coast over several summers.
Watched the sun set in a rosy glow behind the rocks.
Then drove back to our site, had the last of the brownies and also the Metcalfe raspberry liqueur, and went to bed smiling