Monday, 12 August 2013 – Wednesday, 14 August 2013
Coast of Bays and Leading Tickles
On this post we will take you from the southern shores of Newfoundland to the northern shores (actually on this part of central Newfoundland it is a distance of only 200 miles.)
Coast of Bays
On our last trip, we did not visit this part of NL so we thought we would give it a look-see. We had heard from someone met met how beautiful it was. There are several outports in this area (as you will recall, many of the outports are being resettled) so we want to see them before they were no long accessible. The geography of this area is outstanding. Quite tall hills/mountains plunging into numerous bays. Because of this, it is known as the area of fjords. While the scenery was beautiful, the towns and village did not quite have the charm we had hoped for. Several of them are actually resettled areas from other outports in NL. As such, they do not contain the quaintness of older areas. The outports in this area are not serviced by a vehicle ferry so the only way to visit them is by passenger ferry. We visited Gaultois (about a 30 minute ferry ride from Hermitage) and had planned to visit McCallum. However, the seas were quite rough and they had a replacement ferry which did not ride very well AND took more then 2 hours to get there. Anticipating the prospect of serious sea sickness, we opted out!
Although the scenery here was beautiful, we would not recommend anyone drive down to the area. The road from the TCH was HORRIBLE! The guide books say the trip takes 90 minutes (it is only about 100 miles). It easily took us 3 hours, many places slowing to 10-15 miles/hr.
However, we will always keep the images of the area in our mind!
Leading Tickles
We visited Leading Tickles on our last trip and couldn’t wait for a return visit. It is certainly one of the most beautiful areas in all of Newfoundland. There are tall cliffs which dive into the ocean and areas were small beaches provide accessibility to the wonders of tidal pools. Last time we watched a mother eagle, perched on a high redoubt, teaching her two young ones how to fly. Unfortunately, she was not there this time. We understand from some of the locals, she has moved here nest to another point nearby.
On one of our previous posts we gave the definition of a “tickle”. Well, you should be aware that Newfoundland has many other names for their inlets, coves, bays, etc. Here are a few of them: tickles, ponds, coves, bottoms, arms, elbows, holes, lookouts, bights, and sounds.
As we left, we drove down to the wharf area. Some commercial fishermen were just cleaning their cod catch for the day. What beautiful fish, some weighing over 20 lbs! They had just reached their seasonal quota of 20,000 lbs each. The downside for them is cod is now selling for only 50 cents/lb. Hardly enough to pay for a season of fuel, boat and maintenance, much less salary. However, at least they are now able to make a living doing what they and their ancestors have done for generations. As we got ready to leave, one of them gave us a mess of fresh cod. Yumm!
We were most pleased to discover the charm of Leading Tickles still remains. On our next trip we plan to spend several weeks here.
One of the many bays on this southern shore. Across the bay is the village of Gaultois. This area has spectacular vistas.
Traveling on the ferry to Gaultois.
The wharf at Gaultois. Everyone is ready to ferry back to Hermitage. There is no auto ferry to Gaultois.
A boardwalk from the wharf to the town proper.
This area is called the Fjords of Newfoundland
This was our boondock site for the night.
This is my first attempt to post a panorama photograph. Seems to work ok! This photograph is actually the combination of 15 separate photographs.
Here we are at Leading Tickles. This is taken out our camper window.
This is another panorama taken from the same location as the previous photograph. A composite of 12 individual photographs.
Sunset just before we retired for the evening.
A view of Leading Tickles from above the cliffs
The site where we camped is actually a small island. This view looks out over the other side of the island.
Some of the day’s catch!
Think these guys have cleaned a few fish in their time?