May 24/16 Fogo Island

Caught the early morning ferry for Fogo Island.We drove straight to Tilting on the far side, as it has strong Irish roots. Aside from the Shamrock club, we didn't see much evidence of that, but one of the locals told me that they play lots of Irish music there on weekends. The towns are mostly collections of houses by the water. In between towns it's rocky and barren. With the rocks, sunshine, blue water and some icebergs the scenery was pretty but not stunning. I expected it to be more touristy, but perhaps it's good that it's not. Just like on the mainland, people are very friendly. They're harder to understand than the ones from St. John's though.The town names are interesting - Seldom, Little Seldom, Joe Batt's Arm, etc., and on the drive to the ferry we passed Dildo Run Provincial Park! Overlooking the water is a very expensive hotel, which appears to be raised up on stilts at one end. It's the colour and the shape of a large flat iceberg. Apparently the cheapest rooms are $1000 per night! We had heard horror stories aabout people getting back very late from Fogo, so we got in line around 1 p.m. We waited 4 1/2 hours to cross back! The larger ferry that they usually use is getting repaired, so they only have one that holds about 25 cars. So in the end we spent more time waiting in line for the ferry than we spent on the island! Oh well, at least we can now say that we've been to Fogo, Twillingate, and Moreton's harbout, as well as Bonivista!

The next day was a driving day - Twillingate to Gros Morne. It rained most of the day, but you don't see much on the Trans Canada anyway!

Thursday was our first full day in the park. The day was cloudy but clear, so we had a great view of the mountains. We climbed up the Lookout Trail and had a great view. It was rated moderate, but we both found it more difficult than the Skerwink Trail, which was rated moderate-difficult. Maybe it was because that one had some breaks from going straight up, but this one didn't. Coming down was harder for me, and my knee didn't like it much either! If it wasn't for my walking stick and help from Michael I couldn't have done it. I didn't have hiking boots, and the trail was mucky in spots, so that didnt't help. Next we visited the Discovery Centre, where they showed the different rocks in the area. We then did the Tablelands Trail, which was mostly a barren rockscape, but was recommended because it gives one a taste of the area without going to the Tablelands. After that second hike we were really tired, but drove out to Trout River Pond, which is very beautiful.