Yesterday it rained all afternoon, so indoor activities. We visited Newfoundland's premier museum, The Rooms. The building is as impressive as their exhibits on the natural history, people, and the arts. We had an early lunch at their cafe, overlooking the city. I had a late breakfast of toulons, a signature dish in Newfoundland that is fried bread dough served with molasses. These were served with sausages and baked beans.
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| View of The Narrows from The Rooms Cafe |
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| St. John's street scene |
We next went to Newman's Wine Vault where Portuguese Port Wine was stored. The building was fascinating, but we were hoping for a wine tasting, but none was offered.
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| Looking down at the top of our RV on the ferry leaving the terminal |
Today (Sunday) is gorgeous - sunny and warm. We drove west to Portugal Cove and took the ferry to small Bell Island - a former mining boomtown.
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| Portugal Cove Harbor |
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| Views of the Coast from the Ferry |
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| Approaching Bell Island |
They had an excellent tour of an iron ore mine led by a woman whose family all worked in the mines until it closed in the 1960s. The mines were spread for miles underground the island and additional miles under Conception Bay. Lots of family stories, mining history and lore, and artifacts. The mine was never automated and the heavy iron ore was shoveled by hand.
At one point, she turned off the lights so we could experience the total blackness of a mine and in the dark, she sang a mining folk song. She had a fabulous voice. Great experience.
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| Walking down, down, down. |
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| They left large stands of iron ore as columns to hold up the ceiling of the mines |
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| The guy on the scaffold was pulling on the loose rocks after blasting, one of the most dangerous jobs |
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| Brrrrrrrr, steady 42 degrees year-round |
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| Rocks that had to be picked from the iron ore - in the old days boys as young as 9 worked long days separating the rock from the ore |
We drove around the whole island, taking time for lunch and a short nap at Lance Cove. We had ducks for company and visited the memorial for the folks who died in WWII submarine attacks. Those iron ore boats were prime targets.
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| ATV guys leading us to the beach - Newfoundlers are super nice folks |
On the northern end of the island, I had read about a beautiful secret beach and after asking multiple people for directions, a couple of guys on an ATV actually led us there (later, we saw a local who led another couple here in his car) .
The road in was a total mess, so I walked in and then clambored down over rocks to Grebe's Nest Beach.
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| Jack wasn't sure the RV would survive these potholes as we could not see how deep they were |
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| Clamboring down the rocks - maybe I will take up rock climbing next trip |
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| Grebe's Nest Beach |
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| Cave entrance to secret Beach |
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| Emerging from the cave onto Secret Beach |
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| A beautiful black sand beach and some of the warmest water in all Newfoundland |
On one side of the beach is a mine shaft opening which I walked through to get to the secret black beach on the other side. Beautiful!
We got take-out dinner from Dick's at the ferry terminal - a landmark restaurant here, known for their fish and chips. We got our dinner just in time as the ferry was getting ready to leave, so we drove aboard and ate our dinner on the ferry crossing. Then back to our campground in St. John's.
Tomorrow we will take a tour of the coastline on the little peninsula north of St. John's and then start heading west. Below is a map of the eastern Avalon area of Newfoundland where we have spent the last ten days.
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