Icebergs, puffins cont'd

Our first Pennisula after, St John's, was the Baccalieu.  I had thought of skipping it but a tourist information guide assured us it was very pretty. And it was, but not spectacular .  They did have interesting names for their village like Cupids, Heart's delight, Heart's desire and Dildo. We did that in one day and then stayed at that "lovely"campground I told you about in my last blog.  Then we moved on to Bonavista Penisula.  I would say this would be one of Gerry's and my favourites in Newfoundland.  We got into a Provincial campground and started sightseeing.  Emily, the bathrooms were so clean at this campground that we stopped and thanked the custodian on the way out.  Told him how nice it was to stay there.  We did one hike called the Skerwink hike along the coast.  It was quite foggy in parts so the pictures weren't great.  But it would clear enough so that you could get a glimpse of what you were missing.  We were kind of hiking along with another couple but they turned back, fed up with the fog.  We kept on and the fog cleared and it was beautiful.  There was a lookout that was quite a steep climb to get to but so worth it when we did.   The next morning we got up and drove to Elliston,  home of the Puffins.  We got to the tourist information office, half an hour before it opened  (of course).  Once it did open we got directions to the Puffin Island.  It was pretty neat.  There are tons of these birds a stones throw from where we were standing.  They were on a separate Island and they do fly over to where the tourists are,  but they didn't the day we were there.  But they were close enough to see quite clearly.  Elliston is also the root cellar capital of the world, and quite proud of it.  As we were leaving the guide working at the Island asked us if we wanted a tour of a root cellar.  We didn't really, but she seemed so excited we said yes.  It was pretty much like we expected, but it didn't take up too much time and it made her happy.  Needless to say we did not visit the other 137 root cellars in Elliston.  From there we went to Dungeon Provincial Park where there are some very interesting rock formations.  It was beautiful, but there was no one there except for  Gerry and I.  We also visited another Lighthouse and in the distance we saw our first iceberg.  This has been  Gerry's dream but we keep getting mixed messages; you're too early, you're too late, they weren't that good this year, this was the best year right up until last week.  We don't know what to believe.  So we were quite excited to see one, even if it was quite small. From there we went to  a fisheries museum that we heard was quite interesting. When we got there we were told there would be typical Newfoundland music in half an hour.  We decided to take it in.  When we got there, there were 3 old guys up front; one on a guitar, one on an accordion and one singer/percussion.  We sat in the very back but there were only 5 of us so they made us all move up to the front.  Those of you who know us from church will know how much we LOVED that !  They had a song book and the idea was to pick out songs and everyone sing along.  Those of you who know Gerry know how much he LOVED that.  But it was too awkward to leave!  Partway through the old guy singing invited me to come up and play the sticks along with them, and of course Gerry is pushing me to do it. Being the good sport I am, I went up.  I guess I did OK because I got invited to play a second song with this broomstick with some noise makers  on it and then a tin can on top.  What could top that in one day?  The next 3 days we booked into the Terra Nova National  Campground.  It was the long weekend, but not for Newfundland.  However we have found that the campgrounds fill up quickly on weekends, so it is best to have reservations and stay in one place.  We arrived and it was hot. I really wanted to get the laundry done so I did that while Gerry went for a hike. That seemed to be the end of our nice weather.  For the next few days it pretty much rained non stop. We did manage to get one 10 km hike in, but it was pretty flat and not that scenic.  The next day was pretty much a van day.  The van is not that big when you have to spend all day in it as well as cook your meals.  But we managed. We are getting very good at moving around in the van; like an orchestrated dance at times. The day we left Terra Nova it was cool and overcast.  We are starting to think our nice days are over.  We headed to Twillingate, another beautiful Penisula in Gerry's and my opinion.  We did a 6 km hike along the coast.  Lots of up and down and foggy at points but pretty nice.  We saw our second iceberg, again far off in the distance.  Then we drove to the Auk Island winery.  This is the only winery in Newfoundland. It was very interesting.  They use grapes from Quebec and then frozen berries from the Island.  We were able to sample as much as we wanted.  We ended up buying a case and shipping it home (well to Barb & Rogers's trusting that it will still be intact when we get home).  It only cost $10.00 for shipping when you bought a case. They had interesting combinations.  We will share when we get home, I promise.  I can no longer read what I am typing so time to publish and start a new post...