Back to the main(is)land

Oh! The alarm buzzed very early this morning. Denise wanted to catch the 7 AM ferry so we needed to get up earlier than our normal B&B getting started time. It was a hurry up and wait kind of morning. We left the B&B at quarter to 6 so we could drive to the ferry, get in line, and wait. The ferry left right at 7, docking in Farewell at 7:45. When Denise checked Google Maps for an estimate of drive time between Fogo and Bonavista it came up with a drive time of 6 1/2 hours. I think that must have included the ferry time plus some waiting time because we arrived in Bonavista at a bit after 12. That was a bit over four hours of driving time.

Our first stop here was the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse. The current light used for navigation is an automated "outside of the lighthouse" light. The old lighthouse has been restored to conditions from 1870. We climbed to the top of the light where we saw the old mechanism. Did you know that the lighthouse keepers had to clean the outside of the windows every day? Or that they needed to wind the mechanism that kept the lights lit? I was really surprised that Denise wanted to climb to the top of the (inside of the) light. The steps up that last piece were really really steep, almost like a ladder. She did good though - she managed to climb back down without needing my help.

We walked the rocky tilted ground near the lighthouse, and Denise chatted with some of the strangers there. She found out that there were still a few puffins hanging out in Ellliston, just one town over. Of course we needed to wander over there too. Most of the puffins have disappeared for the season, but there were still a few hanging out in Elliston Point, an island just off the coast. The birds were really too far away for photos though. Denise would need a much longer lens than the ones she owns in order to capture the puffins that far away. They are really little - there were lots of sea gulls hanging out on the puffin's island, and the sea gulls were bigger than the puffins.

Did you know that Elliston is the root cellar capital of the world? That's a funny thing to be known for, isn't it? We saw a number of root cellars as we drove by houses in Elliston, and two were very close to the puffin island.

We was a collapsed sea cave at Dungeon Provincial Park. Denise wanted to hike down to see the arches at their level, but there really wasn't a way down. We enjoyed the view from the top. If there had been a trail down I bet we still would have enjoyed it from the top - it would have been a very steep and slippery downhill.

Our home for tonight is the Lancaster Inn in Bonavista. We've popped in and out a couple of times because Denise wanted to play with the late day light. Our first early evening wander was interrupted by rain. We should have realized something was coming - it was close to 6 PM and the sky was wearing gray, much too early for sunset! Denise got a bit wet since her jacket was hiding in the car several blocks away. I'm lucky that I fit in the spaces in Denise's camera bag; that was a good dry hiding place. The rain stopped before sunset so we headed back to Cape Bonavista Lighthouse to watch the sun sink into the sea.

--- Rover