Day 7 (July 25, 2020): The Port-au-Port Peninsula
Today was the last full day of our vacation, so we set off with two objectives: first, to visit the mouth of the Bay of Islands (the bay which provides access to Corner Brook); second, to make our way to the Port au Port Peninsula, the traditional core of Newfoundland's French Acadian community.
This morning provided the first bacon and eggs of the trip, which took forever for The Glynmill to prepare. But it was worth the wait. We set off at 9:30AM for Bottle Cove, the most westerly community from Corner Brook towards the opening of the Bay of Islands. It took an hour to get out there, but the mountains, the islands, and the fishing communities enroute made for an unexpectedly pleasant journey. Route 450 passes through such communities as Benoit's Cove, John's Brook, York Harbour and Lark Harbour before ending at Bottle Cove. Blow-Me-Down Provincial Park, a place I have wanted to visit since I was a kid, is just before Lark Harbour, so we drove around the park, exploring the campground and beach area.
Bottle Cove, with its sandy beach and boardwalk, provided a short but wonderful hike to a headland. At noon, we set off for Corner Brook, where we grabbed a sandwich before starting the drive to the Port-au-Port Peninsula. Route 460 goes west of the Trans-Canada Highway at the Stephenville turnoff and eventually brings you to a skinny isthmus that separates the Port-au-Port Peninsula from the rest of Newfoundland. You really get the impression that you could chop the skimpy isthmus off with a knife and set the entire peninsula adrift into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence!
Route 463 eventually branches off to the north, and takes you on a tour through such small villages as Piccadilly, West Bay, Lourdes and Mainland (or Grand'terre), before arriving at the most westerly point in all of Newfoundland: Cape St. George. We are spending the night at an inn in Cape St. George, so we will finish the loop around the peninsula tomorrow before heading back to Deer Lake.
This morning provided the first bacon and eggs of the trip, which took forever for The Glynmill to prepare. But it was worth the wait. We set off at 9:30AM for Bottle Cove, the most westerly community from Corner Brook towards the opening of the Bay of Islands. It took an hour to get out there, but the mountains, the islands, and the fishing communities enroute made for an unexpectedly pleasant journey. Route 450 passes through such communities as Benoit's Cove, John's Brook, York Harbour and Lark Harbour before ending at Bottle Cove. Blow-Me-Down Provincial Park, a place I have wanted to visit since I was a kid, is just before Lark Harbour, so we drove around the park, exploring the campground and beach area.
Bottle Cove, with its sandy beach and boardwalk, provided a short but wonderful hike to a headland. At noon, we set off for Corner Brook, where we grabbed a sandwich before starting the drive to the Port-au-Port Peninsula. Route 460 goes west of the Trans-Canada Highway at the Stephenville turnoff and eventually brings you to a skinny isthmus that separates the Port-au-Port Peninsula from the rest of Newfoundland. You really get the impression that you could chop the skimpy isthmus off with a knife and set the entire peninsula adrift into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence!
Route 463 eventually branches off to the north, and takes you on a tour through such small villages as Piccadilly, West Bay, Lourdes and Mainland (or Grand'terre), before arriving at the most westerly point in all of Newfoundland: Cape St. George. We are spending the night at an inn in Cape St. George, so we will finish the loop around the peninsula tomorrow before heading back to Deer Lake.
ANNEX - In case you would like to know how the Acadians gained such a presence on the Port-au-Port Peninsula:
The development of French fishing stations in Newfoundland led to the founding of Placentia in 1662. When France ceded Newfoundland to Great Britain in 1713, it retained its fishing rights on part of the coast of the island. French fishermen eventually settled there, along with two young men from St.Pierre-Miquelon: Jean Camus, whose family was from Louisbourg, and Francois Benoit, an Acadian. They founded families on the French Coast of Newfoundland in the St. Georges Bay region. In the early 1800s, several Acadian families fom Cape Breton moved to Newfoundland. Around the 1840s, they were joined by other Acadians from Cape Breton, some of whom came via the Magdalen Islands. They settled mainly on Sandy Point in St. Georges Bay. Between 1850 and 1868, two-thirds of the births recorded at St. Georges Bay were of Acadian descent. Some of these Acadian families moved to the Port-au-Port Peninsula around the beginning of the 20th century. They settled in communities where descendants of French fisherman and Acadians were already established and thus Acadia gradually took root in Newfoundland & Labrador.
The development of French fishing stations in Newfoundland led to the founding of Placentia in 1662. When France ceded Newfoundland to Great Britain in 1713, it retained its fishing rights on part of the coast of the island. French fishermen eventually settled there, along with two young men from St.Pierre-Miquelon: Jean Camus, whose family was from Louisbourg, and Francois Benoit, an Acadian. They founded families on the French Coast of Newfoundland in the St. Georges Bay region. In the early 1800s, several Acadian families fom Cape Breton moved to Newfoundland. Around the 1840s, they were joined by other Acadians from Cape Breton, some of whom came via the Magdalen Islands. They settled mainly on Sandy Point in St. Georges Bay. Between 1850 and 1868, two-thirds of the births recorded at St. Georges Bay were of Acadian descent. Some of these Acadian families moved to the Port-au-Port Peninsula around the beginning of the 20th century. They settled in communities where descendants of French fisherman and Acadians were already established and thus Acadia gradually took root in Newfoundland & Labrador.
Frenchman's Cove.
St. Ambrose Anglican Church in John's Beach.
The Lewis Hills fill the back country heading out to the Bay of Islands. It is in this area that the 814-meter “Cabox” (Newfoundland’s highest mountain) is found.
The entrance to Blow Me Down Provincial Park, just before Lark Harbour.
The beach at Blow Me Down, which faces Governor's Island.
The entrance to the protected harbour at Bottle Cove - the most westerly village on Route 450, at the opening of the Bay of Islands.
On the Bottle Cove boardwalk, which was developed by the Outer Bay of Islands Enhancement Committee.
Fishermen at Bottle Cove, splitting cod they had just caught.
The isthmus at Port-au-Port East which connects the Port-au-Port Peninsula to the rest of Newfoundland.
On our trip around the peninsula today, we saw wild white roses and other wildflowers that we have not seen on this trip so far. This is Campbell's Cove.
A delapidated stage and slipway at Campbell's Cove.
Campbell's Cove.
Most of the photos in this blog come from Pam's Nikon. Here's the photographer at work in Campbell's Cove.
Sheaves Cove.
Lourdes has a beautiful grotto, created in 1987, to mark the parish's 75th anniversary.
The Our Lady of Perpetual Help one-room schoolhouse in Winterhouse - the last one-room schoolhouse on Newfoundland's West Coast.
The colourful benches and tables at Sisters' Dream School Museum in Grand'terre, which presents a period school house and museum displaying Acadian artifacts. Note Red Island in the background.
Sisters' Dream School Museum
Mummer figures at Sisters' Dream School Museum
The massive Cape Cormorant, just south of Mainland (Grand'terre).
You have to admire the creativity and determination of some people, to display things they love! (Two homes in Grand'terre.)
At the entrance to Boutte de Cap Park in Cape St. George, the most westerly point on the Port-au-Port Peninsula (and in Newfoundland), you find an Acadian Odyssey monument.
Boutte de Cap Park in Cape St. George has an Acadian bread oven, which is normally heated every day in the summertime from noon-2:00PM.
The dramatic coastline looking north, at Boutte de Cap Park in Cape St. George.
The most westerly point in Newfoundland, at Boutte de Cap Park in Cape St. George.
Entering Cape St. George.
I visited cap st George 2 summers ago in my roadtrek
ReplyDeleteCamped with the dog at the end of th road in the park. Fabulous scenery. I couldn't
get over the ridge ofv mountain down the
spine of the penisula.
Cathy
Yes, isn't that ridge somethin' else?! Very dramatic to see the extreme westerly point of NL! We're all quite used to the most easterly point on the Island, but the westerly point has quite a different feel. So glad you were able to experience that place, Cathy.
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