Days 61 & 62

Thursday August 23rd

What a difference a day makes!  The sun is shining and it’s time to get out and see more of this incredible land.



The Tablelands portion of Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

Today’s destination is one of Newfoundland’s prized geological tracts.  The Tablelands.  One of four areas in the park that contribute it to becoming a UNESCO site.

We went to the National Park’s Discovery center and watched a very informative film on the geological wonders of the park.  Then we borrowed a GPS walking tour device before we took the hike over The Tablelands, which was really pretty neat.  As you walked along, the GPS would know where you were along this path and beep at you to stop and listen to a fascinating narrative on what you were seeing at that given point.  It was like you had your own private tour guide!  You actually get a good value for the park passes here in Canada; more so than in the states, I believe.  There are shows, interpretive guides, really nicely maintained trails and look-outs, and plenty of park employees to answer any questions you have.

I may bore some of you, but let me try to repeat what we heard on the GPS device:

“Continents fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and that puzzle is constantly moving in a plate techtonics process that takes millions of years.  It is the molten magma deep inside the earth that rises up in convection currents that pushes on the tectonic plates above and causes them to either pull apart or come together.  Mantle rock, because it is more dense, usually sinks, but here is there a geological anomaly and the mantel was actually forced up and pushed onto the ocean floor and heaved up onto the continent to form a massive mountain range and part of the super continent Pangea.  When Pangea broke up 250 million years ago, huge sections of the ocean floor was forced up and since then erosion and movement has caused this to become exposed here in Gros Morne National Park.  Scientists for decades have come here to study the ancient ocean crust and the earth’s mantle.”

Really interesting rock but can't quite remember the
scientific explanation (thank God, eh? )

I am really into this, you can tell.  I wish I had studied geology.

Peridotite (the rock from the mantle) lacks the usual nutrients required to sustain most plant life, hence it barren appearance.  It is very low in calcium, very high in magnesium and toxic amounts of heavy metals.  It is also high in iron, so that gives it the red exterior.  If you crack open a rock, it is actually green inside. 

Have I bored you?  Sorry.

The day was perfect for this 3 mile hike. Sunny and about 70 degrees with a light breeze that was still making my eye water.  (I will have to have this looked at when I return).  We could have continued up an extremely tough slope to what I imagine was a stupendous view, but there was no trail – just boulders to scramble up.  Being the mature, sensible, middle-aged(?) adults that we are, we decided that the possibility of serious knee or ankle twisting (Norm already has a torn meniscus and other issues with his knees) it was just not worth the risk. Our hearts were in it though.



Taken from the back deck of Coffee Shop

About 3 o’clock we headed down to a very sleepy little fishing village, Woody Point.   I was told there were some “boutique” shops there, so I was hopeful to finally find that souvenir that has been eluding us.  It was indeed, “sleepy”.  Where those shops were, I have no idea, but there were abundant coffee shops with attached areas of misc. crafts.  None of which struck our fancy. 

We did happen upon one coffee shop on the water that had a sign out front of a free performance by a couple of groups that was to be held in about a half hour.  We found two of their six seats available and after Norm ordered a coffee and I water we settled in to wait.  What a treat!  It was a very casual performance first from two brothers and then one young woman that were here in the area for a local music fest but I guess they must have known the owners of this shop and agreed to do a couple of local Newfie folk songs for their patrons.

 

I was incredibly mellowed out as we headed back for the 1 hour’s drive to the campground. Sitting in this little car it feels as though Norm is still pretending he is in a racecar as he bombs around the twisting and turning curves up and down steep mountain passes.  He insists he is not “speeding”, (which I caught him doing a few times) but it sure is scary.  By the time we got back I wanted to kiss the ground.  I have to remember to jump in the driver’s seat before he does!
 



A collection of fascinating clouds

We had invited our neighbors over to dinner that night, so we stopped at a “farm stand“ across the street from the KOA campground.  Now I use the word “farm stand” but this was probably not like any you have ever seen.  It looked more like a junkyard, and the stand, was actually in their house!  We had driven into the yard earlier in the week, but left because it didn’t seem like any place we would like to buy food from. (I am still freaked out over the Boil Water notices). Today we were pretty desperate so we ventured in the door, and found the best looking vegetables, although limited in variety, we had seen since leaving Ottawa!  We had interrupted their dinner, but the woman was willing to get us some smaller zucchini from the garden while the husband sat (pants unzipped, dirty tee shirt, big overhanging stomach, and a baby lamb wondering around the kitchen -  you get the idea) and talked about the area with the thickest Newfie accent!  We could only understand about 1/3 of what he said! But he was really friendly, and talked with a big smile!
 

We left with some wonderful zucchini, and a huge bag of turnip greens, promising to return the next day for some cauliflower and beets after they picked them in the morning!  I guess it pays to overlook appearances sometimes.  (Probably most of the time).
 

The couple in the site next to us had just climbed Gros Morne  (the hike Norm took) and due to its extreme difficulty, the woman’s knee gave out, so they had an absolutely torturous trip back down.  She was not up to coming for dinner, but her husband did, and we had a very enjoyable evening exchanging our day’s adventures.
 

We later joined the folks (local Newfies) on the other side of us at their campfire, but turned down their generous offer of fire roasted salted capons (little fish) for a bedtime snack. Yuck!
 

Friday, August 24^th
 

Today I did not feel very well perhaps because yesterday I had not followed my diet all day, and the fact that I didn’t sleep very well, so when the rain threatened, we just hung out, I did laundry, and not much else.  I certainly made sure I ate nothing that might keep me from successfully completing the planned hike tomorrow.