Western Brook Pond

What Newfoundlanders call a pond we would call a lake, a really big lake!  This one actually used to be a fjord until the ocean end of it was cut off by a changing sea floor. It is reminiscent of the Norwegian fjords that I have seen, with cliffs rising right out of the edge of the water, and you know they continue under the water too.  The water in this one is very deep, I think the guide said 165 meters, which is about 500 feet, more or less.

The attraction of this lake is the cruise from one end to the other and back.  The scenery is outstanding, and pictures of this lake, and cruise, are in all the guide books and websites I have looked at. The only catch is that the beginning of  the cruise is about 2 miles from where you park, and there's no transportation except your feet. Luckily, it's mostly level, and by giving myself plenty of time to get there before my reservation time (12:30 PM) I was able to walk it without too much problem.  Of course, I had to think about doing it all again at the end of the cruise!

 

The boat we cruised on

While waiting to board the boat, I started a conversation with a family from Ontario, but both the husband and wife had grown up in Newfoundland. They gave me a lot of hints about things to make sure to see (Twillingate) and to be glad of some of the things I had already seen and done (the drive that I described in the last post). They were fun to talk to, although I have found the Newfoundlanders have a very distinct accent, and my ear has not yet become attuned to it, making it difficult sometimes to understand them.

 

One of several waterfalls

The end of the pond

The cruise was as great as advertised, the scenery fantastic, the guides were informative, and humorous too, and we all enjoyed it a whole lot. What was really nice was that one of the guides offered to take photos from the end of the boat at the point where we have to turn around. It's the best place to have a picture taken, so I got in line, and I'm really happy with the result.

Arches Provincial Park, just before my campground that night. 

After the cruise, I made my way up the coast toward the ferry to Labrador and found a campground right on a river (the Portland river). It was a beautiful end to the day, watching a fly fisherman in the water and seeing the fish jump.  Later that night, I had cause to get up and look out the window, and the sky was so full of stars that I could hardly believe it. Of course, there's not much ambient light up here, so nothing interferes, and the moon had not risen yet, so conditions were just perfect. The Milky Way just hung there, and I stood outside (and it was cold!!) for about 15 minutes just admiring it. The next morning I woke up early and watched the sun rise over the river right from my bed – I almost didn't want to get up to spoil the magical feeling.