Hunting Icebergs from St John's to Holyrood NewFoundland

Off to the Outer Cove at Logy Bay.  A beautiful drive, sun is shining and it is crisp and clear.  There we are all chatting away as we follow the coast road when Jim goes around a corner and down a hill and voila there is an iceberg staring at us.  We start screaming STOP THE CAR, LET US out.  Jim thinks we are all nuts, but he kindly stops the car as we run onto the road to get our first ever shot of our first iceberg.  LOL.  Yes I teared up and couldn't talk.  

We continued down to Outer Cove and stopped the car along with a number of other tourists to get a closer view of the iceberg and unfortunately a dead humpback whale which had washed up a couple of days before, they figure it must have got caught in the ice and drown.  Now they have to figure out what to do with it.  There were tourists right down beside it, but we felt we were close enough.  So sad.  The ice caused a number of deaths for the whales this year.  After seeing the blue whales at the ROM it reminded you of how dangerous it is even for these gigantic gentle giants.

The Outer Cove is also famous for the place where Terry Fox took his first step as he started his run across Canada on his quest for a cure for cancer.  He filled his bottle up with Atlantic water which his family kept for the next 35 years.  I was 24 when he did this and I remember following his story, it made such a big impact on me.

photo courtesy of Lindsey

As cool as the icebergs are, the coast of Newfoundland is living up to all our expectations.

Back in the car and around another corner and there's another little iceberg, I think this is called a growler.  Imagine waking up every morning and enjoying your coffee as you look out on this amazing view.

At this little cove, there were a number of kayakers.  All in snowmobile type wetsuits, you sure wouldn't want to tip over in the Atlantic.

Next stop is Topsail Beach where there are 2 majestic icebergs, we decided that one looked like a cruise ship and the other like the Sydney Opera House.

I gather the blue lines on the iceberg is from freshwater getting into the cracks and then freezing, while the brown lines are from dust and dirt.  The cracks come from them crashing into each other as they start their journey down to Newfoundland.

As in all the maritime provinces, the little villages were dotted with beautiful churches each one with a gravesite, some going back 100's of years.  Correction, thanks to our cousin, Lindsay in BC who are from NL via Scotland - Newfoundland is not considered a maritime province, it joined Canada after the Maritime Provinces did.  Interesting eh!!!! LOL

We were starting to get a wee bit hungry, and were determined not to stop at a Timi's or a Subway and we wanted a place on the water.  Yes we were being a wee bit whiny but to all who wait comes the end of the rainbow and at our last stop we found the perfect spot in Holyrood - Heathers Station Diner.  Great poutine, pea soup and an iceberg beer.  :)

The train used to run right along the coast.

A great afternoon, we decide to take the highway home and are totally surprised about what a beautiful drive it was, surrounded by little lakes and streams on both sides, with people stopping to fish.  We were on high Moose alert, but no luck yet.

A wee rest before dinner and then a nice walk down to Piatto on Duckworth St, so great that you can walk to dinner and home :)