A labor of love

When my husband and I set off for our second trip to Newfoundland we thought we knew what to expect. A lot of driving, beautiful scenery, and not a lot in the way of places to eat or stay. We were mostly right, but what we weren't prepared for was just how spectacular the scenery was, how friendly the people are, and how much good food we'd encounter! Our first trip 10 years ago was with our kids, then 11 and 13, and we were camping and it was high summer. It was HOT. There were BUGS. And MOOSE - IN THE ROAD. ALL THE TIME. We camped in some spectacular places and enjoyed seeing Western Brook Pond by boat and we took some memorable hikes. But we didn't make it as far afield as we'd hoped and we didn't find a lot of good places to eat. This trip was so different! We mostly went back because we hadn't made it up to L'Anse aux Meadows. We'd tried the first time but it was so far away -

This trip we had more time and no one whining in the backseat. We took the long, overnight ferry that put us down on the southeast corner to start. Our first stop was Cape Saint Mary's. Tens of thousands of sea birds nest here - gannet, kittiwake, murre, razorbill, guillemot, cormorants and fulmars. It was a foggy day but still amazing -

There were a few sheep scattered on the grassy cliffs. Grazing unconcerned from their precarious positions.

A day or two later it was clear and warm and we hiked the Skerwink Trail.

We continued on across the northern coast to Twillingate where we did more hiking and continued to enjoy snacking on blueberries and raspberries and saw lots of pitcher plants.

Next we worked our way up the great northern peninsula. We saw sea caves -

And mountains -

And thrombolites -

 and this trip we actually made it to L’Anse aux Meadows! 

I found the Viking yarn stash :)  

In St. Anthony, we saw two humpbacks and climbed 476 steps up to the top of a mountain. 

It was a lovely trip and we met so many wonderful people. We will definitely go back, but next time we want to see icebergs! It was so much fun to work on the designs for my eBook on our trip - be sure to check out each pattern page on Ravelry to read more about it.