We camped at Terra Nova National Park, we find that they have laundry facilities and decent showers. With all of the chores done, the van charged, water filled, and tank dumped we were ready to hit the road again. Before leaving the park we did a couple of kilometers walking trails down to the water giving Pete a good run before getting going. Fall colours are just starting to come in making the scenery that much more interesting.
Our first stop of the day was the town of Trinity, really quaint with lots of older buildings and shops - most were open which is great being so late in the season. We drove to the other side of the bay to Port Rexton where we walked the Skerwink Trail along the cliffs. There are a number of sea stacks, similar to Hopewell in Nova Scotia. We had a bit of rain that blew over, then a sunny and breezy day after that.
As usual, Pete was making friends, so we had a good time chatting with locals and other tourists like us. Pete has been getting very excited at squirrels and chipmunks, one of the few times that he doesn't come when called. With the high cliffs, he ended up back in leash until we got back to the inland trails.
We finished the afternoon at the Port Rexton Brewery where we got grilled cheese sandwiches from the food truck and beer and lemonade. We carried on through Bonavista up to the lighthouse on the cape where we were boondocking for the night. There is a statue of John Cabot, an explorer that put ashore "nearby" (no one is sure exactly where) in 1497.
We had rain, rainbows, clear skies, and cloudy skies. It is now a windy night (37 kmh) that has cooled off so we are tucked in for the night listening to the wind blowing around us. At least we are in a parking lot instead of on a cliffs edge. That would help Mandy and I sleep better assuming that either of us falls asleep with the wind noise. I ended up digging out ear plugs which deadened the noise. We are hoping that it doesn't get foggy, if it does the lighthouse up the road will be sounding the fog horn every few minutes too.
We walked up to the lighthouse in the morning; there is normally a puffin colony up there, but they have migrated so just seagulls and cormorants were on the rocks. We headed into Bonavista for lunch; we had seafood chowder at a place called Mifflin Tea House. We had heard about the place from a number of people and it did not disappoint.
We came across Dungeon Provincial Park where the seastacks and rocks were everywhere with some crazy wave action. Wandering the cliffs with Pete and watching waves can occupy both of us for hours. We wandered to Elliston where there were also no puffins to be seen and visited a memorial to sealing ships that were lost back in 1914.
We headed down to Come by Chance to a boondocking site, but something about the place didn't feel right; not sure why. After a coffee and chat we headed down the road to another boondocking site on the ocean near Dildo that was much more promising. The winds have died down some, but we are still hearing the wind. We aren't expecting to need the ear plugs, but you just never know around here