Cape Bonavista
On Monday, June 1st I left the Trailer Park after having used
Internet connection lengthily. I had finally found a hotel in St
Pierre and Miquelon from June 12th to June 14th. Consequently I
reserved an outward journey and return on the passenger ferry as
well as the return on the ferry from Port aux Basques to
North-Sydney to leave Newfoundland on June 20th. Moreover I took an
appointment on June 24th with the Mercedes-Benz garage in St John in
New-Brunswick to do the service of my truck, it will have 30,000 km.
In long journey it is necessary to take its dash. I could peacefully
continue my trip while going to see Puffins in Ellison. They nest
with gulls on a rock small island inaccessible to tourists and it is
so much better. Alas it is very difficult to see them in the rocks.
Then I pushed to Cape Bonavista to visit the lighthouse, historic
site. As those already seen the dwelling house of the guard
preserved the furniture of time. I bivouacked not far from there.
Ellison
 |
 |
| Iceberg Alley, again |
Bonavista Lighthouse
 |
 |
| Light keeper's house |
 |
| Bonavista Harbour |
Long Beach, route 205
In the night of Monday the temperature had fallen to 2°C. I noted
that it was very variable from one day to another. I took the
coastal road from Bonavista to Southern Bay whose relief is very
shredded. As with my practice in the early morning I read some pages
of the letters by Victor Hugo to a friend telling his journey to
Germany. His description of landscapes, of crossed cities, of
monuments are sublimes supplemented with historical references and
scholarship. Is not Victor Hugo who wants! I made a short stop in
Clarenville for food purchases. Then I looked for a bivouac for two
days; by seeing the map I choose with the wet finger the road 205
going southwards along Southern Arm. The Long Beach village arranged
a recreational area where I parked my truck for a rest at the edge
of water, with Victor Hugo.
 |
 |
| Seaside, route 235 |
Long Beach route 205, bivouac |
The day after having rest in Long Beach where I had hoped for a
sunny day, well not. Overcast sky, no piece of blue sky, the sun did
not make any appearance. The temperature reached to the 8.6°C
maximum! The morning spent to reading, preparing
the visit in St. John's and to daydream, and the afternoon even
diagram. From my reading I quote this extract put in perspective with
the political news in France where a reform of the education system
makes debate:
“… The first men whom the
history sees stinging on the edges of the Rhine it is this large
family of half-wild people who were called Celts and that
Rome called Gallic; qui ipsorum lingua CELTAE, nostra
vero GALLI vocantur, by Cesar… - Striking thing and that it is
necessary to note while passing, - this twenty-second Roman legion
had brought with it Crescentini, who the first carried the word of
Christ in Rhingau and founded the new religion there…” Letters for a
friend, Rhine 1 Letter XIV, by Victor Hugo.
It is obvious
that the president of the French Republic and his Minister for state
education did not read Victor Hugo. They are the grave-diggers of
the French history and culture as well as its Christian roots by equalization on the mediocrity
and uncultured, French socialism.
Cupids
On Thursday, June 4 the sun condescended to be shown but alas a
strong cold wind from northwards cooled the atmosphere not to put a
cat outside. Trans Canada Highway #1 crosses sumptuous landscapes of
ponds bordered either with houses or with caravans of seasonal
fishermen to join Avalon Peninsula. On the way towards St John's I
made a detour to visit the place where the first English colony in
Newfoundland was founded at the bottom of Conception Bay in Cupids.
Indeed the merchant John Guy approached the site in 1610. Cupids
Legacy Center recalls the history of this colonization with tools
found at the time of excavations archaeological carried out every
year at the beautiful season. As in Trinity pictures of the 19th
century characterized fisherman life according to the barter system.
I continued my road until Conception Harbor to find a bivouac at the
edge of water.
 |
 |
| Sunrise in Long Beach |
En route 70 |
 |
 |
| John Guy |
Family picture |
 |
| Barter system |
 |
 |
| Cupids Legacy Centre |
 |
 |
| Cupids Cove Plantation, first English settlment |
St. John's
On Friday, June 5 after a cold night, +0.9°C, I arrived at St John's
under the sun but the temperature reached only 12°C. I started by
visiting The Rooms, the museum and the local archives. I did not
expect to see paintings of the impressionists but finally I admired
some works of local painters worthy of interest as those by
Christopher Pratt. But alas No-photo, I stole from there two in the
back of the cerberus. Then I went to the Commissariat, which was the
residence of the assistants of the government commissioner. There, I
discovered the typically English humor while reading of the
interpretative panels, a pure happiness. I give some examples of
them. After a frugal lunch bought at Sobeys. I made climb my truck
to the Signal Hill where the vain exploits of the French navy
expected me and where I settled for my administrative work and
possibly for my bivouac.
The Rooms, museum
 |
 |
| Photos volées |
 |
 |
| rues de St John's |
Commissariat
Signal Hill
 |
 |
| Le Goulet, The Narrows |
On Saturday, June 6 in the coldness of the morning I settled in
front of Tourist Center to use Wifi connection. Then I was going to
visit Johnson Geo Center dug in the rock of the Signal Hill which
tells the story of our planet. But the highlight is the lawsuit of
the tragedy of Titanic which sank at less than 560 km of the coasts
of Newfoundland. In the afternoon I went to Quidi Vidi Plantation, a
fisherman village of the 18th century. I returned on the carpark of
the Signal Hill to bivouac.
Johnson GEO Centre
Quidi-Vidi village Plantation
John's, downtown
The night temperature was 8.3°C but obviously it rained all the
night. Between two downpours I walked in downtown area which was
devastated by a fire in 1892. Only the rare buildings in masonry
remained. As I showed with some photographs the dwelling houses are
always out of wood. In front of the flood I was going to take refuge
at the end of the morning in the Pippy Park campground. Only
the loop #4 had Wi-Fi but the rent was at an exorbitant price CAD
50.85! The rain fell all the afternoon.
