Newfoundland - Exploring the Avalon

A post by Scott Fry

After spending an incredible few days in St. John's we headed west to see the Avalon Peninsula (the eastern tip of Newfoundland). We had been given some good advice when talking to some friends about attempting to make it to the west coast of Newfoundland during our ten day trip. That advice: don't even try. Newfoundland is spectacular, and if you are going to even take in a glimpse of what it has to offer, you need time at each stop. That turned out to be good advice, as we filled our days full without an enormous amount of driving. Here's just some of what we saw:

Waterfall at Cataracts Provincial Park. 

Rosedale Manor - highly recommended B&B in Placentia.

View from Fort Royal on a foggy day in Placentia.

Cliffs at Cape St. Mary's, a stunning bird sanctuary on the southern top of the Avalon. 

The not-so-wildlife at Cape St. Mary's

Thousands upon thousands of bird shelter at Cape St. Mary's. We were lucky enough to arrive during the first clear day in almost a month. 

The drive from Placentia to Cape St. Mary's is thrilling. It winds through coastal towns and hidden coves.

Philip's Cafe is owned by the same couple that took care of us at Rosedale Manor. Philip might look tough, but he makes a mean breakfast. Try the baked goods.

From Placentia we made our way to Bonavista (pronounced Bona-vesta, we quickly learned - after being thoroughly laughed at). 

The stunning little postcard town exudes Newfoundland eccentricity.  

Keith, our innkeeper at the well appointed Puffin's Landing B&B, insisted on taking us to a hidden cove a short drive from Bonavista. He calls this rock spire the "Italian Fist" eluding to a certain hand motion made to far off Europe. Keith was an embodiment of everything there is to love about Newfoundland, during our trip to the cove he called to a lobster fisherman who was pulling in his catch in the waters below and told us we could buy the lobsters later that day. After hanging out at the cove for an hour, he called his fisherman friend to bring fresh caplin (a fish that come in in droves for only one week of the year) over to the B&B for us to try. He told us all about the area, his family and made us generally feel at home.   

A little island noted for puffins in Elliston, not far from Bonavista.

Dungeon Provincial Park, near Bonavista.

Dungeon Provincial Park, near Bonavista.

The Dungeon, an incredible washout.

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse. One of the most photographed lighthouses in the world.

From Bonavista, we headed to Heart's Delight. This is the view from our cottage. 

Ocean Delight Cottages are the perfect place to spend a couple of days in Newfoundland. Located right on the ocean with stunning views and well appointed accommodations. The cottages are self contained and extremely private. Highly recommended.

We found our way to Dildo, that's right, the lovely town of Dildo where we caught a whale watching boat cruise.

We saw dolphins, whales and stunning bald eagles on the cruise.

Whales!

Fire pit at the cottage.

After a couple nights in Heart's Delight we headed to Ferryland on the east coast of the island. 

On our way to Ferryland we stopped off for a hike at La Manche, home to the ruins of a small, isolated town and the suspension bridge seen here. 

The Ferryland lighthouse.

Newfoundland won us over. Can't wait to come back and check out the west coast.