Soup for the Sailor's Soul!

Whew! That was quite the adventure! Picked up my friends in Deer Lake on Wednesday morning, drove to Burgeo (3 hours), then, on the coastal boat we headed under grey skies to Grey River. From there, 2 more hours to Francois.  Following  the very welcome dinner provide by our hosts, we walked this quaint community with its concrete roads (wide enough for an ATV; there are no other wheeled vehicles) and a well-constructed boardwalk throughout the community which perches on the side of a cliff.

Francois

 The next morning we clambered aboard the vessel for day 2 of our South Coast adventure. After 2 hours we headed into Macallum to drop off freight and pick up passengers and we rolled (literally) along to Hermitage. We had 2 hours ashore in Hermitage and were glad for the opportunity to walk and find lunch.
There's no soup like the soup you find in Newfoundland and this day's offering in Hermitage was turkey vegetable.. thick and chock full of veggies. The offering of the day before was pretty unbeatable ... it was rabbit (actually Arctic Hare... for me a big treat when I'm in Newfoundland), but the turkey soup was welcome warmth in my tummy which had been pretty well cork-screwed about in the 4 hours on rough seas. (I knew you'd want to know what I've been eating!)
I spent the first hour of the return journey outside tucked away from the spray but cold hands and wet gloves drove me inside for the rest of the journey back to Francois. Another hot meal, a shower and bed!
Yet another early rise to return to Burgeo with another stop in Grey River yesterday and in addition to the rough seas, we had rain & fog.

Waiting for the boat to dock...

Our ferry to Ramea from Burgeo did not leave until 5 p.m. so there was time for more tummy-warming soup (beef vegetable this time) and a visit to the unbelievably fabulous beach. Even the grey skies didn't dampen our awe at this incredible hidden treasure.

Looks calm, huh?

We didn't have a lot of time to investigate Ramea after our 1 hour rock 'n roll trip on yet another ferry . This place once had a thriving fish plant, closed now and we learned that many of the remaining 500 inhabitants go to Nova Scotia to pick apples in the fall or are involved with the tree farms, also in Nova Scotia.

Miles & miles of fine sand!

Sunshine and blue skies greeted us for the return trip to Ramea this morning and a wonderfully smooth sailing. We took the time for a sunny and warm walk along the beach in Burgeo... such a difference in the sunshine... and then headed back to Deer Lake, where my St John's companions headed for home and I sat down to wait my Hamilton ON friend for the next leg of this adventure and to bring you up to date on recent events. So there you have it... next leg takes us up the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland to L'Anse aux Meadows.