Day 8 - 9 Sep - Gros Morne to L'Anse aux Meadows, Nfld

This was an extraordinarily, superlative day! We woke up to warm winds and sunshine and decided we'd hit the road, stop anywhere that looked interesting and drive until it started to get dark--which brought us further 'up the road' than we thought.
After breakfast and a LuvMasheen tidy-up, we drove through Gros Morne National Park and stopped at so many wonderful little fishing villages, oceanside pull-offs and provincial parks. We went in to one place where a boat had just pulled in after having done some cod fishing and we stopped to talk...not that we could understand half of what they said...and take some photos. They cleaned and filleted the fish right there so there were hundreds of (the very biggest) seagulls which one of they guys said, "We yust'a call does tings 'chickens' a few yers ago when tings was tuff boys". We had lots of good laughs.
We passed through, or stopped at Rockey Harbour, Sally's Cove, Cow Head, Bellburns, Bird Cove, Plum Point along Hwy 430 before crossing the Northern tip of the island on Hwy 432. At Cow Cove we found the most wonderful beach...miles and miles of sand...which we want to stop at on the way back. We both had a hankering for fish chowder and weren't disappointed with the fare in the local restaurant/motel.
As we got closer to L'Anse aux Meadows, we stopped for a few minutes along the highway to stretch our legs. When I got out of the van, three large birds, about the size of bluejays, flew to a tree beside me. I went into the van and got out a cookie and within minutes, had the three of them eating out of my hand. Don't know what they were...looked like gray jays but no crown.
As we were driving along the highway, I told Wayne that whoever said there were moose in Nfld (or deer at Long Lake) were full of you-know-what and I was tired of having my camera at the ready for that 'big' photo. Within 10 minutes, Wayne said, "Two moose on your side!" Sure enough, there they were...male and female...probably wondering what all the confusion was with that crazy women climbing around in the van changing lenses and yelling, "Turn off the motor...there's too much vibration to steady the camera!" I'm happy to say that they stood there and posed for as long as I needed and we left before they did. Hunting season opens here on 13 Sep and the hunters are busy outfitting their hunting cabins, or trailers, in preparation.
We are at a small RV park with only one other van. They are from BC (just outside Kelowna) and we've just had a long conversation with them about trading houses next year...they are anxious to visit Ottawa and see all the sights we take for grantide. Kelowna in the summer is a fine place to be so who knows...we will exchange e-mail addresses tomorrow.
All in all, a great day. It is supposed to be rainy tomorrow but we'll do some historic stuff, museums and the like, and then it's 4 days of sun. The owner of the restaurant told us this morning that Nfld has had it's best summer in years and that "Global warming is going to make Nfld a year-round resort destination in a few years". Who knows? Maybe we'd better start buying up some of millions of acres of property that hasn't seen a human footprint yet.