Walkabout in Rencontre East

We paddled over to have a look around Rencontre East after setting up out tents across the water on Rencontre Island.  Rencontre East's motto is "Isolated and loving it".  So, if you've never been, fasten your seatbelts and off we go.

Looking at the harbour front.  We wondered why all the boats were hauled up and not out at work.

Main Street.

We followed Main Street uptown and on the way back were passed by one of the local taxi companies.

As we passed the airport an Air Canada flight was arriving.

We stopped by the church which in most communities is built on the most prominent point, giving us a good view out over the entire settlement.

On a side street we happened upon Judy's General Store laid out in the traditional Newfoundland outport style.  Judy was on hand and gave me one of her racy calendars.

The only restaurant in town was opening as we finished our tour so we sat down to enjoy some beer we purchased and placed our order for either hamburgers or fried chicken.  While it was foggy it was not wet.  Quaint may be one way of putting it but it was as pleasant an eating experience as I've had in any large city.  The chicken was excellent!

After finishing our supper we were pleased to be relieved of cooking supper back at our campsite.  We finished our household chores and ...

... collected wood for our usual evening fire while we chatted and had a few sociables.  It was a fine way to end a super day in Fortune Bay.

Isolated and loving it

Up to day 3 of our Fortune Bay trip we had beautiful sunshine.  On day 4, when we awoke in Doctors Harbour to a foggy day.  Foggy, but no rain and not at all unpleasant.

We had breakfast, broke camp and backtracked a bit to begin the day with a tour of Belle Harbour.  Dean looks down into the lower reaches as fog lingers on the hill tops.

Hazen looked happier as we turned and were almost out of Belle Harbour.  Somewhere between Doctors Harbour and the entrance to Belle Harbour he had lost his glasses.  It was the first time I ever heard him swear.  He back tracked and luck was on his side when he spotted them floating on the attached glasses float.  So far the day was off to a good start.

Near Doctors Harbour we stopped to admire this tall waterfall tumbling to the sea.

This part of the trip was in many ways the most scenic even in the fog as the cliffs towered 250 feet over our heads.  In the distance Isle a Glu is just a slight bump on the horizon.

Dean paddles between a rock and a hard place.

The theme for the day was waterfalls as we pass another descending out of the fog.

And another waterfall in an un-named small cove I will call "Watering Hole Cove" because it was where we ...

... stopped to filter and replenish our drinking water.  The water is probably safe to drink without filtering but so far from medical attention wasn't worth the risk especially as we had the equipment.

Again, in Little Bay, water falls off of the high hills.

The shore along Little Bay took us to a small river with what looked like a large marshmellow.

After stopping in Burdocks Cove to cook up lunch we continued on in the fog which seemed to thicken as we reached Rencontre East.

We picked a campsite on Rencontre Island, set up our tents and then set off across the water to check out the community of Rencontre East, whose motto was "Isolated and loving it".  Its only connection to the outside world is by ferry boat.  Or, kayak if so inclined!

The day was foggy but not at all wet.  A most enjoyable 25 km paddle from Doctors Harbour.

Is there a doctor in the harbour?

We got up Monday morning, the third day of our Fortune Bay trip, to a rising tide which meant we would not have a long carry to put the kayaks in the water.  Again, for the third day, we were lucky with the weather.

We left Parsons Cove and made our way into South East Bight hugging the shoreline all the way.

We checked out this waterfall in East Bay.

We rounded a headland into Magrath Cove which gave us a good look down into the expanse of Fortune Bay.

There's an aquaculture operation in Back Lally Cove.  When we arrived they were harvesting fully grown salmon from one of the cages.  We stopped to talk to the harvesters who told us the salmon grow to market size in 18 months and even offered us one.  We regretted after not taking the 2 foot long, fat bellied salmon.

 After having lunch in Back Lally Cove we paddled through the channel with Lally Cove Island on the right and the funneling wind driving us through on surfable waves.  Without paddling I was doing 4 - 5 kms/hr.

 We entered into Lally Cove with its typical wharves and stages.

Approaching Potato Point.  Doctors Harbour., our destination for the day, lay just beyond.

Dean checks out a uniquely coloured dyke intruded into the host country rock.  These rocks are volcanic extruded by under water volcanoes and the dyke intruded during a later event.

One of few sea stacks we saw on our journey.

We arrived in Doctors Harbour after a 25 km paddle.  Doctors Harbour is only 8 kms from Parsons Cove as the crow flies but hugging the shoreline gave us the additional distance.

An aerial view of Doctors Harbour from Google Earth.  Our research in January made this a desirable stop and camp site.

A field of Blue Flag Iris lay behind our tents.

I climbed a hill to get a bird's eye perspective of our location.

An abundance of driftwood meant ...

... the mother of all fires.  I coaxed Hazen to stand by the fire for perspective.  He's over 6 feet tall!

Dean stepped on a nail that luckily only punctured the sock in his drysuit but not the skin.  We were fortunate with that because there was no doctor in Doctors Harbour.  I doubt there ever was so I am curious how it got its name.  That thought didn't linger long though as I fell asleep to the gentle lapping of the sea, steps from my tent.

Day 2 ends with a duck

Day 2 of our Fortune Bay trip began with a paddle up the Bay du Nord River and a walk about the resettled community of Bay du Nord before carrying on to East Bay where we intended to camp for the night.

By 12:00 we had already clocked 15 kms and we were ready for lunch.  We stopped on this small beach near East Bay Head where there was just enough room to set up our stoves.

We had been paddling along cliffs of conglomerate and at our lunch beach I had a chance for a closer inspection.  A cobble of granite in the conglomerate caught my attention.  It was interesting because it must have had a long journeyed history before ending up in the mix.

Granite is an intrusive igneous rock that cools over a long period in the earth kilometers underground.  As it cools slowly, identifiable crystals are formed.  Millions of years of erosion unroofed the granite intrusion to free it and deposit this rounded cobble in with the other bits in the matrix.  Now you know!

After a swing through the entrance to North West Brook in East Bay (sheesh!) we made our way to Parsons Cove.

We saw numerous eagles and I finally got one to sit still while I took it picture.  Click to enlarge and its at about 1:00 from the center of the snap.

Near North East Brook in Parsons Cove we filtered some water but before Hazen decided to take a cool down.

We looked around a bit to pick the best campsite.  Parsons Cove is very shallow and with the low tide we were a long way from tenting ground.  We carried the kayaks after taking most of the heavy stuff out.

My dome tent turned into an "A-frame".  With no rain in the forecast I left the repair to the next day.

All the while we were setting up camp a duck was impaled on a stick and suspended over the fire to sweat it out.

As darkness fell we had a few swallies by the fire right on the edge of the high tide mark.

Its not a fire until enough wood is added *lol*

As day 2 drew to a close the moon rose in the night sky casting moonbeams on the darkened sea.  It was a great day with lots of interest along our 27 kms paddled to get here.

How we got there.