Shore Walks
Walking is something we enjoy when we can get to shore. Goose Cove has several marked hiking trails over the many hills surrounding the protected cove. We ventured out the day we arrived to the Pumley Cove Trail, overlooking Hare Bay.
The remnants of the large newsworthy ice berg still sit in the west and some whales are spotted below where we stand. There is heavy cloud but the view is still spectacular. The cliff walk is rugged and dangerous with some steep drops to the jagged, rocky shore below.
A sign tells us this is where Dr. Grenfell was rescued after going adrift on an ice pan on Easter Sunday 1908. (“Adrift On An Ice Pan” by Sir Wilfred Grenfell. A short, but harrowing tale in his own words was my bedtime reading that night.)
Looking Over Hare Bay
The space between the harbour and hills holds many ripening bake apple (cloudberries). We pick a few as we’ve been told they will continue to ripen once picked.
We marvel at all we see.
On another day, we walk the other direction to the head of the bay and pass the government wharf.
A house across from the wharf has the front door open and inside I believe a recognize the woman who sang and played guitar at the Conche Garden Party Matinee. She sees us gazing toward the house and comes out, actually recognizing us, too! It’s Clara Genge visiting her sister and brother-in-law, Don, here to attend the Goose Cove Garden Party.
Without hesitation we are invited in for tea or coffee and homemade sweets. They want to hear our story but we also want to learn more about them. Clara will be performing this weekend so we promise to stay for part of the celebration. Her home is in Flower’s Cove, also familiar to us, on the west side of the Northern Peninsula. Clara has a lovely little cottage in Conche, too. We have walked past it a few times on our visits there.
Our visit is about an hour with these gracious, kind people. They have things to do before more family arrives for the weekend and we still want to explore the area’s trails. We say our good-byes and share contact information; looking forward to seeing them at the dance the next night.
Three Mountains Harbour
Our walk then takes us to the narrow neck connecting Goose Cape with the north shore. We are overlooking Three Mountain Harbour after crossing the filled in opening to the shaft of an abandoned copper mine. We hear later, if we had climbed further up “Brimstone Head” (as known by the locals) we would have seen St. Anthony to the north.
We return to the boat, after picking enough bake apple for a compote, and cook up the fresh cod we were gifted by one of the Murrin grandchildren at the wharf. The fog is rolling in. We are grateful for another Newfoundland day and a safe, friendly place to spend the night.
