Into The Park
Our visit to Salvage has been anticipated for months and until tonight, it was extremely enjoyable. We head to bed about 10:00 and are awakened an hour later by the sound of a fork lift - forward and back, “beep-beep-beep”. We know what this means - they are preparing to offload a fishing boat.
Sure enough at 11:30 I hear the bow thrusters of a large fishing boat, docking mere feet from our bow. The containers bang around in the hold, then get lifted to the wharf, then rinsed and thrown back in the hold. For nearly four hours I felt like I had my head in a metal bucket while someone banged on its sides. Then it stopped. I fell asleep only to be awakened again at 4:30 when the boat left the wharf - voices, engine - then silence. It was daylight at 5:00 and we were up at 7:30 to start our day.
It’s going to be a long one.
Not so intimidating the second time through.
It should be an easy day, heading down Newman Sound to Terra Nova National Park, so we do not leave the dock until 10:30 - tired but ready for a change.
I had seen whales swimming past the harbour opening when I walked up the hill to make a cell phone call to the park. They are in the area when we depart and so are many small fishing vessels. It is Sunday and yesterday was too windy so they are making up for lost time. They can still only get five fish per person and it seems they all know the best place to find them.
The dunes at Sandy Cove.
Newman Sound is about 1 nautical mile wide and runs northeast to southwest between the Eastport Peninsula and Swale Island. It runs through Terra Nova Park, which we enter as far out as Happy Adventure. First we pass Sandy Cove where Brandon at Glovertown told us is the best local beach for swimming. The sand dunes seem so out of place for what we are used to seeing along the Newfoundland coasts.
Thirteen nautical miles down the sound, we pass through “the gates”, or officially called The Narrows, into the bottom of the bay which is only shown as “bird sanctuary” on the chart. Salton’s Wharf will not accept pleasure boats so we move along past the Headquarters Wharf and anchor about 300 feet from shore in fifteen feet of water. There are no other boats anchored and just the park boat and two Coast Guard zodiacs tied to the government wharf.
We are settled by 3:00pm and install the enclosure to keep us out of the 32’C heat. The plan is to get to shore to do some hiking, but after our sleepless night, we think we will stay put for today. The sky looks threatening but it never rains. We can see hikers walking along the shore.
After spaghetti supper I finally feel ready to pull out my little box of water colours and other paint supplies. The sun still looks so hot as it comes out from between two dark clouds. The reflection on the water is even warm looking.
Sticking my nose at the window screen while brushing my teeth, I can smell the trees, the earth - this isn’t a rocky shoreline here. I realize one thing is missing for a campground - no woodsmoke. There is a complete outdoor fire ban in Newfoundland and Labrador.