Whale Watching

Today we drove to Cape Spear trying to catch a glimpse of the humpback whales as they are supposed to be around in July / August chasing the capelin.  We got there around 2:30 and walked on the trails trying to see if there were any whales in the area.  Interestingly enough, there was still a loan iceberg in the area.  There was one that was hanging out by one of the whale watching tour boats, but was too far away for us to see it very well.  We walked on and there were a few more whales further down the coast, but they disappeared as soon as we showed up and tried to get a picture of them.  We continued to walk around the area and took a tour of the lighthouse.  As we walked out of the lighthouse and started down to the car we heard a woman say, "whales!".  So we walked over to the fence and watched as the whales surfaced and blew from their blow holes.  There were 2 whales that hung around and would come to the surface for air, but no jumping out of the water or tail splashes, maybe another time!  It was fun to see the whales in the wild, took 3 hours before we were able to really see the whales, but worth it.

One of the last ice bergs...

Kids with the lighthouse



This boat kept chasing the whales, the whales doubled back to get away from the boat.

East Coast Trail

Today we had plans to got to Ferryland and have a picnic.  Ferryland is a small town on the coast that has a  lighthouse and in the summer you can go there and purchase a picnic basket of food that they have made to eat on the grass by the lighthouse.  They provide a blanket to sit on as well.  I am told it is something that you have to do at least once.  Paul took the day off work and off we went.  When we got there we found out that you really should have reservations as they were booked full through July.  Fortunately I had packed a lunch for us to have, but we ended up not eating it there.  When we left the house it was sunny and hot, when we got to Ferryland it was cool and foggy.  The temperature had dropped 20 degrees and was chilly as we were not dressed for the cooler weather.  We were in shorts and t-shirts, but should have had on pants and a jacket.  After we left Ferryland and drove back up the coast the temperature warmed up and the fog disappeared.  We stopped at La Manche Provincial Park to hike on part of the East Coast Trail, eat lunch and to check out a suspension bridge.  While we were eating out lunch in a shady spot the kids noticed something swimming across the inlet so off they went to check it out.  Turns out it was 4 otters swimming over to a cave.  it was fun to see he otters in their natural habitat and how well camouflaged they are in the water.  On the walk back to the car Nathan found a tiny pond and a frog that he stalked until it was captured.  He originally wanted to keep the frog as a pet, but half way home decided to turn it loose so we stopped at a pond and let it go. 

Manuel's River

Today we went to Manuel's River to walk along the river.  It started out a little overcast, but ended up being a blue sky with lots of sun.  The walking trails were well kept and it was easy walking for all of us.  Reagan even managed the 3ish miles of walking with only a few piggy back rides at the end.  There were a lot of spots to stop and let the kids throw rocks in the water and explore.  There was one spot that had been washed away and was perfect for the kids to climb up it.  It was a very steep slope, but they all managed (minus Reagan) and had fun getting dirty.  Trilobite fossil's  had been found here so Nathan was on a mission to try to find one, unfortunately, no luck!  There is a small museum that you can pay to walk through and a gift shop, but we just did the walk, which was plenty!!  The museum sits in the middle of the walking trails, and we took the trail downstream toward the ocean. 

In search of a trilobite

Looking at the ocean and river meeting

Having a snack on the beach

Throwing rocks

Capelin

For about 1-2 weeks in June fish called Capelin will swim onto the shores to spawn and the locals collect them to eat.  We had heard that they were spawning now and we should go check it out, so we did.  Unfortunately they were not just laying all over the beach to be picked.  The tide was not high enough so the fish were not being brought in enough.  There was a man there that had a cast net and he was pulling them in and dumping them on the shores for anyone to pick some.  The kids had a good time picking at the fish and putting them in the bucket.  We were told to cook them you just leave them whole, no gutting or cleaning.  Just bread them and fry them, with the heads on.  You can also smoke them, salt them, or bake them to a consistency of a jerky.  We opted for the fried version but Paul did clean them and cut off their heads.  They were not bad, need more lemon, but for fish they were pretty good.  Paul, Nathan and I were the only ones that tried them and Nathan said they tasted a lot like trout, but a little more fishy. 

Sea Gull enjoying the fish

Capelin

Our fisherman wearing shorts and in the water, COLD!!!

Iceberg

We have been told that if you go kayaking out to see the icebergs, that you should not get too close as they can flip and fall apart.  This iceberg was one whole berg on June 12 but this morning we went to look at it again and it had broken apart. 

All in one piece (taken on a sunny day)

part one (cloudy day)

part two (cloudy day)

Salmonier Nature Park

Salmonier Nature Park provides wildlife rehab, research and environmental monitoring.  They have a small museum with different animal furs, taxidermy, antlers, and other misc. information on native animals and the local environment.  The animals that they are not able to rehabilitate they keep at the park in enclosures.  While there we saw moose, bald eagles, snow owl, peregrine falcon, caribou, wild squirrels, and a brown bunny.  The kids had a good time walking around and trying to find the animals in the enclosures, some were more elusive than others. 
 

Snow Owl

Caribou



Falcon

Bald Eagles

moose, but we think it looks like a donkey with no antlers

Great Horned Owl

Wild squirrel

Snow Shoe hare

 

 

After the park we stopped in Holyrood at one of the rocky beaches to let the kids have a snack and just enjoy some sun.  It was a nice afternoon to be out and just enjoy the day.

 

 

 



Baseball

This week Nathan was asked to play on the grade 6 baseball for a weekend tournament.  They had too many kids for 1 team and not enough for 2 teams.  So some of the grade 5 boys were asked to play on the team.  Nathan agreed and we played 4 games in 3 days.  They lost all 4 games, but had a good time playing.  Nathan played really well and hit the ball right over the middle every time, unfortunately they were not high enough so a few of them were caught and he was out.  It was a fun way to spend the weekend and kept us busy so no one was bored!