Lobster Cove Head, the Western Brook Fjord Boat Tour and Cow Head

I woke up to a gorgeous morning in Rocky Harbour and after a very satisfying breakfast, I jumped on the bike and headed to Lobster Head Cove, which is just outside of Rocky Harbour.  The lighthouse can be seen from pretty much every vantage point in Rocky Harbour.

The Lighthouse is an interpretive centre that offers the visitor much information on the region, the fishing; the way of life...it was built in 1897 and remained as a working lighthouse until 1960 when it became automated.

The view of Rocky Harbour from the lighthouse

The lighthouse is located on the northern side of Boone Bay

Incredible wood carvings can be seen throughout the lighthouse

The light keepers quarters are filled with
period specific antiques 

The artwork on display is magnificent

The locked door to the actual light tower

Documents from the lighthouse date back to the beginning in the late 1890's

There are many impressive displays filled with regional information and I encourage you to take it in if you should ever find yourself in Rocky Harbour.

My next destination was the Western Brook Fjord Boat Tour by Bon Tours

I rode towards Western Brook feeling a little anxious, how would I manage the 3 km walk to the boat?

I got to the parking area and saw a fellow Albertan's bike in the parking lot. I parked beside the bike and flipped the skid lid that was hanging off the handle bars over so that it would not get filled with water from the impending rain storm.  About 1 Km in on the walk to the tour, I ran across the rider who was heading back to his bike, he was walking out after taking the tour, and told him what I had done - I didn't want him thinking someone had tampered with his bike, by this time it was raining gently.

That would soon change to monsoon like rain.

I walked along the path and marveled at the mud bog that seemed to stretch on forever.
In spite of the rain, I stopped to read many of the interpretive displays along the way.

The path offers benches in many places and I availed myself of them once or twice, my crippled up feet are not used to that much walking and in motorcycle boots it was even less pleasant!

As I would soon find out, the walk was MORE than worth it!

The tour headquarters

The boat  that took everyone out to view the land locked ford

After all passengers were loaded we were off!

The man in red on the left was our tour guide and he did a fabulous job of telling us all about this amazing little piece of heaven here on earth.

The stunning landscapes in the Western Brook Pond as it is known, is surrounded by steep rock walls 600 m (2,000 ft) high that were carved by melting glaciers.

After the glaciers melted, the land rebounded and the fjord was cut off from the sea. 

The salt water was eventually flushed from the fjord and it is now fresh water. The catchment area is composed of igneous rock with relatively thin soil, so the waters feeding Western Brook Pond are very low in nutrients and the lake is classified as ultra-oligotrophic which means that it has such low nutrient that very little algae grows in the water making the water very clear and because of its high oxygen content it is classed a drinking water!

The Western Brook Pond is fed by Stag Brook at the extreme eastern end of the lake and by numerous waterfalls cascading from the plateau above. 

One of these, Pissing Mare Falls at 350 m (1,150 ft), is one of the highest in eastern North America.

One of the most destructive landslides in the Fjord...

Another "face" carved in the stone

One of the many stunning water falls in the
Fjord that feeds the pond

Mountain View

The scenery here in western side of Newfoundland is
absolutely awe inspiring

The tin man rock face...

 The tour came to an end and we all disembarked - based on the chatter I heard, I think we all felt we has seen a bit of heaven here on earth!  The rain had stopped and the bugs were out in full force. I was grateful I had thought to take my personal "Off" dispenser (a small clip on device with a fan and an "Off" disc in it) with me. After the 3 KM hike back to the bike, it was time to head to Cow Head.

The wind was gusting at about 50KM per hour, but at least there was no rain!

My next stop was to be the Shallow Bay Motel in Cow Head.  The front desk staff here were more than polite and efficient, check in was a breeze and I was offered help to my room if I needed it.
I was planning on taking in the dinner theatre that night but I made the mistake of taking a nap...big mistake, I never woke up until the show was half over.  My loss as I heard from those who did attend that it was a blast.

Out Side View

View From My Room

My Hotel Room

I had a wonderful supper of fish and chips which rivaled the ones that I had had with Renee Samms of the Wreck Riders only a few days before and then I headed out to the hot tub and sauna but not before asking how Cow Head got its name.  Apparently one of the rock formations in the harbour looks like a cow's head from out on the ocean!
After a relaxing soak I headed to bed where I slept really hard.

In the morning I woke to clearing skies, and packed up the bike.

This full service motel offers ocean view rooms as well as drive up rooms for motorcycles and I chatted with a number of riders who were also staying here.  They were from St John's and out for a tour of their gorgeous province.

After getting the bike loaded up, I headed in for a late breakfast.

The staff in this motel are super friendly and the waitresses were all so sweet with their "yes me darlin'"...responses to everything you asked for.

As I would later learn, Newfinese is a true language of its own and each region and a lot of the smaller communities have their own dialect!
My next destination was the small community of La Scie and I couldn't wait to experience it!

For more information on the Western Brook Fjiord Tour visit:
http://www.bontours.ca/tour/western-brook-pond-boat-tour/

For more information on the Shallow Bay Motel:
http://www.shallowbaymotel.com

Until next time...
Ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you!

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