Filicki

We had a perfect day of rafting planned - and some of it was perfect, but not all. To start, our rafting tour left from the river chalets - where we slept, so it was really easy to get there for the 10:30 start. The set us up with great wet suits (Micki was happy with purple) and we were ready to go. Weather was beautiful, in the 70s and sunny. Outside our chalet ready to raft But sadly, the tour overall was not what we had anticipated. The winds were very high so we spent a lot of time paddling and going nowhere. Overall, it wasn't as much fun as we had hoped. The focus seemed to be more on getting everyone soaked and on the guides trading off taking pictures of everyone getting soaked- which wasted a lot of time.  (Not to mention that, as we are in Newfoundland, getting soaked wasn't really our objective.) But to be fair, we were on the "light, family friendly tour" so we will have to try a more aggressive, less family-friendly, white water rafting tour next time. R...

Fortunately the wind settled down for our ferry ride off of Fogo as we headed to Grand Falls-Windsor for a couple nights in the Riverfront Chalets . The great service at Fogo Island Inn continued to impress us right to the end. Upon checkout we discovered that both our laundry and the car detailing were on the house and then they drove us to the Lambo that they had pre-positioned in the line for the ferry yesterday, not to mention the boxed lunch they prepared for us to take.  Today was mostly a travel day mixed with a trip to the grocery store for dinner (and Canadian "Afrin") in our chalet tonight and tomorrow night, but we did have a bit of time to relax in the sun on our deck by the river. Our chalet for the next two nights Our chalet is along the Exploits River and where our rafting trip starts tomorrow 109 miles plus a 45 minute ferry ride to River Chalets in Grand Falls-Windsor

Around 4am we were woken up by howling wind which continued throughout the day, but if you are going to be stuck inside due to weather this is place. It was kind of neat to see the contrast between clear, sunny days and blustery, cold days. Needless to say it was a bit of lazy day, complete with yoga for Micki, a bit of work for Filip and the two worst games of roads, railways and rivers that we have ever played - although complemented with a nice bottle of champagne.

We hiked Lions Den today - a 5.7 loop in Eastern Tickle, with several side trials to lookout points. Lions Den is the top recommended hike on Fogo, but we lucked out - we had it mostly to ourselves. The views were incredible - all sorts of small ponds, bays, cliffs, grasses in wind and of course, the ocean and seabirds. The hike was made a bit more challenging than usual by high winds - particularly up to the lookouts.  We thought this small pound was particularly beautiful View from one of the many lookouts Beach just past Lions Den (old Fogo community) with lots of gulls You can really see the wind in this one. We had a lovely lunch at the hotel followed by a lazy afternoon. We headed back out to play on the rocks just when the rain started - although it was really a light sprinkle. It was still quite windy so the kite had fun too. The rocks around the inn were fun with lots of high winds for the kite. We continue to be impressed with Fogo Island Inn. A carafe of coffee was dropp...

We have been excited about staying at The Fogo Island Inn since we planned this trip, so we left Twillingate before 6am to make the first ferry. Consistent with the rest of Canada, the staff at Fogo are over-the-top friendly. Upon arrival, we were able to check in our room, grab a coffee, and talk to the staff about what activities we wanted to do during our stay.  Fogo island inn from the sea Fogo Island Inn from the land There is a chance of rain the next couple of days so we booked a boat tour for the afternoon today. After lunch we were shuttled down the dock where Andrew took us out on his small boat. Our destination was Little Fogo, about 5 miles away. Micki on the boat dressed for cold weather (it was probably 68, but windy) About halfway out to Little Fogo Island, Andrew looked at us and asked "Have you ever seen a puffin?" Filip said "possibly one or two in Iceland", Micki said "no" and asked Andrew if he thought we would see one. He laughed and s...

We got an early start from King's Point as we had heard good things about Twillingate and the hikes sounded amazing on AllTrails.  In total we hiked about 7 miles in Twillingate across 2 different hikes with a quick sandwich from a small cafe in between. Our first hike was Spillers Cove via Twillingate's French Beach - although we did get a little lost at the end and added a little extra mileage to get to our car. (Based on the comments in AllTrails we were not the first to do that.)  This was truly an amazing hike- the views were impressive from the beginning, with steep climbs among the cliffs and a few sections through shady woods. We thought we would be able to complete the hike in an hour, but we quickly realized that wasn't going to happen - we kept stopping to admire the views. The second hike was called Nanny Hole and Long Point Lighthouse, which also had a different set of amazing cliff views, small beaches and fields to walk through. This one was a pretty crowded ...

Today's drive was 237 miles from Cape Anguille Lighthouse to By the Sea Inn and Cafe in Kings Point. We stopped to do Erin Mountain Trail in Barachois Pond Provincial Park about 1/3 of the way there. We had 2 pretty cool sightings today. First as we were leaving a wild mama turkey and her babies were hanging out by the road. When we stopped to get a closer look they came to get a closer look at us.  Wild turkey with her chicks The hike up Erin Mountain was great - it was fairly steep so challenging but only 2.5 miles up. The view was beautiful.  About 3/4 of the way to the top At the top One the way back down we had our first moose spotting! The moose was standing right in the path. She was very calm, but we hung out where we were until she decided to move on.  We got to our hotel around 3:30, walked around Kings Point and then sat on our patio overlooking the bay and enjoyed a couple of IPAs. Filip showing off the Newfoundland flag on our deck 237 miles today

We gained both a province and a half-hour today.  Our drive from the Keltic Lodge to the Newfoundland Ferry was beautiful- complete with a rainbow.  We left pretty early to make our 10:15 check-in for the ferry to Channel-Port aux Basques in Newfoundland.   The Highlander- our boat to Newfoundland We were about an hour early so we explored North Sydney where a fishing boat had just come into port and was preparing flounder to load into an 18-wheeler (which was waiting as they cut the heads off, iced the bodies and loaded into crates).  It was pretty cool to watch (although a little gruesome). Flounder  The ferry ride was about 6 hours and not too crowded.  Only downside was no power, but our devices lasted the journey. We lucked out as we got to our car just when it was time to drive off the boat.  We had a short drive to our next destination, the  Cape Anguilla Lighthouse Inn , the western most point of Newfoundland. We arrived and the very kind ...

Spa day today!  We took it easy today- just a light walk along the beach after our morning in the spa for massages and pedicures. Evening on our back porch with bourbon listening to the surf. Filip chose the color View from our porch Keltic Lodge

Today was a day of snakes and frogs. We started the day early with one of the signature hikes in Cape Breton Highlands - the Broad Cove Mountain trail (1.5 mi).  The hike was fun - short but steep and rocky, with 3 toads (small, medium and large) on the way up.  We were rewarded for our early start with a beautiful view at the top all to ourselves. About 2/3rds of the way down we started passing people going up and when we got to the bottom, the parking lot was full. View from the top of Broad Cove Mountain Red Adirondack chair - a surprise Canadian feature at national parks- at the top of Broad Cove Mountain  Our second hike was an easy walk around Warren Lake (3.4mi) with several toads, one orange frog, and 3 snakes. The hike was beautiful and flat - which was welcome given our tired feet.   Warren Lake One of the many toads we saw Warren Lake Trail Lunch was on the patio at the Keltic Lodge in the Highlands - AKA Fairyland - our home for the next two nights, foll...

Our hike today,  Clyburn Valley Trail , was just under 10 miles, fairly flat, and apart from being long, not too challenging. The hike was beautiful, along a stream for much of the beginning and then through the woods with white-barked trees. After a couple miles there was sign saying it was no longer maintained, which meant multiple downed trees to climb over and a few spots of wading through clumps of baby maples. Before turning around to head back, we sat by stream and ate lunch. On the hike back we (Filip) spotted a bear in the distance - but the bear was too quick to get a picture. Stream along much of the hike White-barked trees Lunch spot Filip searching for gold We got a picture of the egret - but not the bear