July 23: Big and Small Newfoundland Has it All!
Big to small Newfoundland has it all! From the flurry of fluttering butterfly wings to the hidden pockets of sunshine soaking the rock-strewn beaches below to the giant “Gros Morne” mountain peak towering above its rolling foothills, today’s ride showed me the best of Newfoundland. It may have been my last riding day on this island, but the memories will last forever.
When I left Port au Choix this morning after waiting out a torrential downpour, the skies were thick with fog, blanketing the world around me in a solid cloud of white. However, I decided to embrace the weather, focusing on how nice it was to just enjoy riding my motorcycle, feeling the texture of the road and the rumble of the bike, and not being distracted by the views or wondering about picture taking opportunities.
Heading south on highway 430 through Gros Morne National Park, I stopped at the Western Brook Pond trailhead but kept going after finding out from two visitors that the view at the end of the 45-minute walk was obscured. Just a few minutes later I noticed a small opening in the clouds to my right, just next to a sign for a coastal hike. What a find!
As I walked down the trail to the beach from the parking lot, I entered a different world. The skies had parted, the sun was shining, and I could hear both the rushing water of the river next to me as well as the crashing waves of the little beach in front of me. Two red Adirondack chairs were nestled in the reeds, inviting me to sit and rest and enjoy the view. Soaking up the sun and watching the waves flow over the rocks in front of me, I felt like I had discovered a little slice of heaven.
Although I had been on highway 430 the day before I had not been able to see the “giant” mountain the park is named after. So, I was absolutely delighted when shortly afterwards I came over a crest of a hill on my bike and saw a hulking wall of stone and green ground covering towering over the foothills in front of me and dwarfing the road and cars below. Wow! That’s what all the talk is about!
Just before the town of Deer Lake, I pulled over at the Newfoundland Insectarium and Butterfly Garden. I had seen the sign for this attraction yesterday and decided to visit it before leaving as my daughter Eleanor created a butterfly garden at University of California San Diego and works as a tour guide at a community butterfly garden as well.
What a treat! The garden, situated inside a curved-roof greenhouse on the insectarium property, was home to hundreds of butterflies from many different continents. As I strolled through the garden I could smell the sweet scent of flowers, hear the bubbling pond filled with fish, and see butterflies flitting and flying everywhere. The butterflies were in every possible shape and color, some of them with large eye-shaped markings on their wings. I nicknamed one of them the “Harley Butterfly” as it was a deep black with brilliant orange circular markings. My daughter tells me it is a Grecian Shoemaker Butterfly. Inside the visitors building I could see hundreds of pupae and a few newly hatched butterflies flitting nearby.
By the time I got on highway 1 heading south to Port Aux Basque the sun was out in full force, giving me beautiful views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to my right and the Long Range Mountains to my left. What a great day to be on the bike!
