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Cape St. Mary's Saturday

24/8/2015

13 Comments

 
This weekend we continued to make the most of the summer out at Elizabeth’s family’s cabin, but not before a mini road-trip down to Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve!
Picture
Hanging out by Bird Rock.
The Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve is home to one of Newfoundland’s largest seabird colonies. At its peak, there can be over 60,000 birds hanging out on ‘Bird Rock’ and the surrounding cliffs. Unfortunately, the majority of the birds had already migrated by our visit, but there were still 24,000 Northern Gannets - still very impressive.

It took us about 2.5 hours to drive from St. John’s down to the reserve. Along the way we enjoyed some pretty breathtaking scenery, but as we progressed we went from clear sky to thick fog. When we finally arrived at the reserve, we could barely see 10 metres ahead of ourselves, so we weren’t too hopeful that we’d see much of anything (though we did see a Northern Harrier swoop past us in the parking lot!).
Picture
The interpretation centre, barely visible through the fog.
After a quick look around the interpretation centre we set out along the cliff top trail and at the end of it, were pleasantly surprised to come upon Bird Rock and its resident mass of gannets. We were also pretty surprised to come across a flock of sheep grazing perilously close to the cliff edge.
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Daredevil sheep.
It was a pretty spectacular sight to see: birds improbably nested on the sheers cliffs, flying to and fro and making a hell of a racket. It was also very strange to see so many birds all nested so close together, but apparently it’s a good strategy if you want to avoid predators.
Picture
Gannets on the cliff.
We hung around for a while to take some pictures and enjoy the sheep before heading back to the car and moving on to Ocean Pond; the drive back up via Placentia was a  very scenic one.

At the cabin we enjoyed a relaxing couple of days of board-games, kayaking and learning how to use the jet ski. A lot of fun.

Here are some more pictures of our weekend.
(SLIDESHOW)
Curious about what we we doing this time last year? Well, we wandered around Pouch Cove looking around artist's studios at the Open Studio event, stopping for a break at a new tea room along the way.

And two years ago? We visited the Newman Wine Vaults, a Provincial Historic Site and where Newman and Company brought their port across the Atlantic Ocean to age. They liked the unique quality of the port that it had after going to/being in Newfoundland. It's a crazy story!
13 Comments
Ruth link
28/8/2015 08:28:18 am

Looks like a nice day trip! The sheep are so cute. I will like to see how the place looks at the peak of bird season.

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Elizabeth link
30/8/2015 12:39:49 pm

I was thinking the same thing! I bet it would be quite the sight to see.

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Malinda @mybrownpaperpackages link
29/8/2015 11:04:18 pm

Looks like those sheep needed those woolly coats to keep warm!
Thanks for linking up for #wednesdaywanderlust

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Amanda & Brian - Eat_Work_Travel link
30/8/2015 12:02:42 pm

We love relaxing and playing boardgames! Sounds like the perfect way to spend the weekend.

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Elizabeth link
30/8/2015 12:43:18 pm

It was a really great weekend and we are obsessed with board games; Ticket to Ride is a new favourite!

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Michele {Malaysian Meanders} link
31/8/2015 03:45:56 am

I think all that fog lends an ethereal quality to your photos. Looks like a great excursion.

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Elizabeth link
31/8/2015 10:30:11 am

Thanks! The atmosphere that day was unbelievable. It would have been nice to see more because there is supposed to be a beautiful view there (who knew!), but we were pleased with our photos despite all of the fog.

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IsabelMunguia link
31/8/2015 07:47:13 am

The sheeps look like daredevils with all that fog. What a unique and special place!

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Elizabeth link
31/8/2015 10:32:20 am

They truly were daredevils! We could barely see the edge of the cliff at times, and they were hanging out near the edge of the cliff just eating, with not a care in the world.

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Jacqueline link
2/9/2015 11:26:19 am

Fog is actually one of my favorite things!! I just love the quality it lends to a good walk or picture. Maybe the fog confused the sheep?? I have no idea why they would choose that spot to chill.

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Elizabeth link
4/9/2015 06:21:30 pm

Fog definitely lends a completely different feel to a picture. And I think those sheep usually hang around there so maybe they just like life on the edge! ;)

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Van (@snowintromso) link
7/9/2015 01:54:30 pm

Wow, the cliff in the fog looks so amazing! That's kinda the scenery I expect to find in Northern Scotland / The Shetland Isles even though I of course have never been there ;)

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Elizabeth link
8/9/2015 05:28:31 pm

Now that you mention it, I can definitely see how the setting could look similar - especially with the sheep! ...Although I also haven't been to Northern Scotland haha

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