Iceberg Hunting on the Baccalieu Trail

After a truly miserable week weather-wise, we were all looking forward to the forcasted warmth and sunshine on June 14. By 8:30 am, the temperature was at 12 Celsius (54 F.), already higher than we had experienced in a week. We decided to head out of town early, and hit the highway to the Baccalieu Trail; a wonderfully twisty road that winds its way around the north west Avalon.

The first stop was Salmon Cove Sands, a beautiful sandy beach about 10km from Carbonear. It’s been rated one of the top 15 beaches in the country, and I can understand why. It’s a gorgeous place, well-sheltered and has a small natural arch rock formation. The sand is very fine, almost made me want to take my boots off and run through it. The beach was empty except for a couple of boys on dirt bikes and a few girls suntanning in bikinis…in about 15 degrees C. (59 F.). These must be the same breed of girls I see downtown in February prancing around jacket-less in miniskirts while I’m shivering in my long johns and parka.

Our riding companions taking in the sights at Salmon Cove Sands

Natural rock arch!

We left Salmon Cove and continued north, and it seemed like around every turn there was scenery too beautiful not to stop and take photographs. So we stopped…and stopped again…and stopped again. By sheer luck we happened to be in the right place at the right time and saw an iceberg roll, what an awesome experience!

This is what the berg looked like when we arrived…

And here it is after it rolled!

The joy of motorcycling in Newfoundland!

Another natural rock arch, this is in Burnt Point.

Mandy was the only one able to follow us for the entire day. Most people don’t have the luxury of time that myself and Mark have.

Eventually we made it to Grates Cove, at the very tip of the north west Avalon, a place neither of us had ever been. Its claim to fame is the historic rock walls, and you can’t miss them, they’re everywhere! It’s a beautiful little community, barren and quaint, with a windswept ruggedness.

Beautiful Grates Cove

Grates Cove is also home to a art studio/cafe (big thanks to fellow biker blogger Gord for the heads-up!). Grates Cove Studios is owned and operated by Old Perlican native Terrence Howell and his Louisianan wife Courtney whom he met while working in South Korea. The menu is a blend of traditional Newfoundland and Cajun cuisine, with some Asian fare threw in for good measure. Not what you’d expect to find in a tiny outport, but it was absolutely delicious. The cafe is filled with Terrence’s original paintings and fine crafts made from wood, it was quite interesting to browse around while we were waiting for our meal.

The view from the Studio

Mark’s Snow Crab pizza…the food here was amazing, and perhaps the best coffee I have ever had anywhere outside the city.

The great thing about this time of year is the fact that it doesn’t get dark until 9pm or so. We left Grates Cove around 5pm, with lots of daylight left. We headed south down the coast of Trinity Bay, and the sight of the sun shimmering off the water was breathtaking. We stopped in Brownsdale for one last picture-taking session, as we spotted an iceberg with waves actually crashing inside of it.

The waves had worn down the u-shaped part of the berg

We had every intention of completing the entire loop and hitting the TCH at Whitbourne, but decided to leave that for another day and came across Heart’s Content Barrens back to Victoria. There’s simply so much to see here, all it takes is a little research and planning, and a lot of time!