long may your big jib draw

Mental note … if you can avoid it, do not get up early on your birthday. The first ferry back to Farewell leaves at 7:00am which means you should be at the ferry terminal by 6:00am at the latest. I never sleep well when I know I have to be up at a specific time. By 4:30am, I just thought why not get up and get ready. Karen also had the same thought so we were out the door by 5:25am and in line by 5:35am. There were fourteen cars ahead of us.

We passed the time by me opening my birthday presents from Karen and trying to have a nap. We noticed that around 6:30am, cars would drive past us, stop at a car further up the line and then someone would get out and get into that car. We figured out of the everyone except for the car directly in front of us, were people that parked their car in line last night.

We saw that when boarding began, not every vehicle in line had a driver. Therefore you are allowed to pass them to get onto the ferry. Once the car was parked, we headed upstairs and grabbed a table at the back. The ride seemed to go by faster than yesterday. I think it had to do with the fact that both Karen and I were having a few zzz’s. We landed at the Farewell Ferry Terminal just after 8:00am and we were off.

Our destination for today was Bonavista. If you take the most direct route, it would take just under four hours. However, we decided to take a route that would go along the water for a good portion. This route would take just over five hours. The drive was beautiful and the scenery was changing before our eyes. Because we were up so early, at around 10:30am we tried to find some place for lunch. Many of the communities we drove through were too small to have any type of restaurant.

By this time it was after 2:00pm, we stopped at a convenience store to just grab anything. The people working in the store said there was a really good restaurant in Trinity. We had no intention of going to Trinity but thought why not.  As we were driving into Trinity, we both remarked how picturesque it was.

Trinity is a small town located on Trinity Bay. Many of the colourful historic buildings have been preserved and turned into museums, art galleries, shops and accommodations. After having a late lunch at the Dock Marina Restaurant & Gallery, we walked around the town.

Now we had a decision, do we go directly to the hotel in Bonavista or do we go and see the puffins in Elliston. Puffins for the win. As we were parking the car, we could see icebergs. I really thought Twillingate was the end of iceberg viewing. To get to the puffing viewing site, it is about a fifteen minute walk on a section of land at the end of a rocky outcrop. Once we got to the site, we could not believe that we were actually seeing puffins. They are so cute. We could have stayed there all day but decided that we would come back tomorrow.

Before getting to the hotel, we made a stop at Moreish Cupcakes & Treats to pick up a birthday cake. As we pulled up, the sign said “CLOSED”. No worry … no one locks their doors in Newfoundland. Karen walked into the shop and picked up the cake.

We finally arrived at The Harbour Quarters Inn ($179 CAD not including taxes) at around 7:00pm. We had to have dinner before dessert, so we went downstairs in the hotel to Skipper’s Restaurant where we both had Lobster Roll Sandwiches. This busy day ended with a fabulous strawberry chocolate cake.

A big thank you to Karen for the best birthday ever.