Shoe Cove

Our first stop of the day was Shoe Cove, which is just a few minutes from La Scie.  We were fortunate to have a fairly good paved road all the way down to the community.  (As you'll read later, that isn't always the case in this area.  There are some long dirt roads to some of the communities.)  Shoe Cove is a charming small village built around a large pond in the middle of the town. 

Shoe Cove sign

Entering Shoe Cove

Houses around pond

Large pond at centre of community

Near the road leading to the ocean you’ll find an old community bread oven.  Next to the oven is a plaque which tells an interesting tale about "Jack the Lantern," a mysterious guiding light that appeared in the harbour on a number of occasions, and another special lantern that burned just long enough to bring a casket home from another community on a stormy night only to extinguish itself just as they arrived at the church.

At the end of the town is a small wharf with a large shed.  Perched on the cliffs next to the boat launch are some old fishing sheds, which clearly haven’t been used in many years, but still resolutely stand on narrow stilts, nestled into the rock face. 

Boats on wharf

This old fishing shed could tell some tales

Fishing, then and now

Looking back from the wharf at the other old shed

Ready for the catch

There's a lot of history here

Another visitor we ran into mentioned picking up a lunch at a local restaurant and bringing it down to this wharf to eat by the water, and we thought that was a lovely idea.  It's definitely a nice place to spend some time and reflect on the history evident here and the quiet beauty of a modern outport life.

Next post:  Tilt Cove

La Scie

La Scie is a small town by most standards, but the largest on the eastern end of the Baie Verte peninsula.  It has an arena, a ball field, a couple of gas stations and several small stores, but no big shopping centres.  There are three places to eat, including the Outport Museum and Tea Room, which unfortunately we didn’t get to visit (and the two reviewed in this blog).  At the end of town is an RV park for camping, near a beach.  The next nearest large centre is Baie Verte, about 45 minutes away.  The harbour is dominated by a fish plant, but with the cod moratorium, the plant was closed.  Although fishing is still a big industry in the town, everything is now shipped out for processing.

Entering La Scie

Scenes from La Scie

Scenes from La Scie

Scenes from La Scie

Scenes from La Scie
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Scenes from La Scie

La Scie also boasts some scenic trails.  We were fortunate to have the entrance to two right behind our B&B, next to the arena.  The first we did was the Overfalls Trail, which is marked with a wood border and covered in loose rock, so it’s easy to follow.  It winds through the woods with a gradual slope, finally crossing a small river where there was just a trickle of a waterfall, but which is probably beautiful when the river is running strong.  The trail ends at the cemetery.  We decided to walk back via the road, and the whole trip took just over an hour at a leisurely pace.

Not much water in the "falls"

The second trail is Boone’s Hill Trail, also accessible from the arena.  We did this trail at the end of a long day, so we went just far enough to watch the sun setting over the water.  The trail starts out fairly easily, but becomes a steep slope covered in loose rocks after crossing a dirt access road.  With the slope and loose pebble covering, I found this section very slippery and difficult.  However, once you get to the top of that section, there’s a bench where you can sit and look back over the town, and the trail flattens for a while and leads out to the edge of the cliffs over the harbour.  From there, you can continue towards another climb to a lookout platform a little higher on the hill, or down towards the RV park and Island Cove Beach.

Looking back towards the town

The trail goes down to a beach and up to a lookout

Beautiful sunset
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Supper on our second night was at Critch’s Restaurant & SnackBar.  With a casual name, we expected a small place with a couple of diner tables along a large counter, but attached to the area with the counter was another room laid out with several small cloth-covered tables and a surprisingly varied menu.  My husband decided that the chicken tasted exactly like KFC.  I had a wrap that was stuffed full of meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese.  The staff were friendly, not only remembering us from stopping by earlier to get some sandwiches for the road, but sitting down with us and chatting about things to see and do in the area.  The snack bar portion also has a selection of ice creams, slushies, and desserts as well as some quick take-out options.

I definitely recommend at least two full days to really get to visit each community along the peninsula, and although there are a lot of similarities, each is unique with its own beauty.  What follows will be a series of posts about each of the communities we visited and some pictures of what we found there.  One tip:  Most of these communities are very small and do not have or need a lot of public services, so don’t expect to find places to eat or access to washrooms.  You will need to plan accordingly.

Next post:  Shoe Cove

Found in Newfoundland was created to share things to do, places to see and memories to make around the beautiful province of Newfoundland.  For the most part, I watch Twitter (https://twitter.com/foundinnl) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/FoundinNewfoundland/) for posts from people about events, relevant articles, or suggestions on places that they recommend visiting and share them with my followers.  However, once in a while, I get to explore this incredible place myself.  So I am now reviving this blog to write about the places I’ve recently visited and why you may want to experience them for yourself.

We recently did a two-week journey through the central section of the island, covering mostly the Baie Verte Peninsula and the Connaigre Peninsula.  For the next few weeks, I’ll share our impressions and suggestions for your own explorations.  (Spoiler alert:  both are incredible areas well worth visiting.)

La Scie

Our first stop was La Scie, at the very end of the Baie Verte peninsula.  Like most of the towns we explored in this area, the houses are scattered around a harbour at the bottom of a bowl formed by the high hills surrounding a sheltered bay.  In fact, the town took its name from the shape of the hills, which resemble a saw (or la scie, in French).  The town was first settled as a migratory fishing station within the French Shore boundaries (More Than Just a Name, Byron A. Brooks, www.travellingnl.com).

The bowl

The hills shaped like a saw

We booked a room at Mom’s Place Bed and Breakfast (visit their Facebook page) for three nights, and we were very pleased with our pick.  There is a hallway containing four “hotel” rooms with ensuite bathrooms attached to a shared “main house” section.  In the main house, there are an additional two bedrooms that share a bathroom, and an “overflow” area downstairs with another bedroom and bathroom and small living room of its own.  There’s a large, well-stocked kitchen, and a large, yet cozy, living room with two couches, a recliner, and a large-screen TV atop an electric fireplace stand.  We were fortunate to have the entire place to ourselves for a couple of nights, so we just made ourselves at home.  Tina Foss is the owner and basically gave us free run of the house, including letting us store things in the refrigerator and deep freeze and offering the use of the washer and dryer and BBQ if we wanted.  The breakfast here is self-serve, but a large supply of breakfast foods is provided, including cereals, bread, eggs, bacon, ham, and toast.  You just get up when you want and cook your own, which worked well for us.  We kept thinking this would be an amazing place to rent with a group of family or friends – 7 bedrooms in all, two living rooms, and everything you could need at an incredibly reasonable price.

Our room

Small bathroom, but towels & amenities provided

Large kitchen

Kitchen from other side

Deck off kitchen

Large living room

We had supper the first night at Our Place restaurant, which had a menu that was typical of most small-town Newfoundland restaurants, but with good variety.  The food was good, the service was quick, and the atmosphere was very casual and relaxed.  I had the “mess,” which was ground beef and gravy over fries.  It also contained cut up wieners, which I saw on the menu in a few places in central but haven’t noticed elsewhere, so it may be a local preference.  My husband had the pork chop dinner, which came with potatoes or fries, and peas and carrots.  Both servings were plentiful and tasty.  It was a welcome treat after a long day of driving.

In the next post, I’ll tell you a little more about what to see and do in La Scie.