A walk through Schooley's Mountain Park

Sunday was fine and warm, really the first sunny day since arriving in New Jersey from Newfoundland. It was a good day to get out and do something, but what? I was flicking through a magazine about New Jersey and there was a short article about a place called Schooley's Mountain Park, less than an hour from the apartment.

The park has an array of trails through the forest. We followed one that followed the stream -- called Electric Stream because it had been dammed to run a small power station long ago -- down to a small but picturesque waterfall. From there it climbed uphill to a lookout down over Washington Township. Part way back we took a different path that led to the reservoir and dam.

We'll return another time to walk some of the other trails.

Sheaves Cove and West Bay

We decided to take a leisurely departure from Bottle Cove to the ferry at Port aux Basques -- although not as leisurely as things are transpiring at the time of making this post.

The plan was to drive to the Port au Port Peninsula and stay the night at Cape St George, spending today driving the peninsula loop and arriving in plenty of time for the scheduled 11.30pm sailing tonight. All went well getting to Cape St George, where we spent a very comfortable night at the Felix Bed and Breakfast home -- recommended to all; fabulous accommodation, lovely people, unbeatable price.

This morning we heard that our sailing had been brought forward two hours and that we should be in the ferry terminal area by 7.30 tonight. We made an excellent start, back tracking to Sheaves Cove to see the wave cut platforms and Hidden Falls. After a nice spell there we continued on to West Bay to look at some remarkable geological folds where the northern end of the Appalachian chain has been exposed to show how the upthrust has folded the rock.

We took ample photos at each place, but the weather was closing in, and by the time we were approaching the Petrified Forest near Stephenville the day had turned wet and cold, so we decided to keep driving. Almost to Port aux Basques, and well ahead of schedule, the weather fined up -- albeit with strong winds -- and so we took an hour to visit some tiny places we had not seen before. After driving through Tomkins and St Andrews we arrived at Larkin Point, where we were almost blown off our feet. We drove to Nor West Cove and then headed for the ferry. After getting our boarding passes we were told that the winds were so strong that two ferries were hove to off Port aux Basquesw, unable to enter. The terminal was full of cars and people and so we would have to go back into the town and kill time until the boats could enter.

We found a Tim Hortons, got some food and got online -- a couple of hours ago. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, hence this post coming live a few days earlier than would otherwise have been the case. Meanwhile, here are today's pix, beginning with Sheaves Cove and Hidden Falls and finishing with the folded rocks at West Bay.