Terra Nova National Park

Terra Nova is another wonderful National Park where you can camp, hike, bike, fish, kayak, and have fun. I had booked the campsite in advance because I was unsure how full the park would be. I don’t think it was really necessary. In saying that I guess I was having one of those Rhonda moments when I can’t back up the rig for the life of me. To be honest the site did have overhanging branches on both sides. We arrived at 12:30 and I was finally able to put the jacks down 1:45. Talk about frustrated. The picture doesn’t tell the whole story. Anyway with the rig set up I needed to go for a hike.

Our site...looks are deceiving

We started at Terra Nova Visitors Center and went from there. Inside they had a really cool touch tank where you can pick up sea urchins, star fish, and other live sea creatures. I was like a kid in a candy shop. There are also several large tanks that you can view cod, lobster, flatfish, and more.

The visitor's center

Cool touch tank...I had fun

? do you do floors also

Looks like supper to me...the fish is a cod

One of the most fascinating things about whales and something I had never seen before is baleen. Baleen is the filtering system in the whale’s mouth.

Baleen

Choosing the coastal trail was easy since it was just outside the visitor’s center. It’s just as it suggests, it follows the coastal shoreline along a slightly elevated cliff then descends down to the beach. Because we were walking in the woods I took my bug spray just in case but forgot the bear spray. Yes we are in bear country. At times the smell of dead capelin on the beach was overwhelming. An easy meal for a bear!

Newman Sound...whales sometimes come in here

Salton Brook...tides out

Nice trail

Beautiful wildflowers

Capelin dead everywhere

Capelin eggs

We hiked about 4 km then made the return hike back. A company was offering a demonstration of what you can find in the sea. So we joined Chris and Amy of Coast Connections. We pulled in the net full of sea creatures as they explain each one.

Susan & Chris pulling in net

Tooooooooo many capelin

Baby cod

Everything that was caught was release back into the sea. Many of the capelin wanted to stay on shore to spawn. What a great way to start our adventures at Terra Nova National Park.