Cape Ray and Cape Anguille Lighthouses

We will now head north from Port aux Basques on a route that will eventually take us up to Labrador. I trust you have enjoyed the trip so far, but I think the best is yet to come.

You have the Long Range Mountains on your right, which I was fascinated to learn are the northern end of the American Appalachians. The mountains extend up the west coast of Newfoundland, resulting in a beauty and climate that is a nice contrast from the rest of Newfoundland.

The climate part includes a “real” winter, which means that the snow actually stays and allows for winter sports such as down hill skiing. On the Avalon the temperature alternates between just above and below freezing, with a few days of major snow along the way. So often we have the misery of winter, but without the winter sports fun.

Years ago, this area gained the name, Wreckhouse, from the frequent strong winds that would blow the narrow-gauge railway cars of the old Newfoundland Railway off the track. Sadly, the railway is long gone. But the winds are not. They now blow trucks off the road. Sometimes the trucks drive side-by-side. Once the Department of Transportation even advised a group of truckers to drive three abreast across both lanes. This caused some obvious issues for motorists coming the other way. The police were not impressed.

Our first stop is Cape Ray, a small community just north of Port aux Basques. On our September 2008 drive back to Toronto we stopped there to check out the lighthouse, while en route to Port aux Basques, where we would catch the ferry the next day. Po was quite taken with Cape Ray and wanted to check out houses. I suggested that the place might be a bit too windy for her.

The lighthouse has been in operation since 1871.

A short drive further on is the Codroy Valley, which is unlike any other place I have seen in Newfoundland. It is sheltered by the mountains, giving it a milder microclimate than the rest of the island. The valley is lush and green.

It also boasted a lighthouse at the end, the most westerly point of land on the island. The Cape Anguille lighthouse began operation in 1908. The dwelling is now the Cape Anguille Lighthouse Inn. It was a lovely spot, but one thing about lighthouses, they have to be built where they can be seen from the sea, so the spots are even windier than other places, this in a province with already lots of wind. But we had decided not to stay there, instead choosing a B&B closer to the main highway, so that we had easy access to the ferry the next morning.

Although they do not have lighthouses, we spent enjoyable evenings at a couple of other nearby places on our trips back and forth to Pouch Cove.

In June 2009 I chose the little community of St. David’s for a rest stop after spending the day on the ferry. It only took an hour to get to the Maidstone B&B. We were the only guests and were treated like we were visiting family. They cooked supper for us that night. The next morning the owner showed us his prize humpback skeleton that he had salvaged from a whale that had died on the beach. He then gave us a tour of the community before sending us on our way.

The year before, we drove up to Cape St. George on the Port au Port Peninsula. It took us about two and a half hours to get there from the ferry which turned a bit unpleasant in the rain and fog. We stayed at the Inn at the Cape where we enjoyed a communal style buffet meal. The next morning was quite sunny so that we could enjoy the drive around the cape before heading off.