Destination Unknown 23: I saw them, I saw them!

Day Seventy Nine

Next on Lori’s bucket list was to see the Atlantic Puffins, and todays trip would be to the Puffins nesting grounds located in Elliston. The drive will be the furthest destination for this part of Newfoundland, bringing us close to a three hour drive one way. The weather was expected to be cool, giving us the opportunity to bring the pups along for the ride. We packed a lunch and snacks for the pups, around eight we climbed into the truck and headed out.

Our first stop was the Tera Nova Provincial Park. The park had a huge visitors centre with an impressive interpretive centre and mini aquarium. The biggest surprise we learned was the moose on Newfoundland are an invasive species brought to the island over a hundred years ago. Having no natural predators the moose population has exploded, becoming extremely destructive to the local forests. A single moose will eat forty to sixty pounds of browse a day. Along with the destruction to Mother Nature, the moose are posing huge problems to motorists on the highways. A sign at the entrance to the park had a tally of twelve accidents involving a moose last year, and four this year.

We reached Cape Bonavista around noon and parked in the lower parking lot. We took the pups for a long walk along the cliffs and over to the John Cabot monument. After the walk, we selected a bench with a view for a rest, and lunch before heading up to the lighthouse. I decided to take the drone for a flight to get some long distance aerial shots of the lighthouse and surrounding area, while Lori took the pups to explore the rocky hills along the cliffs.

As I brought the drone in for a landing, Lori was returning from her walk. The day was getting warmer, so leaving the pups in the truck to visit the lighthouse was not going to happen. I took the chance on driving to the closer parking lot beside the lighthouse, unfortunately, no such luck. I dropped Lori off by the lighthouse, and drove back down to the secondary parking lot. About twenty minutes later, Lori returned to the truck just shaking with excitement, repeating; “I saw them! I saw them!” I ask for clarification, and she excitedly told me there are Puffins on the cliffs beside the lighthouse. She attempted to show me a few videos she took, but the little guys were extremely fast and you could just see them shoot past the camera.

I asked her if she has any shots of the lighthouse, when she realized she forgot all about the lighthouse in the excitement of the Puffins, just proves my point…. ABL 😂. Of course I could not let Lori have all the excitement and headed up to see the Puffins for myself… also to get pictures of the lighthouse. The Puffins were fun to watch and very fast, they reminded me of times watching the bats shoot past the tops of the trees in the evening back in BC. I watched the Puffins for awhile and then headed over to the lighthouse.

The Cape of Bonavista lighthouse is one of the most photographed locations in Newfoundland. Built in 1843 it operated on the Cape for 105 years. After it was no longer required, the Canadian Government turned it into a museum. Bonavista lighthouse is now one of only a few lighthouses in the world that still has its original seal oil fueled catoptric lighting system on display.

After taking some pictures of the lighthouse, I headed back to the truck for our next destination. Our next stop was only ten minutes away; nicknamed, the nesting grounds of the Puffins. Located in the small village of Elliston. The nesting grounds were located on a cape just past the far side of village. When we arrived, we had to park, and walk ten minutes to reach the the Puffins nesting site. The nests were on a section of rocks safely separated from the Cape, allowing for the birds to be observed and not interfered with by the pack of tourists standing on the edge of the Cape. The Cape itself had cliffs on all sides and the wind was hard and very cool to the face. We did our best to get some photos, but using our phone cameras was not the best tool for the job. We watched the Puffins for a short time and headed back to the truck for our long journey home.