Gros Morne was the part of the trip we were most looking forward to. The west side of the island is much more mountainous. Upon arriving, we headed straight for the hike where you can walk on the Earth’s mantle. When the North American and African continents collided with each other, it caused the mantle to be uplifted and exposed. Newfoundland is one of the few places in the world where you can see this.
There was supposed to be a face in these rocks, and I could NOT see it. Alex kept trying to help me, and then another person on the tour wanted to help, but I never did see it! It was so embarrassing!
(This place was also supposed to be geologically significant, but I can’t remember why.)
The landscape almost looks like Mars... the rocks can’t sustain much life here.
But there were pitcher plants everywhere. Just found out they are Newfoundland’s official plant!
It was crazy windy, but we still spent a little time hanging out at the end of the trail. I took my shoes off and put my bare feet on the rocks because I heard you can get positive energy from the earth that way. And I was still trying to get over my sickness as quickly as possible!
After this amazing hike, we began another hike together. However, I turned back before it got too difficult and let Alex finish on his own. I didn’t think it was wise to do anything that involved heavy breathing when I still couldn’t take a deep breath without coughing.
The next day, we had our boat tour of Western Brook Pond, which used to be a fjord until it was cut off from the ocean about 10,000 years ago. The walls are 2,000 feet high, and we saw several waterfalls. The biggest one is called Pissing Mare.
There was supposed to be a face in these rocks, and I could NOT see it. Alex kept trying to help me, and then another person on the tour wanted to help, but I never did see it! It was so embarrassing!
We were pretty tired after the tour. We stopped at a few more sites...
(This place was also supposed to be geologically significant, but I can’t remember why.)
... and then headed back to our apartment in Corner Brook, where we had dinner at the best Vietnamese restaurant. My only complaint is that, when I asked for a local beer, they brought me a Coors Light! Alex loves to ask people questions. That’s one of the things I really appreciate about him- his genuine interest in people and their stories. So we got into a looooong conversation with the owner of the restaurant. She was so sweet and started out by telling us about how she makes her bubble tea (by hand), but soon we had heard all about her immigration journey and what immigration is like in Canada as opposed to the U.S. It was past closing, and Alex kept saying, “Well, we don’t want to keep you...” but she just kept chatting. It was great. I have noticed that all the ladies just adore Alex. Not surprising!
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