Basque & Tracy Hill (8/10/23 Thu)

We are staying at the Whaler's Station in Red Bay. The Whaler's Restaurant and the Basque Whalers Museum are co-located. So we ate breakfast at the restaurant, shopped in their gift shop, dropped off purchases in our room and then went to the museum.

The museum was great because we knew nothing about whaling and had no idea what Basque was. It's an area of Spain. The Spanish used to sail here to whale in the early 1800s. The processing of the whales is captured well in the museum with scale models, ship section rebuilds, and relects from sunken ships. See the photos for way too many details.

After the museum we suited up, rode across the bay to the Tracy Hill hiking trail. It provides spectacular views of Red Bay, the lighthouse island, and surrounding area. Lots of photos from the hike are also posted. The signs along the walkway provide a lot of historical detail to what you can see from the trail. Someone also added quotes to a dozen or so steps along the long walkway. I took pictures of some near the top, but didn't capture the first half dozen. Anne did take photos of all the quotes. As we walked up the path fog rolled in and light mist. Expecting to loose all the view I went ahead of Anne to capture what I could. But it cleared up again, so we could see more on the way down. Fogging in once again as we reached the bikes. Not a nice sunny day to hike, but it seemed fitting for the Labrador coast to have it a bit dreary and wet looking. Both Anne and I loved the details in the rock and plants that went on forever into the distance.

Back at the room we regrouped and went to dinner. Returning to the room to do a bit of writing and then watch a show before bed.

We hope to catch the 1300 ferry to Newfoundland, so we should target arriving there by 1130. It's a few hour ride, so we need to get an early start in the morning. Once back in Newfoundland we intend to ride south to Shallow Bay and get a campsite if they have one. Head south again Saturday and stay close to the terminal so we have the most restful Sunday possible. We no longer expect to get a good night of sleep on the night ferry crossing. Once back on Cape Bretton Island near 0700, we are considering a long Monday ride to the Hopewell Rocks area. That would give us a bit of time Tuesday to visit Hopewell.