Sunday, May 12, 2024 (Day 6)

Cow Head / 6:20 a.m. / 5 degrees to Gander, Newfoundland / 1:00 p.m. / 5 degrees for a total of 451.9 km driving.

The Shallow Bay Motel & Cabin’s in Cow Head is right on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The room we had gave us a view and a door (with porch and picnic table) to the water or should I say directly on the water. We not only had a beautiful sunset with the tide out (May 11th) but also saw the gorgeous colours as the day began on May 12th (tide in). Just Wow!

When starting out for the morning, we pulled out of the motel parking lot and turned on the road and were greeted by 2 moose, we then turned the next corner and had 2 more moose in our sights. What a wonderful way to start the day when viewing them from a safe distance. 15 minutes later 2 caribou and 20 minutes later 1 more moose. Just over 1 hour later 2 more moose. That is a lot of wildlife before 8:30 in the morning.

Now the weather, remember I said beautiful colours in the morning…an hour later the wind picked up, a light rain, to snow staying on the ground, actually a wet slush before turning to major rain…all before noon. We have been told this is the norm. Good thing we packed our winter boots and coats just in case.

On a bright note, we decided to check out King’s Point, Hwy 391, 12 km off of the Trans Canada highway as the Facebook page (Newfoundland and Labrador Iceberg Reports) we follow said whale spotted this past week. We pulled in to a spot overlooking the cove (wet / cold snow falling). We decided to have a bite to eat (food we travel with) when Perry spotted the WHALE (Bucket List #3 accomplished). We were so excited. The whale was so close to where we were (approximately 20 feet away). We sat for an hour and saw the whale 4 more times. Double Wow!

Upon leaving this location and encountering typical Newfoundland weather, we called it a day in Gander, Newfoundland. Was hoping to visit the North Atlantic Aviation museum but it was not opened on Sunday’s (at this time of the year) maybe we will stop on our way back.

Found a really nice Comfort Inn on the Trans Canada highway. Queen suite with a couch, table & chairs and full kitchen facilities. Small fridge, 2 burner stove top, convection/microwave. We made supper in our room. Good day to catch up on documenting trip details.

Night (tide out) May 11, 2024