Our Trip Along the Heritage Run – Part Three

Labor Day Weekend was our anniversary weekend, we both took friday off work, making for a four-day weekend and headed out over the highway in search of adventure… Here is what happened on the third and final part of our trip! If you missed it, here’s a link to first and second part.

DAY FOUR -The Return Home

On Monday morning we packed up the car and headed back out over the highway… yes I realize we were on the “highway” all weekend but this time we were headed home, but not before we made a few stops along the way. We wanted to squeeze in as much as possible and find some touristy things to do, so we started the day by visiting the Provincial Seamen’s Museum. The museum is split into two separate sections, one focusing on the connection to the sea (located through out the main floor), the other dedicated to life on land (you guessed it, the second floor). Overall we both thought the museum was rather interesting.  The last time we were down here in 2010, the museum was under renovation and the new design/building is stunning.

After leaving the museum we did a little caching en route to our next destination… There were two cache we missed over in Burin, and while it was a little out of our way we decided to make the detour and find them before leaving the area.

The first one was called Tidal Wave (GC2EQB8). It’s located at the Tidal Wave Memorial Park, a beautiful area created to honor the memory of the 28 people who lost their lives due to a tidal wave in 1929. Standing here looking out over the harbour, it’s hard to imagine such a disastrous event and the panic thsat must have ensued.  Reading the storyboards nearby makes it feel more real and bring an eery overtone to the memorial.

The second cache we wanted to pick up was Smugglers Cove Cache (GC).  We had found Smugglers Cove Rock (GC) on Saturday, but just had to go back for a second look once we realized this geocache was nearby. We’ve been told that the building inside the fence is being redeveloped into a motor cycle museum and a reception hall for weddings and similarly big events.  This place screams biker hangout, and felt a little like it could be used in a remake of from Dusk til Dawn.

After a short lunch break in Marystown it was off to Spanish Room. There’s a cache here that came highly recommended by the owner, Shantrent. It’s a pirate themed geocache called Sparrow’s Booty (GC313YN).  To access the cache you’ve got to walk along the beach/shoreline for about 200-300m and then make your way up a small waterfall to find the treasure… As the cache page suggests, this is best accomplished at low tide! We really enjoyed this hide and found with little difficulty, and Shannon even joined us for the walk. One note of caution, the waterfall can be a little slippery so use the appropriate amount of caution there.

After leaving Spanish Room, all that stood between us and the highway was one final pit stop! We wanted to return to Waterfalls In The Road (GC1H5K2), the cache where we got engaged two years prior… It’s located near Terrenceville, about a 15km detour from the main highway. There was no way we could come all the way down here and not revisit this spot! This might have yet again, been our favorite moment of the weekend.  We relaxed, spent some time thinking about our first full year of marriage and envisioned what the future may hold for us!

We finally arrive home at around 6:30pm after an extended long weekend. We found 100 caches in total (picked up the last one along the Trans Canada Highway) and had an excellent mini-vacation.  If you’ve never been to the Burin Peninsula it’s certainly worth the trip! The geocaching, the scenery, and the hospitality are top notch! Next time, we’ve already agreed that we’re going to make the effort to get to St. Pierre for a night to find the geocache hidden there.

Overall we had an excellent mini-vacation to the Burin Peninsula.  100 Caches overall and plenty of memories that will last a life time!

Our Trip Along the Heritage Run – Part One

Labor Day Weekend was our anniversary weekend, we both took Friday off work, making for a four-day weekend and headed out over the highway in search of adventure… Here is what happened on the first part of our trip!

DAY ONE – Traveling from St. John’s to Fortune 

We left the house early friday morning, gassed up the car and hit the road… en route to the Burin Peninsula.  This was our 2nd geocaching trip to this area, the first of course being when we got engaged.

This was mainly a travel day for us, involving a roughly four hour drive from St. John’s and Fortune (without factoring in any geocaching time).  While traveling over the highway we picked up several caches (including #2100) before reaching Goobies where our journey along the Heritage Run was set to begin.

The first 140km of the drive between Goobies and Marystown consists of endless rolling hills and large outstretches of barren land. It feels very different from most other areas of the province, with little tree growth and long sight lines.  Caching along this section of highway consists mainly of park and grabs, although there is the opportunity for numerous detours to smaller coastal communities (Terrenceville, Harbour Mille, and Petite Forte all have a cache or two hidden in them).  We picked up a few caches along this route before breaking for a small mid-afternoon snack at Tim Horton’s in Marystown.

Refreshed from the small stretch, we then continued on down the road, picking up a cache here and there until we reached Fortune.  After circling around the community several times, we found and checked into our B&B (Fortune Harbourview B&B). When we initial started looking we had some difficulty finding a place to stay as many of the cottages and B&B’s have been booked solid due to activity in the Marystown Shipyard.  We were greeted by friendly staff who immediately recommended we make ourselves at home.  Not ready to call it a day just yet, we headed out in search of supper!

Our Home Base for the Weekend
Photo credit: Fortune Harbour View B&B

When planning this mini-vacation we had asked numerous people from the area what restaurants they would recommended that we visited.  Most outport Newfoundland communities will have a go to, cannot fail, food is always delicious kind of spot.  Almost everyone replied that a visit to Sharon’s Nook was a must, with emphasis on eating their cheesecake. Happy to report that everyone was right! We headed here for a supper, both of ordered the lasagna and garlic bread. It was so good I ended up eating about a quarter of Kayla’s meal… all so she could save room for cheesecake! She had a piece of bakeapple cheesecake, which I’m told was very very good!

Sharon’s Nook Tea Room in Grand Bank

After supper, there was still some daylight remaining so we headed towards the Fortune Head Lighthouse in search of a few more geocaches. We had visited the lighthouse on our last trip here in 2010 and really enjoyed the views so we were excited to return. Fortune Head is also a well-known ecological reserve and while there is no direct access to the fossil beds, there is an interpretation center located back in town near the Saint-Pierre ferry terminal.  For those of you who may not know, Fortune also acts as the Newfoundland gateway to Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, a pair of french islands located off the coast of the Burin Peninsula. As alluded to above, these islands can be reached via one of two ferry services.

Fortune Head Lighthouse

We ended up finding 28 caches, with our favorite geocache of the day being one entitled Thinking Outside The Box – Looks Like Junk (GC30QQE).  This is part of large series of unique hides hidden all across the Burin Peninsula.  The containers are such that you’ll likely have to think outside the box to come up with some of them… Others will leave moaning and groaning about having to walk away without finding the cache! Certainly made for a lot of fun!

 DAY TWO – Caching in Marystown and Burin

After awakening from a less than optimal sleep (the night was filled with heavy rain, thunder and lightning…) we ventured out into the kitchen/common area of the B&B to fix ourselves some breakfast. The reviews for the B&B had stated that breakfast was self-serve, which was appealing to us as it allowed us to get up at our own pace, without anyone waiting to serve us food at a designated hour. There was a good spread of fruit, cereal, homemade bread,jams, juices, and milk.  Certainly an excellent way to start the day.

Back to the weather for a second… The downpour from the night before had left the ground and trees quite wet, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about how this would impact our caching adventure.  Afterall, who likes geocaching in a wet forest?  Luckily, just as we were finishing our breakfast the sun began to peek through the clouds.

Our plan for day number two was to head up toward Burin and Marystown, roughly an hours drive (70km) from our B&B. We headed out under sunny skies and to our good fortune when we arrived in Burin much of the previous night’s rain had dried up and the temperature was rising. Hooray!

Our first cache of the morning was called Poor Poet’s Poetry Hill (GC30QGJ). It’s located in the heart of Burin’s newly developed Heritage Area and offers magnificent views of the harbour. We’re sad to report that we had a dnf on the geocache but all was not lost.  The hill-top was covered in bright colorful chairs, they were literally everywhere…. We were very fascinated and it actually took some of the sting out of not finding the cache.

What a view!

They’re everywhere!

All Shapes and Sizes!

After descending the hill we noticed that we had walked past the childhood home of the current Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Kathy Dunderdale.  We spent a little bit of time exploring the remainder of the Burin Heritage area but were disappointed to learn that the various museums/gift shops/cafes in the area were in fact closed on Saturdays and Sundays. Undeterred we continued on in search of other interesting sites and geocaches…

One of our next stops was to visit an old friend, or rather an old car which we have seen many many times before.  The next cache we found was called The Burin Bug (GC2EQC9), which many of you may remember as JIFFY (GCNCVZ).  In its previous life the bug was an advertisement for a local taxi company, but was moved to Burin after a change in regulation for signage along provincial highways.

The Burin Bug

Another perspective!

The Former Jiffy Bug

We mentioned above that the harbour in Burin is absolutely spectacular.  Perhaps even one of the most scenic places we’ve ever visited.  One of our favorite parts is of course the turtles… No not the sea turtles, we’re talking about the islands! They’ve even got a dedicated geocache entitled Turtle Island (GC1YAJ2). Don’t worry no swimming required just an ability to enjoy magnificent views! We found this cache back in 2010, but it’s still there and going strong.

Can You See It?

The geocaching continued, slowly working our way back towards Marystown, we reached town around 1 pm and had a quick bite to eat at Subway! After lunch we headed just north of Marystown where we found, among other things a series of caches called Spooktacular, which consists of 12 caches with a spooky/scary theme. Well worth the hunt! The afternoon continued, and we crossed more and more caches off of our list!

At five o’clock we headed to Pizza Delight for our anniversary dinner… Not the most romantic of restaurants but it’s the place we went the day we got engaged so it had some sentimental value and was a “must do” during our trip. The service and food were great!

After supper, we met up with two local cachers, Shermandkim and Shantrent. We discussed the local caching scene, shared some geocaching stories, and had a few good laughs. Thanks for taking the time to meet up with us and for hiding all of the excellent caches you’ve placed in the area!

With darkness setting in we left our friends and began the 1-hour drive back to home base. Upon arriving in Fortune we were amazed at the size of the waves crashing along the beach.  The wind had been increasing in strength throughout the day and made for a some impressive swells. All in all we found 33 caches and had an excellent time in the Burin and Marystown area. Our favorite cache of the day was Thinking Outside the Box – More Bounce to the Ounce (GC30Y3E). Another excellent hide in this series!

Stay tuned for part two of our adventure…