Road Trippin' & Explorin' the Irish Loop

Cape Spear

The following morning was exciting. I rushed myself to pick up the car at the airport. A little pink whitish Sparc was waiting for me. Handy and very fuel efficient. That's what I needed to compensate for the car rental price. I knew the rental would definitely hurt my budget but I thought that was the best way for me to explore the place. So without saying, as part my budget costing, I decided to sleep in the car and save in accommodation. There's a scarcity of hostels in the East Coast and even around Newfoundland. B&B's were the next step up, but the cheapest I could find was $65 a night. Yes it did have the comfort, free breakfast and a comfy bed for the night, but I thought, just rough it. What's the worse than can happen anyway? A bear knocking at my car door? that would have been epic! :)

 

I felt my eyes were gonna pop out after driving for 15 minutes. I was gripping the wheel as if holding on to dear life, while driving like a raccoon with eyes wide open but with stressed nerves. It's been years since I've driven on the "right" side of the road. I was successful so far, but I couldn't figure out how to get to Gower Street. Eek.

 

Irish Loop Sign

I dropped by the hostel and checked out. Filled my bottles and hiking pack with water then loaded it into the car. While in the kitchen, I met Max from Miami (originally from Germany). He just arrived that morning and was also planning a road trip around the east coast. Both of us were looking for someone to share a ride with but he was leaving on the Friday and I was all ready for Wednesday. It would have been great to have good company on the road but the schedules didn't work out. Anyway we decided to exchange details and agreed to meet up back in the hostel. We bid each other goodbye and I went on my way.

 

There were a few stops I had to make. First was to get to Kenmount Road where the Salvation Army was. There I decided to get super cheap sweater and trousers, to add more layering for the cold nights in the car. And since I left my sleeping bag in Toronto, I decided to buy a duvet to keep me warm. All in all I just paid $15. not bad. Last stop was to buy some food coz I told myself eating out wasn't included in the plan. Just to save up some more. After all of those, I was on my way.

 

Witless Bay fishing port

As part of my route, I decided to stop by the Cape Spear lighthouse. Known to be the eastern most point of Canada and perhaps North America, sunrise photography seemed to be one of the fads. It's just 3 km away from the city and a scenic drive along the coastline. Cape Spear marks either the start or end of the well known East Coast Trail (or also called the Irish Loop). The name Cape Spear originated from the French word "Cap d'Espoir", meaning cape of hope. Finally it became Cape Spear, go figure.

 

Trail

The East Coast Trail is also known as the Irish loop. It's composed of different fishing villages along the rugged coastline off the East Coast of Newfoundland. Immense beautiful scenic routes and trails can be found along the way. the Irish Loop name originated from the more over 400 years of Irish immigrant settlers who lived in these villages. In the 1800's massive numbers of Irish people left their homeland and decided to stay on this West Coast of once was part of Europe. The families were majority of Roman Catholic and Irish decent. The whole east coast is an expansive 220 km, which can be explored by car, boat, kayak or on foot. The fishing villages were so charming and quaint, and a lot of culture and history goes along with the families that now inhabits the land.

 

I decided to walk the Mickeleens Path. It was located between Bay Bulls, one of the oldest communities in Newfoundland & Labrador, and Witless Bay. It was a lovely walk through the coast, with portions were a boardwalk was provided. That was when I understood when they said, "oh yeah, it's really sort of on the edge so be careful". The wind was quite tricky so I made sure I walked carefully and on a leisurely pace. I turned on my beacon just so everything was sweet. The pine trees were all looking healthy and the ocean was raging against the rocks. I stopped for a while to eat my lunch. Found myself a spot facing the Atlantic, then just sat there on a rock, enjoying the views. It was a perfect day to be walking the trail. The sun was out and precipitation levels were low. I was happy and feeling safe.