Category: Canada/US East Coast, Fall 2023

Our ship advised us the night prior to arrival in Corner Brook that our dock was taken up by another vessel, so I fully expected to see a huge cruise ship sitting in the harbor.  I was surprised to see a break-bulk ship that was continuing cargo operations.  The cruise lines in Corner Brook share a dock with commercial shipping.  Good to know.

In Corner Brook I could not find a local tour company for a private tour, so we had a tour with the ship, which meant we are going to be with a large group on a bus, which we just love!

Our first stop was the “Captain James Cook National Historic Site”.  Before all of Captain Cook’s historic voyages he spent five years (1762-1767) conducting a complete survey of Newfoundland.  His maps were so accurate that they were used for the next 100 years.  This experience served him well on his three subsequent voyages in the Pacific Ocean.  The Newfoundland locals love every tidbit of information they can gather about Captain Cook!

This statue is of Cook supposedly using a sextant.  As somebody who has actually used a sextant a few hundred times, this is not how you hold it, but I digress.  Suffice it to say he definitely knew how to use one.

This is the view from the Captain Cook site looking back down towards Corner Brook.  The steam you see is from the paper mill, still in operation.  The ship in the middle left is the one that took our dock.  You can see the fall colors are in mid change here!

We then made a short stop at Bottle Cove.  We were supposed to only be here for 15 minutes, but this was the best stop on the tour.  We made it back to the bus a bit late.  Oops!

The cove is particularly gorgeous!  This would be worth of at least a 45 minute stop so you could explore the area.

Despite our 15 minute time frame, I needed to run out to get a decent shot of the outer part of the cove.  This spot was marked “Captain Cook’s Trails End”.  Not entirely sure why it’s called this, and I could find nothing online, but he met his end in Hawaii, not here.

This is the entrance to the cove, with a sea cave in the background.  Such a beautiful spot….and only 15 minutes?  Come on man!

So our new buddies from the ship, Kenton and MP, joined us on our adventure beyond 15 minutes.  Kenton ran up to the top of the local hill versus my venture to the cove entrance, and he took the following photo.  Thanks Kenton!

We then drove a short distance Lark Harbour, named after one of Captain Cook’s fleet, to a church where the local community was selling their wares, and we spent 45 minutes there.  This was disappointing…particularly when we could have spent more time at Bottle Cove!  We ended up walking around and found this war memorial to the handful of fallen soldiers from this community during WWI, WWII and Viet Nam.

On  the way back to the ship we stopped at a local fishing village.  I thought the mixture of the fishing vessel with the fall colors was worthy of the blog!

A short stop here.  It seemed there was much more to see, so Newfoundland may be on our itinerary in the future.  Next up we visit Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Our ship cruised into the Saguenay Fjord fairly early in the morning, while we were fast asleep, so we woke up with the little city of Saguenay out our window.  We had an excursion booked with a local company, so we boarded the crowded bus (ugh, we are bus people today) and headed off to visit some of the smaller villages in the area.  Our first stop was at a spot along the local “Camino”, a trail walked by pilgrims from one statue of the Virgin Mary to another.  Our guide Olympia is pointing out various sites along the Camino, while trying not to be offended by “old people” humor.

This spot celebrates Christmas year round by displaying multiple versions of The Nativity.  Apparently at Christmas time the number of nativity scenes goes way up.  The temps also reach -40 degrees C, which also happens to match -40 F.  You can put all the nativity scenes you want out here, but at those temps I’m staying in bed for a few months!  Not even Santa is going to visit!

Artists from the local villages all get involved in the festivities.  These guys look particularly bored…was that be design?

I prefer the ones with the animals, even though the animals also look bored.  This place needs some excitement!

Our next stop was at a stunning viewpoint in the “Saguenay Fjord National Park”.  This is the view towards the south in the direction of the Saint Lawrence River.

And this is the view looking north back towards Saguenay.

Another awesome viewpoint looking north.  We have been getting very lucky with the weather!

We had to get a group shot from the same viewpoint.  Damn we look good!

We then visited a famous local spot, the “Covered Bridge du Faubourg”.

The covered bridge is famous because it was on the Canadian $1000 bill back in the 1950’s.  Canada no longer uses the $1000 bill, but this bill made the covered bridge a must-see attraction.  There were two other buses when we pulled up!  Fortunately they were just getting ready to leave.  God I hate seeing the busses!

The bridge has artwork inside from the local community.  Just be careful as you walk through it, as it’s still used for cars.  The below artwork depicts Seabass being caught while ice fishing.  They are bottom dwellers, and when they are brought to the surface their eyes pop out from the pressure change!

Which explains why one of California’s worst politicians looks the way he does!  Should have left him at the bottom, or at the very least thrown him back!

Sorry for that bit of ugly.  I hope you weren’t triggered.  Here is a palate cleanser,  one more piece of artwork that depicts the local village.

This is a view up the Salmon River from the bridge.  See…so pretty….bug eyed Schiff is a distant memory, right?

From the end of the bridge you get a decent view of the local La Grosse Chute waterfalls.

A better view of the waterfalls.  The fall colors are really starting to pop!

A local artist had statues around the village.  This one was pretty bizzare….making fun of us tourists perhaps?

As our ship sailed back towards the Saint Lawrence River, I got a photo of one of the two Virgin Mary statues that the pilgrims hike between.  If you click on the photo you can even see some folks at the base of the statue.  It’s a lot larger than it looks from the ship!

Up next we visit Corner Brook, Newfoundland.