Cheryl's Travels: 2nd half of the Irish Loop - from Trepassey back up the western side

Like other towns on the Irish Loop, Trepassey’s rich history is closely linked to the fishing industry however, it’s also known for being the starting point for early transatlantic flights. It was in Trepassey Harbour where, in 1928, the flight of the Friendship took off, piloted by Amelia Earhart. Amelia became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

The lighthouse at Trepassey

Although the lighthouse is now automated, the last lighthouse keeper, who held that job for 37 years and raised his family of 14 children there, is still allowed to live in the lighthouse residence.

I backtracked a little bit this morning as I wanted to go to Cape Race and didn’t have time yesterday.

Cape Race, on the southern tip of Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula, figures prominently in almost every re-telling or depiction of Titanic’s final hours. Most people who have followed the Titanic’s history know that the doomed ship was in near constant communication with Cape Race on its Marconi wireless prior to hitting the iceberg as passengers passed along greetings and business messages to folks on land all over North America. Ice warnings were ignored by the Titanic’s Captain Smith. Soon after, Cape Race was coordinating the rescue with Carpathia and other nearby vessels with wireless sets. The world was riveted to the breaking news from Cape Race - the largest moving object ever constructed by people had come racing through Newfoundland’s Iceberg Alley. In some people’s minds...including possibly the Captain’s, the vessel was too big, too important, and too powerful to worry about the nine ice warnings received in the Marconi Room, but history records that on the night of April 14, 1912 the unsinkable ship encountered a smallish-sized iceberg and was lost forever on April 15, 1912 together with over 1500 souls. Following the disaster, the frequent updates from Marconi’s remote wireless outpost at Cape Race turned the Titanic into one of the world’s first-ever “developing news stories” as a breathless world followed the frequent updates on survivors and lost passengers. A century later, the saga of RMS Titanic still speaks to the world through maritime law, ship safety changes, and international iceberg patrols

Cape Race Lightstation is a National Historic Site. The lighthouse contains one of the most powerful lights in the world. It is an important landfall marker for North America. The first and last light seen by many vessels crossing the Atlantic. It is still manned year round. The cliffs and headlands around the lighthouse were spectacular!

The Cape Race Lighthouse

The fog horn building at Cape Race

Further along the Irish Loop brought me to Cape Pine. Cape Pine is the most southerly point in Newfoundland; at 46 36’ 55” N, it is roughly the same latitude as the northern border of Italy. Cape Pine Light was built on Cape Pine by Alexander Gordon in 1851. It is a cylindrical cast iron tower which is painted white with red horizontal bands. The last complete painting was undertaken in 2007.

Working my way further along the loop and the next stop was at St. Vincent’s, a long stretch of pebbly beach runs parallel to the highway. This is a marvelous place for beach-combing, whale watching and birdwatching. Deep water near the shore enables whales to swim very close to the shoreline. No whales when I was topped today unfortunately, but still worth a stop and the change to easily put your feet in the ocean. I can tell you... it is VERY COLD!

Last stop fo me today was at Salmonier Nature Park, a 1,214-hectare wilderness reserve. The Newfoundland and Labrador Rehabilitation Program is coordinated out of Salmonier Nature Park. It serves a significant role in this province as the main facility involved in the care, rehabilitation, release or captive placement of injured or orphaned wildlife. Where possible, animals brought to the park for care are returned to the wild, or if that is not possible, they are incorporated into the on-site educational programming. Although I didn’t see a lot of animals here today the walk through the facility was lovely - and a did catch glimpses of a few animals.