Out On the Water

Good morning all!  It's early in the day on Wednesday and I'm getting down to doing a wrap-up of yesterday's activities.  We were finally able to get in some kayaks and get out on the water, and we ended up with a beautiful day for it.  The weather report was dicey for the morning, but we had some luck and it didn't start raining until we'd got back to shore and had some lunch.

We did a guided tour with Gros Morne Adventures, largely because they seem to be more confident about letting people go out when they're with a guide and we didn't want to get our plans derailed by the wind again.  The guides were great to have with us though because the one guide was terrific at spotting birds that we likely would have missed, and they both knew some neat geographical features that they were able to point out.  We started in a shallow bay and were able to just bob around on the surface looking down into the beautifully clear water.  We were probably only in about 2-3 metres of water and you could see right to the bottom, spotting little fish and even a few lobsters.  We then swung along the coast line and saw a few bald eagles, which is always a thrill.  We paddled down a ways to an interesting spot where two large rocks at the shore form a small cave, just wide enough to get a kayak down.  Once everyone had a chance to get their kayak into the cave we headed back.  It was a two hour tour which was just perfect for me.  They had the whole group outfitted in tandem kayaks, so Euphy was able to sit up front with Finn in her lap and let me do the paddling.  It was (remarkably) Finn's first time in a kayak and he loved every minute of it.

Finn's face when we told him that he'd have to get out of the boat eventually.

It was a great paddle, and I'd love to get out on the water again if I find myself back in the area.  In fact, if I was to come here again I'd be tempted to bring along snorkelling gear because I think you could have a blast in that shallow bay just across from Norris Point.  It was shallow enough for snorkelling, the water was crystal clear, and it was full of life.  It really made me want to get in the water.  The only issue would be the small matter of not freezing to death, as the water was pretty chilly.  Still, that's what wet suits are for.

I had my action camera, with the underwater lens on, and at several points in the trip I would just dunk my hand into the water while holding the camera.  I got some pretty neat footage and when we get home I'll try my hand at video editing.  I've never attempted that, so we'll see how it goes, but if I can get the various clips all edited together into a short video I'll throw it on YouTube and post the link here for everyone.  I'm going to need to do a photo roundup once we're home anyway since the bulk of my photos still haven't been uploaded.

After lunch in Norris Point we headed into Rocky Harbour to get some last souvenirs and then made our way back to the house for a quiet afternoon.  The sun is coming up here and its starting to look like our last day here will be a nice one.  I'm not sure what's on the menu, but I'm hoping to get in one last hike.  We fly out very early tomorrow morning, and I'll see what I can do about getting those photos online once I'm home.  Talk to you then!