Day 2 Port aux Basque to Rose Blanche Harbour
Day 2 started at the hotel in Port aux Basques with viewing the bedrock behind the hotel. It was very interesting as within 5 metres there were three distinct rock types exposed. Gneiss first, then a schist and finally a coarse grained granite. Just the start of an interesting geological trip through Newfoundland.
We then left Port aux Basques for a trip along the south coast of Newfoundland, the road ends in Rose Blanche Harbour where we visited the restored granite lighthouse. This lighthouse was restored by the local residents in order to open up the tourist trade in their small town after the collapse of the cod fishery. The volunteers along with government money (Federal and Provincial) restored the lighthouse to its glory, built wnderful trails to the Lighthouse and present a well done Interprestive program at the entrance and in the Lighthouse. A great undertaking was the building of granite benches along the trails for rest stops. This lighthouse is well worth the trip along the south coast and its great scenery if you ever in the area.
Day 2 Rose Blanche Harbour to Cape St. George
We spent more time at the Lighthouse than planned so our itinerary was reduced for the rest of the day in order to reach the night's accomodation on time. After leaving the lighthouse we drove back along the same route towards Port aux Basques stopping to hike to the Barachois Falls which we had spotted on the way to Rose Blanche Harbour. The short hike on a well maintained trail was a great break from driving, the falls were picturesque and well worth seeing. The bedrock in the area is granite similar to that at the Lighthouse site. As spring was late arriving in Newfoundland the absence of biting insects was greatly appreciated during the walk!
We continued on our trek after the falls stopping just outside of Stephenville Crossing to have a look as some rock cuts on the side of the highway. Walking along the highway with quite a bit of traffic was a bit uncomfortable, more so for Karen, but the rocks were great. The cuts are rocks of the Indian Head Range made up of Middle Proterozoic igneous and metamorphic rocks. The first cut is in mafic gneiss, a dark and rusty colour with lighter diorite bands. Within the mafic gneiss are veins and a horizontal lens of black magnetite. The rock contains a lot of magnetite (a form of iron ore which was mined during WWII), feldspar, pyroxene and hornblende. The diorite contains more feldspar, less pyroxene and some quartz. The next uphill outcrop is a mass of ping/green granite gneiss. The granite gneiss is composed of quartz, pink and white feldspar, black pyroense and hornblende. Mineral blending, the main characteristic of gneiss, results from separation of the different minerals under extreme heat and pressure during metamorphism. Cracks contain pistachio green epidote, an alteration mineral.
From here we travelled down the south coast of the Cape St. George Peninsula. A picturesqe route overlooking the ocean alternating between cliffs and low lying areas. Our B&B this night called the Inn at the Cape had a wonderful view from the balcony over the ocean, we didn't luck out and see any whales swimming by, they were there earlier in the day.