Nomad's Travels: Burgeo, Newfoundland

Burgeo

Beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park

In need of some fresh produce other than blueberries, I sailed into Burgeo to restock and found it interesting enough to stay several days.It was a pleasant six hour sail from Grand Bruit. Dropped the sails in the lee of the islands in preparation for motoring the last few miles into Short Reach directly into the increasingly brisk wind. After checking out the end of Short Reach, I decided to land on the newer part of the fish plant wharf. A local on his motorcycle watched me come in and caught my lines. In the ensuing conversation I learned that the fish plant is mostly shut down with the part that was operational processing fish brought in by truck into fishmeal and that fishing boats no longer came in to unload their catch at the docks. Ashore, I found a very friendly small town with newer well maintained homes and shiny new cars. There is a small grocery a short walk from the fish plant dock and a hardware/liquor/everything else store a longer walk into the center of town. Wifi was found at Joy's Cafe just beyond the coast guard dock. In addition to the usual cafe fare there was local food on the menu as well- moose and rabbit being featured on the specials board. Fuel and propane is available from EH Scott Garage 709-886-3324. They will pick up your

Sandbanks Provincial Park

containers and return them to the dock full for a $10 service charge. This saved a days work as the garage is a few miles away on the outskirts of town. Burgeo is the only town between Port aux Basques and the Burin Peninsula that can be reached by a road, making it a popular destination with a campground and a nine room motel. After taking care of business I explored Burgeo and the small harbor on the other side of town. Wandering around looking lost is not always a bad thing. I met a retired couple who told me about about Sandbanks Provincial Park where there son worked for the Park Service. They offered me a ride out there and gave me a

Hiking in the park

quick tour of the town along the way. I spent the rest of the day hiking all the trails in the park and walking on the nearly deserted beaches. It was amazing to find white sand beaches reminiscent of the Caribbean in Newfoundland as the usual scenery is wind and wave blasted rocky cliffs rising to tundra covered highlands.