We had a quick breakfast and then packed the car. As we were taking Kenny and DeeAnne, we had to make sure we packed everything into the cage in the rear of the car to make room for them as our passengers. I was quite surprised we managed to squeeze all our bags in!
With Bob following us, we drove round to Kenny's hotel and collected them both. They put all their luggage into Bob's car. Once it was all packed away, we set off on the 430 kms drive to Twillingate.
We drove the same road, Highway 1, that we had been along yesterday to collect the cars. After 90 kms, we passed the turn-off to Argentia and continued north on the TCH. The road was quite empty and it was perfect driving as we made good progress towards the only large town on the route, Gander. The weather was fine until we hit some dense fog which slowed us up considerably. The fog continued for about half an hour and then we were back into good sunny weather with a temperature of around 22 degrees.
Much of the route was incredibly straight and you could see the road for miles ahead..
We reached the outskirts of Gander at around 1pm. As we neared the town and its international airport, we saw a sign to the Silent Witness Memorial. Knowing nothing about this, we turned off the road and went down a track to the site of the memorial.
In December 1985, a US plane carrying military personnel from the 101st Airborne Division, returning from peacekeeping duties in Sinai, Egypt, crashed on take-off from Gander airport, killing everyone on board. The plane failed to gain altitude and crashed on the hillside at the end of the runway. It was a very moving experience to see the statue of the single soldier holding the hands of a small boy and girl, symbolising the peacekeeping the servicemen had been involved in.
The four flags of Canada, the US, Newfoundland and the 101st Airborne Division.
We left the memorial and drove down the track to the shores of Gander Lake, a very beautiful place, especially in the bright sunshine.
We left Gander and drove the remaining 100 kms to Twillingate. As we approached the town, we crossed a causeway and at the entrance to the inlet we could see our first iceberg!
We drove a further 10 kms to our B&B to learn that it was full, but we were being given a holiday home instead. It was ten minutes away in a small community called Crow Head. The house overlooks the sea and just a short distance from the shore was a large iceberg!
We unpacked and walked up to the headland to look at the iceberg and then saw many more that were stranded in the shallow waters.
Wendy and DeeAnne walking up to the headland.
The view back to Crow Head.
A group photo taken by me.
The iceberg just visible around the rocky headland.
Another group photo, this time taken by Wendy. You can just see a large lump of ice between me and Thelma that someone had carried up from the beach and placed on the rail of the barrier.
We ended the day by having a good meal at a local restaurant. Tomorrow we drive across the island to the western coast, where we will stay just outside the Gros Morne National Park.
Postscript
Kenny has just Googled the US Airborne Division disaster and we learned that there was a split decision by the Canadian investigation authorities. The majority of members concluded it was due to icing on the wings or mechanical failure, whilst a minority said it was a mid-air explosion. The plane was carrying special forces personnel as well as ammunition and there was also the suggestion that a bomb might have been placed on the plane in Egypt.
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