After spending a couple of hours at the monastery (see the previous post) I had to move on as they were closing for the day. My next stop was to Belém Tower to catch the sunset. On my way over I noticed this little lighthouse that perfectly aligned with the sun.
The Lighthouse
Not much further from the lighthouse was the Tower (you can see it in the distance in the photo above). A couple of nights before they had quite the celebration here and the scaffolding was still up so I didn’t have a lot of great angles to play with as I took my photos of Belém Tower.
Belém Tower
I was lucky enough to catch the sun off the side tower as it was setting. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a vantage point that worked for what I had in my mind. After checking out all the angles I decided to move on and make my way over to the MAAT. The MAAT is the Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology located on the other side of Belém close to the train station. Since the sun was going down I wanted to get some fun night shots of the museum and the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge before heading back to the apartment.
Ponte 25 de Abril
As I walked the long road toward the MAAT I was greeted by this modern art piece lit up on dock just in front of the bridge. I”m not sure who the creator is or why it’s there but it’s definitely a conversation piece for those walking along the river.
Maat and Ponte 25 Abril
I waited patiently to get the photo above as there were quite a number of the people on the steps in front of me when I arrived. Surprisingly they all left quickly once the sun disappeared. I think they missed the most beautiful part of the day but it was a bonus for me. The MAAT is a uniquely shaped building, as you can see from the photo above, and what I loved most was the fact that you could walk a ramp up its roof to get some great views.
MAAT Roof and View
I had a great evening out here in Belém. I’m also a little sad as there is only one day left before I leave this beautiful city behind for home. But there are a couple more places I have to visit in central Lisbon not too far away from the apartment before that happens.
How quickly the weekend passes. It’s almost time to go home but before we do we have to hunt down some orchids. I mean, it is one of the main reasons we come up this particular weekend.
Sit for a Spell
Unfortunately high water levels have struck the shorelines of Tobermory this year. Singing Sands beach, where we would find some of our favourite orchids, is water logged.
Instead we choose to hike a section of the Bruce Trail we haven’t tried before in the hopes of finding some flowers hidden among the trees. We lucked out on this decision when we came across trilliums galore in the underbrush.
Trilliums
And just as we thought the trilliums were all we would see, we came across a small bunch of Large Yellow Lady Slippers.
Yellow Lady Slipper
I was so excited to see these little flowers that I couldn’t stop photographing them. They all were still in the early stages of blooming. I’m not sure if that’s because we were further south of Tobermory or at a slightly higher elevation (we were high on the escarpment). Either way I was happy to finally see some orchids this weekend.
Cabot Head Lighthouse with Wolf’s Milk flowers
We made one final stop after our hike at Cabot Head Lighthouse. This is a favourite spot for some pretty great views of the bay not to mention all the wildflowers that grow here.
Tobermory is one of my favourite places to visit, especially in the spring or fall when less people are visiting. It’s become a popular place in the summer months and who can blame them. It’s one of the prettiest spots around.
This last day of our trip we headed out early to check out the lighthouse at Lion’s Head and see if we could get a shot of the waves crashing. It was very windy but the waves were not as high as expected. I guess it was just wishful thinking on our part. I now have lots and lots of shots of waves crashing into the beach or the lighthouse. (Delete key is ready folks..lol)
Lions Head Lighthouse
We headed back for breakfast at the B&B before heading out for a hike along the bluff at Lion’s Head.
Lions Head Trail
The first section of the trail was nice and wide with room for lots to hike but eventually that turned into more of the typical Bruce trail type hiking trail.
The Escarpment
I’m not complaining – look at these fantastic views. From this vantage point we can see Lion’s Head way in the distance.
Sadly after our hike it was time to pack up and go home. We made one last stop. When we stopped at Jones Falls on the way up we had both taken some photos of a large tree. I call it the Grandmother tree or Big Mama. Both of us had decided that we hadn’t done it justice with our original photos so we headed back on the trail to photograph this beautiful tree.
Day 6 shines bright as I walk parts of the Pacific Wild Trail catching spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean. After lunch I head back towards the east side of the island visitng provincial parks along the way.
Yesterday’s journey from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland via ferry was uneventful. We were able to catch some naps and just laze around for the majority of the day. There was absolutely no photography happening beyond the quick smartphone snap. Today, however, was back on the road and with a couple of stops in mind we got to it right after breakfast.
Driving east from the hotel takes us to Rose Blanche, a town with a unique stone lighthouse on the south western shores of the island. Rain was falling as we pulled into a parking lot filled with growing puddles at the Rose Blanche Lighthouse site. After paying the small fee to get in we suited up in rain gear, grabbed some plastic bags to wrap the camera in we headed uphill on the path that would take us to the lighthouse. Rose Blanche Lighthouse sits high on the cliffs above the North Atlantic Ocean.
Rose Blanche Lighthouse
After some time of exploring inside and outside the lighthouse we wandered the ocean path before going back to the car and getting out of the rain gear. A lot of my photos had raindrops on them even though I was diligent about wiping the lens as often as possible. Unfortunately at some angles the lens was pelted with rain and there was no way to keep up with it.
Rose Blanche3
As we drove north the rain seemed to dissipate and when we arrived at Hidden Falls we were only greeted with cloudy skies. There are two waterfalls here at the Hidden Falls location and to be honest I’m not sure which one is the “hidden” one. The one below can be found at the parking lot when you pull in. No overly hidden in my opinion but hey I guess we did come down a not so clearly marked road so that could have been the hidden part.
Hidden Falls 1
From the parking lot there is a path to the ocean and a little ways down we came across another waterfall. Could this be Hidden Falls?
Hidden Falls
Since there was nothing to tell us which falls was which we just enjoyed ourselves and photographed until we had to move on.
