2015-07-12 Terra Nova National Park

2015-07-12 Terra Nova National Park

 We left Charleston this morning and drove as far as the Town of Gambo and stopped along the way at the Terra Nova National Park just off Rte 1 of the Trans Canadian Highway (TCH) and it had a rest area , small café and a small wilderness-marine exhibit, mostly for adolescents and early teens ( and elderly like us-lol), but really for all who may take an interest in our continent. Of interest was a mockup of an iceberg that showed the 90% that is underwater.

There was a short video of the problems of the forest, one being the loss of trees due to fire prevention and control.  Actually, the Black Spruce needs the extremely hot temperature to germinate the seed for regrowth.  They are now having controlled burning in the park and new young spruce trees are growing.

But, another problem in the forest is the moose.  They are not native to Newfoundland, being brought here about 100 years ago, and they have no natural enemies. Their diet consists of plant life and mostly twigs and leaves.  They are eating the young trees until they cannot grow and reproduce.  There are studies now about the best way to control the moose.   

We assumed that the name of the park was derived from Latin, i.e. New Ground, but who knows. It was enjoyable walking through the displays, aquariums and  watching children play in the shallow  “hands on” tank , picking up a star fish, crabs or other items (even a spiny Sea Urchin-if you dared) to examine it.

We found our overnight campsite at Gambo where we will get some rest and leave tomorrow for Dover where you can see the place where the Teutonic  plates separated , sounds interesting.