There won't be many whales around in September - you might see the occasional humpback or minke. The puffins, however, will still be around.

As for the Avalon Wilderness area, it's mostly a long-distance hiking thing. There are no real roads that go through it.

If you're heading down the southern shore to Witless Bay. and you're in to archaeology, drive on a little further to Ferryland. There's a great dig there that's open to the public. They're excavating the original town founded by Lord Baltimore (the same one who founded Baltimore Maryland after his wife didn't like the NF weather!).

If hiking is your thing, stop at any bookstore and pick up a copy of a hiking guide to the Avalon Peninsula. There are tons of great hikes along the coast with majestic views of the ocean. I think even the bookstore at the airport carries it.

Sorry about the reference to Pennsylvania - I was talking to someone about one thing and typing something else!

As for grocery stores - Bidgood's in the Goulds is a good bet.

Hope you have a great trip!

Thanks, b37lah. I think that answers my questions. It's good to hear that we may still see some puffins. The hiking sounds great, but since we are mostly day trippers, I guess we'd better stick to the coast and forget the wilderness areas.

If anyone is thinking about kayking in the Trinity/Clarenville region of Newfoundland, a big hearty recommendation for a guy name of Nick Donovan. His company is called
magamikayking

His website is
http://magamikayaking.tripod.com

Nick is a "smashing" guy. One of the most delightful days of our vacation was a "half-day" trip from 11:00 to 4:30 with Nick and Wanda on the Southwest Arm of Trinity Bay. Nick's love the nature, the sea, icebergs - we toured around one - and bald eagles is infectious.

He's a terrific guy and I can't reommend the Nick donovan experience too highly.

Best

Louis scheeder
[email protected]