Day 66
Today we visited the Canadian National Park, L’Anse aux Meadows, the Viking settlement dating to 1000 AD. This is the first evidence of European settlement of North America and was discovered in the early 1960's. A small but interesting museum was followed by a guided tour of the site. Our tour guide is a local native to the town of L’Anse aux Meadows (population 19) who has worked for the park since 1973. As a child, he and his friends used to play on the mounds which turned out to be remnants of the Viking buildings. He was also part of the dig crew in the 1970's. Very interesting to hear his stories. At the park, several replicas of some of the Viking buildings were constructed on an area not of archeological significance. The Viking Long House included “actors” in the period of the settlement discussing life there. Lunch in town at the Norseman Restaurant where Rosemary ordered a 2 pound lobster dinner. The waitress then came out holding the live and largest lobster they had left at a little less than 2 pounds and stated that the chef, her husband, did not have time to go back to the wharf to get another one from their lobster pound (a holding pen in the sea across the street) so it would have to do. Needless to say, Rosemary had no trouble devouring it.
Monday, August 1, 2016, St. Anthony, NL
Day 65
Today was a highlight of the trip. Whale and iceberg watching with Northland Boat Tours. The 41 foot boat held about 35 people. When the whales started to appear, it was chaos. Whales and dolphins all around the boat and people running from side to side to see. We saw fin whales which are the second largest whale (next to the blue whale) and grow to about 75 feet, humpback whales which grow to 45 feet and white beak dolphins. The dolphins put on a show jumping in different directions and then 3 in the same direction, it looked synchronized just for us. A humpback also put on a show with about 4 or 5 jumps straight up in the air and down with a tremendous splash, just like in the commercials on tv. The show lasted more than an hour. Next was a move a little further north up iceberg alley to see the season’s last iceberg. We were told that it is rare to see an iceberg in August so we lucked out. I have my doubts about the rarity though since it was freezing. Both Rosemary and I had two jackets underneath our down jackets and all was needed. The iceberg was about 70 feet high above the sea level but only about 1/8 of it was visible above the water. Our boat circled around it and when we got on the shore side we heard several loud cracking noises and a few seconds later a layer of the entire wall facing us came crashing down. Our first mate fished a chunk of the iceberg out of the water and we all got a taste of the pure ice water dating from 15,000 years ago. On the way back, more whales and dolphins showing off. An incredible 3 hours! For dinner we had the Viking Feast and dinner show. The meal included moose stew, fish and brewis, cod and jiggs, cod tongues, salted capelin and more topped off with a bakeapple liqueur toast. A fantastic day!
Sunday, July 31, 2016, St. Anthony, NL
Day 64
Very quiet night even though just off the main highway. Not too many people travel this far north and virtually no one on the road at night. Drove the car into Port au Choix but rain and fog made for a quick return to the coach. We stopped at the St. Barbe RV Campground to make our reservation for the night before and day of our travel to Labrador (August 5th) since we are going right by it and we have no phone capability whatsoever. We have been completely off the grid since St. John’s except for some very spotty campground wifi. Just prior to arriving in St. Barbe we saw a black bear run across the road in front of us. Bears appear to run very fast so I hope we don’t meet one on one of our hikes. A few minutes north of St. Barbe in Flowers Cove, we visited Marjorie’s Bridge and the Thrombolites Walking Trail. Thrombolites are bun shaped and were formed by primitive algae and bacteria unicellular life forms 3.5 billion years ago. To me they looked like rocks. We continued north and checked into Triple Falls RV Park in St. Anthony. We then visited Fishing Point and did the Whale Watching Trail. Sure enough, we saw whales, lots of them. Sometimes 3 at a time. Also visited Fox Point Lighthouse. Dinner at the Lightkeepers Seafood Restaurant where we had moose spring rolls (for Rosemary’s Asian fix?) and bacalao cakes (saltcod and potato cakes) appetizers with main courses of chowder and halibut. Good meal. More hiking after dinner and more whales spotted. We would have stayed longer but it is very cold. Tomorrow is our whale/iceberg boat tour and it will be time to bring out the down jackets.
Saturday, July 30, 2016, A gravel pull off adjacent to highway 430 somewhere near Port au Choix, NL
Day 63
Departed Lomond and went to the Gros Morne National Park Visitors Center where we were assured that the parking lots of the sites we wanted to see were plenty big enough for our coach. Visited the Lobster Cove Lighthouse and the lot was just big enough. Next we wanted to hike the Berry Hill Pond but we had to detach and take the car. Turns out there was too much fog so we abandoned the hike. We then drove the coach with car attached to the Western Brook parking lot. It was big enough but it was nearly full. A 3 km hike to the Bontour Boat ticket center where we had reservations for the 1:30 ride on the Western Brook. This was a 2 hour boat ride through 2200 foot cliffs on both sides. It was formerly a fjord carved by glaciers 15,000 years ago but became closed off to the sea 9000 years ago and is now a 16 km freshwater lake with a depth of 525 feet. The water is so pure it does not even conduct electricity. Although we got some great photos, photos cannot really do it justice. Suffice it to say this is one of the highlights of our trip. After the hike back from the boat, we took the car to Steve’s Trail, a walk through a forest to get to a coastal viewpoint. After a very full and exciting day, we then headed north out of the park for about 90 minutes and pulled off the road into a
gravel area with a couple picnic tables for a night of free camping.
Friday, July 29, 2016, Lomond, NL (Gros Morne National Park)
Day 62
We begin our visit to the Gros Morne National Park at the Discovery Center for admission tickets. Then we head for our first trail, the Tablelands Trail, about 4 kms out and back. Wonderful views of the Tablelands mountains including some snow and several creeks with waterfalls. At the Tablelands, we were walking on the earth’s mantle. They were formed when two of the earth’s plates collided and pushed the Tablelands up. The rocks are half a billion years old. They contain lots of iron hence the reddish orangish color, and plants do not grow there. Next is a picnic lunch at Trout River, a small fishing village at the end of the park. In the afternoon, we take the Blackawton Boat tour of Bonne Bay, a 3 hour slow cruise on the open air top deck where we see several bald eagles and just as we are docking to end the trip a minke whale appears about 100 yards off the boat. Rosemary is the first to spot the whale when all others on board had given up and she was happy! We headed to the Frontier Restaurant in Wiltondale where I had a delicious moose dinner and I was happy! Still daylight so we take in the Southern Brook Falls trail and see the waterfall. A very pleasant and relaxing day.
Thursday, July 28, 2016, Lomond, NL (Gros Morne National Park)
Day 61
Departed Gander and headed to Grand Falls-Windsor. Parked the coach at Walmart and drove the car to the Salomnid Interpretation Center. It was a good thing we did not try to drive the coach there because we had to cross two one-lane bridges with a capacity of only 10 tons which we exceed. The center has developed a system of salmon ladders at several hydroelectric dams on the Exploits Rivers. We got to walk over the ladders and observe the salmon jumping up stream. I tried to get a photo of a jump but the fish are quicker than my camera. A portion of the ladders are viewable from fish viewing windows. The project has been a huge success. Whereas in the beginning, only about 750 salmon returned to spawn, now the count is 70,000 with a goal of 100,000. I guess we can eat Atlantic salmon again! Nothing else doing in Grand Falls-Windsor, we hit the road and check into the Lomond River Campground next to the biggest attraction in Newfoundland, Gros Morne National Park.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016, Gander, NL
Day 60
Departed Clarenville and arrived in Gander mid-day. Visited the North Atlantic Aviation Museum a Harvest Hosts host where we spent the night. The museum was very interesting illustrating the birth of Gander in 1935 due to the dawning of air travel. A flat area near a big lake it was nothing but forest before 1935, no town, no road, nothing. After the completion of the airport and the town in 1938, it was boom time as all transatlantic flights stopped here for refueling. However, it lasted only until the 1960's when jet aircraft could cross the ocean without the refueling stop. It is now a town of about 11,000 people. The museum also had an exhibit on 9/11 when U.S. airspace closed fro 3 days and 42 jets were diverted here. That was 6,700 people stranded for 3 days in Gander. The people of Gander went into action and set up shelters in school, churches, meeting centers and individual homes. They also trucked in food and other necessities. The school bus drivers had been on strike but crossed the picket line to help move the passengers around. One driver when asked why they came off strike responded “we are good people and want to help good people, especially Americans”. Newfoundlanders do seem to have an affection for Americans and we have definitely experienced it. We visited the Silent Witness Memorial memorializing the 1985 Arrow Air Crash which took the lives of all 256 people on board including the American 101st Airborne Division which was returning from a peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Peninsula. It is Canada’s worst aviation disaster. We drove around Gander including a drive to the airport. The airport looks right out of the 1960's. A small single story terminal belies the fact that it has one of the longest concrete runways in the world and was one of the alternative landing sites for the space shuttle.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016, Clarenville, NL
Day 59
We left the coach at Walmart and head to Bonavista for the day, about a 90 minute drive. Lots to see there. We started at the Mockbeggar Plantation Provincial Historic Site. Built around 1733, it was occupied by Gordon Bradley from 1939 to 1966. Bradley was a lawyer and politician who played a significant role to bring Newfoundland into the Confederation. In 1949, Newfoundland was still a British colony. A vote was held that year between becoming an independent nation or joining Canada. Joining the U.S. did not make the ballot. Canada apparently wanted its joinder and offered payments to families for each child and promised no taxes. A close vote was 51% to 49% to join Canada proving bribery and gullibility rule. The taxes promise obviously was not kept as sales tax is 15% and the gas taxes are the highest of the provinces we have visited, gas being $0.25 per liter higher. Next was the Cape Bonavista lighthouse built in 1843, 6 km from town. Beautiful views from the cliffs and we did see several whale blows but the fog limited visibility and caused the fog horn to blow every 30 seconds. We headed to the Dungeon Provincial Park about 2 km away where there was no fog. Saw more whale blows and a few whale tails rise up as the whales dove down. The park has 2 arches formed into the cliffs by the sea. Lunch on the Cape at Little Dairy King where I tried the cod tongues. Not the best part of the cod! Back to the lighthouse but the fog was still there. We toured the lighthouse keepers house and climbed up the lighthouse. Even Rosemary had to watch her head due to low clearances. Next we headed to the “Matthew” and toured the exact sized replica of John Cabot’s ship that he and his crew brought to the new found lands in 1497. Next was the Ryan Premises National Historic Site, a 19th century saltfish mercantile complex. We left Bonavista and headed to Elliston about 15 minutes away, which claims to have the most accessible Atlantic Puffin breeding site in the world. We verified their claim. Just a 2 minute walk out to a cliff and there were puffins by the hundreds. Puffins flying over us just feet away. Then puffins landing by us just feet away. I must have taken a hundred photos of puffins. Rosemary’s excitement was unrestrained. We stayed for awhile until the cold just took over. On the way back to the car we viewed several root cellars as Elliston also claims to be the root cellar capital of the world, many still in use as food storage areas. Plenty cold enough, even in July. A great fun day!
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