Saturday September 10 – The Earth’s Mantle and small Harbours

The path from the parking lot to the Earth's Mantle

The morning was overcast, but the rain was gone as we headed out on the Viking Trail (which runs up the West Coast for 265 miles) to the southern portion of Gros Morne National Park.  Approaching the Discovery Center near Woody Point, we had a good look back at the mountain area from which we came.  Discovery Center, as in all the Parks Canada facilities, was filled with displays, information, a gift shop, and very helpful Rangers.  Our goal was to hike and explore the Tablelands area – a unique spot unlike virtually anywhere on earth – where one can walk on and view the Earth’s Mantle.  The Mantle is actually the core of the earth, what is under the dirt, mountains, and water we’re all used to seeing.  Newfoundland is one of the few places on the planet where it is visible, thanks to the cataclysmic changes that occurred 600 million years ago when the continents broke apart. 

Granite cliffs 

                                                                                                                                                    The walk is 2 ½ miles roundtrip, about 2/3’rds uphill on the going out section.  The weather improved as we  walked, and it was a comfortable 60 degrees.  As one walks the trail, it’s like approaching a moonscape, the hills and stone are so barren and of a yellowish color.  It was really quite beautiful, and fascinating.  The geology of Newfoundland is unlike any we’ve seen anywhere-the changes along the shore, the hills along the highway, have made for a fascinating trip.

End of the trail - seeing the Earth's Mantle

Barren rock - the Earth's Mantle

Barren rock with running stream over it

Walking back towards the parking lot

After Gros Morne, we drove another 15 miles out to the end of the road to Trout River, a small typical fishing village on the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Trout River. It features a boardwalk and a stony beach where hundreds of thousands of Capelin (small fish) beach themselves annually to spawn.  The fish are 6-8” long, and though they used to be bait they are now basically harvested for human consumption.  We gather they are quite tasty-if you like to eat bait! This happens in June and July though, so we missed it.

Town of Trout River

Norris Point Harbour & cruise boat

                                                                                         Next Harbour was Norris Point, at the end of our campground’s peninsula on Bonne Bay.  A cute little village, it features great views of the mountains and the Tablelands where we had hiked earlier.  They also run tour boats from there giving great views of the Park.

View from Norris Point - Tablelands in far background

Lobster Cove lighthouse

                                                                                          Last stop for the day was back in Rocky Harbour, where we again had great views of the surrounding area and of the Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse that we had visited last week.  The weather was beautiful at the time, sunny and 60 degrees compared with the 90 degrees we heard about in Bangor, Maine!

Rocky Harbor view

Rocky Harbour docks

Thursday/Friday September 8 & 9 – Iceberg and Caribou!

"No drone Zone" waiting area

Today was a travel day on the Viking Trail as we headed south, expecting to see some nice coastal villages again and hopefully Labrador.  Though it was overcast and chilly, some pleasant surprises were in store for us!  A brief stop was made at the St. Anthony Airport, which is 25km from the city with virtually nothing in between.  They have two scheduled flights daily, routed St. John, St. Anthony, on to Goose Bay Labrador then return.  No aircraft at the airport, but they had a cute waiting area for buses and a sign marking it as a “no drone zone!”

Becky's Iceberg with Labrador in the distance

 Along the coast, Becky spotted an Iceberg in the far distance coming down the strait!  Took quite a few photos, but distance was just too far to get a clear shot.  Exciting for us, though, as we had been told the season was over!  The fog and haze in the distance also lifted for a period of time, and it was great to see Labrador in the distance some 30 miles away.  It was fun picking out landmarks and finding them on the map.

Log piles at Sandy's Cove

 These “photo op” interludes also gave us the opportunity to drive through (on rough roads of course!) little coastal towns like Sandy Cove, Flower’s Cove, and Shoal Cove.  The Flower’s Cove stop was particularly interesting, as they had a deserted lighthouse and a nearby large deserted home. In the background one could clearly see a lighthouse on the Labrador Coast.  A gourmet lunch was enjoyed looking at that view from the RV!

Flower's Cove deserted lighthouse and house

Lighthouse closeup-note Labrador lighthouse in background!

A Palaeoeskimo living quarters

 After checking in at Port au Choix RV Park, on a gravel beach overlooking Ingomachoix Bay, the manager suggested we go to the Port au Choix National Historic Site, which closes for the season tomorrow.  Like most of the Park system offices, the Rangers are friendly, personable and very helpful.  There was a 12-minute introductory film, and we were astounded to It learn that Beochuk’s were not the first indigenous people on Newfoundland.  The Maritime Archaic Indians from the artic had been there 3000 years ago, and a fantastic burial site with over 112 skeletons had been excavated with elaborate collections of “stuff” with the different bodies. Then 2000 years ago, the Palaeoeskimos who also came from the arctic had occupied the island for several hundred years.  Most of the info was contained on charts, photos and trinket cases, but the main attraction was a recreation of an actual dwelling of the latter group.

Port Riche Lighthouse

                                                Additionally, our campground manager had suggested we drive there because of the scenic Point Riche lighthouse, along with a herd of Caribou and several bull moose living there.  Saw one moose from a distance, but to see the Caribou we had to drive to another location and hike a mile into the park.  We did, and they were there-beautiful creatures!

The Caribou herd at Point Riche

The French Oven

                                                                                                                                                                              Final stop was on another cove, where French bread ovens had been sent to feed the French fishermen in the 18^th century.  Fresh bread is made daily for tourists, but  we were too late!  

Another roadside phenomenon all over the island are the gardens of root vegetables that people have planted.  Like the woodpiles discussed earlier, nobody except the owners ever messes with these privately owned and cared for gardens.

 Friday was a travel & catch up day; we drove almost point to point back to Gros Morne, but this time stayed at the KOA there-much nicer than last week’s stay in Rocky Harbor..  Did some shopping on the way,  in our site by 1pm, spent the rest of the day (raining pretty hard) reading, doing internet, weekly wash, etc.  Down days are good!

Wednesday September 7 – The Vikings & other explorations

Jim & the Viking sculpture

The weather was supposed to be terrible and rainy, but the morning was just overcast with minimal drizzle. The afternoon was much better, albeit in the high 50’s.  Newfoundland is known for being the site of the first European settlement in North America, where Leif Erickson brought his Vikings in the 9^th century from Greenland. In 1960, Norwegian explorer and writer Helge Ingstad and his wife Anne began excavations at L’Anse aux Meadows, a small French fishing village on the most northern point of Newfoundland (pronounced “Lan-za Meadows”).    They found unmistakable evidence of a Viking settlement there, and the result of years of exploring have produced the Unesco World Heritage site that we visited today.The Canadian government has done a wonderful job of preserving and expanding what was there, including re-creating Viking buildings that are staffed with re-enactors with a superb knowledge of what and how the Vikings and the local natives lived.  When you arrive at the site and walk in from the parking lot, you see a large metal sculpture on a hill top representing Leif and his band looking over their new home.  Jim joined them to see what they were looking at   

View of the Viking excavation site from Ranger building

  The main building is actually a nice museum explaining everything about the site, and they additionally have a great gift shop that we visited twice.  It was rainy and chilly out, and a long walk to the excavation site.  The walkways are well maintained, and as one walks out to the site there is a beautiful sculpture entitled "Meeting of Two Worlds," commemorating the first contact between Europeans and the aboriginal North Americans.  Some scholars contend that the Viking arrival to North America brought humanity full circle.  The theory refers to the nations of the world parting company out of Africa about 100,000 B.C. Some went north into Europe and others east into Asia.  The migration of the latter eventually crossed the Bering Strait and spread out across North America.  When the Vikings came to explore this part of the world they called Vinland, the two groups met again (wording from a Parks Canada press release from 2015).

Walkway from Ranger site to the excavated village

The "Meeting of the Worlds" sculpture

The entrance to the recreated Viking site

Peat Moss walls

Main Longhouse

This is the main longhouse, Becky going in the door.  It is very well insulated, as one can see from the closeup of the door with the huge blocks of peat.

Inside the Longhouse - our guide Ragnar

Other re-enactors demonstrated ancient skills such as weaving

Our "moose" siting at L'ansa Meadows

Norstead entrance and guest shop

As we headed back to the parking lot, we saw another moose in the wild!  Jim climbed up near the "welcome" structure to take a few photos of the large male without horns.


 A few kilometers away, there is a commercial “Viking village” recreation called Norstead, with a recreated and presumed typical Viking village from a few centuries later.  

Walking towards the recreated village

Viking vessel "Snorri" built in Phippsburg, ME

 The centerpiece of that exhibit space is the recreated 75 foot Viking ship “Snorri”, which was built in Maine at the Robert Stevens boatyard in Phippsburg! In 1997, Ten crewmembers recreated Leif Ericsson’s 1500 mile journey from Greenland to Newfoundland in 87 days.The site additionally has buildings with reenactors demonstrating skills such as sewing, blacksmithing, and basically how they lived and survived.   

The blacksmith shop and chapel

Showing off jewelry

Demonstrating sewing

The afternoon was spent doing what we love to do – exploring  place off the beaten paths where one normally doesn’t find tourists!  If you could drive on the local roads we’ve been on, you’d see why!  We went to several small harbors today, seeing such sights as the Leif Ericsson statue in the town of L’Anse aux Meadows; cemeteries and whale/iceberg viewing towns such as Ship Cove and Cape Onion; and Raleigh, where the community corporation offers adventure holidays such as working on fishing boats and curing salt cod.

Raleigh Harbor, where you can live like a native!

Typical rural cemetery, this one in Ship Cove

A Canso from the firefighting service

Fishing Point Emporium

 Fox Point near St Anthony, home of a small museum, a lighthouse, and a terrific place to view icebergs coming ashore-that is, if you’re there in the spring or early summer!  The lady running the store was most friendly and explained a lot of history of the area.  She gave us quite the background on the massive icebergs that come ashore here each year, and tales of the polar bears who show up fairly regularly on the ice.  We did a lot of walking during the day, and got back to the campsite late. 

Inside the Museum section of the Emporium

A Viking-themed restaurant at Fishing Point

Walkway at Fishing Point

One of the highlights of the day was seeing a large male moose in the wild, though unfortunately he appears to have shed his rack.  They have some excellent walking trails out at Fishing Point, which must be a great view to see the icebergs coming into the area in season!

Fox Point Lighthouse

    The one sad piece of news for the day was a fishing boat accident where 4 men were lost.  They recovered two of the bodies this morning, and the entire island community is devastated at  the loss of 3 generations in one family.